Bearnstow Artist Retreat 2018

Expanding on Bearnstow’s fruitful history of offering weeklong dance-related workshops, the Artist Retreat program welcomes individual artists or collaborative partners in any discipline to spend a week focusing on their creative projects amid the beauty of Bearnstow’s campus.

In current artistic practice, it is often hard to find dedicated time in a focused environment to do one’s work. In-depth ex­ploration with artistic collaborators, experimenting with mo­tion, media, sound, text or other materials, can be invalu­able in sparking new projects or concentrating on specific de­tails of current work. We hope this period of creative research can lead to new possibilities, away from the stress of daily routine and in a deeply inspiring natural setting.

Consistent with Bearnstow’s commitment to embracing diver­sity of ideas, the Artist Retreat coincides with one of our weekly summer workshops. This offers rich opportunity for casual exchange over meals or elsewhere with other artists, students, and scholars who are also on site.

2018 Artist Retreat Recipients Angela Cole Ellen Oliver Caleb Nussear Angela Cole and Ellen Oliver are Providence, Rhode Island–based choreographers/dancers, and former Young Artist Residents at Bearnstow (Angela in 2017; Ellen in 2016 and 2017). They plan to use the retreat as a launching point for their recently formed collaborative duo, Providance Project. Angela and Ellen have also been recent recipients of other residencies, including at Urbanity Dance in Boston, MA, and together with Molly Hess earlier this year they pro­duced a concert of former Bearnstow Young Artist Residents under the moniker, 3 Spice Dance. They will be sup­ported in their research by choreographer and Bearnstow Board member, Bebe Miller, who will be on site to serve as creative consultant. Caleb Nussear is an American artist living in New York City. His work in drawing, sculpture, installation, and perfor­mance is influenced by his education in philosophy and religion, the natural landscape, and the sensuous and tensile process of the drawn line. A frequent collaborator with artists and thinkers of other disciplines, he intends to use the retreat to develop two to three short expository essays on the relationship of visual art practice and contemporary dance, several impromptu watercolor paintings, and optionally a folded paper work. He exhibits regularly in New York City and the surrounding environs at Massey Klein Gallery, Judson Memorial Church, Triskelion Arts, Art Lot, Lesley Heller Workspace, Danese/Corey Gallery, the Katonah Museum of Art, No Longer Empty, NURTUREArt, Mary­mount Manhattan College, and Vaudeville Park.

Program Details
The Retreat week setup includes:

• Rustic cabin for up to 3 people; sleeping cots with bedding, hot showers, flush toilets, screened porch for group gatherings
• Three communal meals a day, breakfast and lunch served buffet style, dinner served family style
• Studio time in the Lab, suitable for somatic practice, “small studio” dance work, collaborative sessions (music, writing, dialogue, etc.)
• Unlimited access to 65 wooded acres, pristine lake with natural sand beach
• Throughout the Retreat week, Bearnstow staff and/or affiliate professional artists may be available to serve, free of charge, as creative consultant
• End-of-week presentation to share your work accomplished during the Retreat

The application process

Bearnstow accepts applications from individual artists or from a collaborative team (up to three persons total). If applying as a group, one team member should apply as Lead Artist on behalf of the others. Please include the following in your application:

• Each individual or lead artist must provide a six-hundred word description of the intended Retreat project, including desired outcomes, related performance expectations, and previous experience, as applicable.

• Each individual or lead artist should include an estimate of time and type of studio access needed.

• Each individual should provide a brief 60-word biography. If applying as a group, we request similar biographies from each member of the collaborative team.

Cost: $400/week room and board per person

Applications for Summer 2019 are accepted from December 1 to March 1 at www.bearnstow.org/artist-retreat.htm. Notification of application status will follow before April 1.

Upon acceptance a $100 non-refundable deposit from each artist selected will be due and will be applied toward the total fee.

Inquiries regarding Bearnstow’s Artist Retreat program should be directed to: Bearnstow Administration.