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Bearnstow Artist Retreat 2019

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.



2019 Artist Retreat Recipients


Phillip Ording
Spencer Gerhardt
Caleb Nussear


Harry Mavromichalis
Audrey Minutolo Le
Phillip Ording is an author and mathematician. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Columbia University, New York. He is a professor of mathematics at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.
Spencer Gerhardt is a composer and mathematician. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Southern California, and currently teaches in the math department at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Spencer and Philip are collaborating at Bearnstow as composer and writer through a shared background in mathematics. Spencer, who holds a PhD in mathematics from USC, writes music that engages experiential approaches to time and acoustical phenomena, often in combination with slow-moving and subtly irrational forms. Philip began working as a math consultant to artists, architects, and choreographers in New York while completing his PhD at Columbia, and he has recently written a book on mathematical style. They plan to use the retreat to draft an expository essay on the intuitionistic mathematics of 20th century Dutch topologist L.E.J. Brouwer, and explore its potential manifestations in music and writing.

Caleb Nussear is an American artist living in New York City. His work is based in abstract mathematical sculptures. A significant portion of his practice involves collaboration with Peter Kyle using various kinetic sculptures. Caleb shows his work regularly in New York City, and is represented by Massey Klein Gallery.

Caleb plans to work on graphite drawings on paper and panel, watercolor paintings, and also some writing on his creative process.

Harry Mavromichalis is a creative film maker and producer. He holds a Masters in Film Directing from New York University. He is currently working on five film projects: as Writer/Director/Producer for one, Production Designer for another, and Creative Producer for three others.

During his week at Bearnstow Harry will be working on a film script about an unlikely love story between an older white woman who has had an incredible career within the bluegrass world, and a younger black man who plays the violin and the fiddle and who is researching the origins of that genre. Harry’s goal at the retreat is to have a scene-by-scene description of the whole film, as well as work on a logline and a detailed synopsis. He has just finished his first feature length documentary called Olympia, about Academy award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis. He has also written and directed many short fiction films, but this is his first feature-length narrative.

Audrey Minutolo Le teaches writing and women’s literature at the University of Maine.
Her written work includes narrative fiction, poetry, travel writing, and screenplays. She has co-directed two short films, Raw Bar and The Bog, with director Allen Coulter (Sopranos, House of Cards, Boardwalk Empire). While at Bearnstow, Minutolo-Le will revise two episodes for the period drama series, Gray Ledges.

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 the Artist Retreat are accepted between December 1 and May 1 for the following summer; however, proposals submitted outside of these dates may be also be considered, time and space permitting. Inquiries regarding Bearnstow’s Artist Retreat program should be directed to: Bearnstow Administration.