Looking for a place to tap into your inspiration? Seeking a bit of solitude in a supportive environment where you can delve into your creative work? Longing for a venue to rejuvenate your senses and deepen an existing collaboration? In need of outside eyes and fresh perspective for a developing project?



Expanding on Bearnstow’s long history, we welcome individual artists and small groups of collaborative partners in any discipline to submit proposals to our Artist Retreat program. We provide a place for in-depth creative exploration amid a pristine, wooded lakeside setting, rich with natural beauty and a spirit of camaraderie.
We understand the need for having time and space to do one’s work. Diving deeply into artistic collaboration and inquiry, experimenting with motion, media, sound, text or other materials, your time at Bearnstow can help spark new projects or bring vital detail to those already in development. Sharing wholesome communal meals prepared for you and other artists frees up additional time for reflection and letting your imaginations wander. Our hope is that your time away from the stress of your daily routine, spent in our deeply restorative natural setting, will reignite your creative energies.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are able to fully fund 5 artists. This funding can be granted to artists applying individually or as a collective. Additional artists may be accepted with a subsidized artist rate of $400 per person per week which includes lodging, all meals, and use of facilities.
Details
The Artist Retreat offers one-week residencies throughout the summer season (late June through late August). Each one-week residency includes:
- One cabin, to be shared by up to three 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, and pristine lake with natural sand beach;
- Creative consultation from Bearnstow’s artistic staff and/or affiliate professional artists, as requested, and based on availability;
- Informal end-of-week presentation where artists share some of their work or process with the community.
Applications open March 4 and close April 2
2022 Retreat Artists:
Images from our 2022 Artist Retreats
Click on the image to visit their websites and find out more