Monson Arts is an artists' residency and art center in Monson, Maine featuring month-long residencies throughout the year, shorter intensive workshops, and educational partnerships with local secondary schools.
Since it was founded in 1822, the community has had an economy based on natural resources. In the late 19th through the early 20th centuries, slate quarries supported a thriving industry. Moosehead Manufacturing produced wood furniture from 1945 until its closure in 2007. The region also has a rich arts tradition— ranging from Henry David Thoreau, who wrote about the area in The Maine Woods to photographer Berenice Abbott who lived in nearby Blanchard, to traditional makers such as the North Woods Canoe Company in Atkinson.
In the spring of 2017, Maine’s Libra Foundation began investing in the development of an arts program for Monson as a way to spur economic and creative growth in the region. The foundation has purchased and renovated over 20 buildings in the community to be used for residences and studios. Stuart Kestenbaum, former director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Maine’s poet laureate, is advising the foundation on the development of the programs.
Residencies last 2 or 4 weeks. Salt residents will join a cohort of roughly 5 artists and 5 writers to immerse themselves in small town life at the edge of Maine’s North Woods and focus intensely on their work within a creative and inspiring environment.
Monson is located at the edge of Maine’s North Woods - a 3.5 million acres of forest bordering Canada. It is the last town on the Appalachian Trail before the beginning of the 100-Mile Wilderness that leads to Mount Katahdin.
Applicants must be Graduates of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
All Salt graduates are eligible, whether or not they attended Salt at MECA&D.
Disciplines: Documentarians and artists
Residents receive a private studio, private bedroom in shared housing*, all meals, and $1,000 stipend ($500 for 2-week residencies). Spouses, partners, and children are not allowed at this residency. Access to the internet will be available at the residency.
There is no fee to attend this residency. Residents will be awarded a $1,000 stipend.
Deadline: Applications for the 2023 season must be submitted via Submittable no later than midnight on September 26, 2022. No late applications will be reviewed.
Residencies will be determined based on the quality of work submitted, evidence that the applicant's career will benefit from the residency, that the nature and scope of proposed projects fit within the space and time limitations of the residency and that the applicant is able to work independently and responsibly.
Before applying, please review all the information on application requirements and instructions.
Contact the Alumni Office at 207.699.5018 or email alumnirelations@meca.edu.
