Short-term artist residencies in a
natural, rustic environment

Situated on the eastern shore of Kezar Lake in Lovell, Maine, Hewnoaks provides artists across all disciplines and career stages unencumbered time to think, work, and experiment.

Our Mission, Vision, and Values

1-2 Week Residencies

Short-term, fully subsidized residencies purpose-built for artists balancing busy schedules.

Hewnoaks offers a rare chance to disconnect from the pressures of daily life and dive deep into creative practice.

Your Time, Your Way

At Hewnoaks, artists have unbounded creative freedom to use their time however serves them best.

There are no output requirements, no expectations to present or share a finished work, and no mandatory community-facing obligations.

All Artists
 Welcome

Hewnoaks welcomes emerging and mid-career artists across all disciplines and identities.

Whatever your background, whatever your medium, we offer a safe, supportive space to bring your vision to life.

The Hewnoaks Experience

Each residency is tailored to give artists a peaceful, distraction-free environment for open-ended exploration and creation. Whether you’re drafting a novel, editing an existing body of work and researching your next project, this is a space to immerse yourself in the creative process, whatever shape it takes.

See Our Facilities

Space to Create

Steeped in history, Hewnoaks’ rustic cabins offer artists a secluded, comfortable space to live and create.

With simple accommodations and distractions screened out, residents can focus, reflect, and work without interruption.

Quiet surroundings

Set against the backdrop of Kezar Lake and surrounded by towering pines, Hewnoaks affords residents a rare sense of stillness and possibility.

The serene, natural beauty fosters deep concentration and creative breakthroughs, an environment that’s as regenerative as it is generative.

Creative Community

While artists work independently at Hewnoaks, a sense of connection naturally forms.

Shared meals, informal conversations, and creative exchanges forge a community where ideas flow and inspiration abounds.


"My time at Hewnoaks shifted my entire prospective of myself as an artist. Before I thought of myself as a person who did art, now I wear the title of artist with pride. It built the confidence in me to trust that the creative ideas I have in my head are worth making. The mixture of gorgeous landscape, almost solitude and very little societal distractions is the perfect combo for creativity to flow."
— Hannah HansenHewnoaks '23
"Hewnoaks gave me space that I didn’t know I needed to focus on developing an individual voice-as an emerging artist having this kind of held and intentional time is essential and transformative. I felt supported not only by the other artists at the residency but by the cabin, the lake, the air, and the inherent calm of the space."
— Isabel BallHewnoaks '23
"I found Hewnoaks so magical. I entered a space that was so productive and creative and also healing. The lake, the mountains, the quiet, the loons. My work felt so focused. I am deeply grateful for the time and space and wonderful people."
— AnonymousHewnoaks '23
"The simple, natural environs and the evocative nature of the cabins and grounds - plus the lack of cell service - allowed me to sink into my creative process in a way that was truly profound. I will always remember my time at Hewnoaks and what it meant to me."
— Caitlin SchollHewnoaks '23

The History of Hewnoaks

Founded in 1898 by artists Douglas and Marion Larrabee Volk, Hewnoaks began as a summer family retreat and evolved into a vibrant gathering place for artists and craftsmen associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Notable figures such as William Merritt Chase, Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, and John Calvin Stevens were among those who found inspiration here. 

Revitalized as an artist residency in 2012, Hewnoaks remains dedicated to nurturing artistic growth and self-expression.

Former Hewnoaks Residents

"An artist needs to be away in isolation in order to produce the work they need to produce. That’s what Hewnoaks was for me… Going there, and the solitude, was really important to me – vital for me, actually."
Myron M. Beasley

Hewnoaks '20
"Hewnoaks provided me the opportunity to immerse myself in the project in a way that is impossible when I have emails, meetings, babies, husbands, and all the other little things in life constantly vying for attention."
Diana Greenwold

Hewnoaks '17
"Hewnoaks is a sanctuary of the wild, wonderful things in life. Tucked away in my little cabin, I got to divest from the internet and invest in myself. I will always treasure the time spent there...”

Aminata Conteh

Hewnoaks '23

Upcoming Events at Hewnoaks

Birds & Muses
 Residency 1:
Generative (Early Stages)
July 11 — 18, 2025

This first of two, week-long collaborative residencies between Hewnoaks and Birds & Muses invites women-identified, femme, trans and nonbinary artists of literary projects in early stages of development to take part in daily group sessions to inspire their writing, individualized conferences to further identify and advance their nascent projects, and protected time to write.

Learn More & Apply

Birds & Muses
 Residency 2:
Late Draft
September 6 — 13, 2025

This second of two, week-long collaborative residencies between Hewnoaks and Birds & Muses invites women-identified, femm, trans and nonbinary artists of literary projects at later stages of development to take part in daily group sessions focused on revising, troubleshooting, and polishing late drafts of projects as well as the business of being a writer, individualized conferences, and protected time to write.

Learn More & Apply

Support Hewnoaks’ Mission

Your support enables Hewnoaks to offer free residencies each season to more than 50 emerging and mid-career artists, providing them with the time, space, and natural surroundings to reflect, explore, and create.

MAKE A DONATION

Calling all women-identified,
femme, trans, and nonbinary writers:

We just added
Two New
Birds & Muses
Writing Residencies!

Learn More