We have a report for our 2018 season, available to view here as a downloadable pdf.
The text of the report includes the following:
The Hewnoaks Artist Residency program provided time and space to more than 60 artists working in Visual Arts, Writing, Music, Film, Performance, and Multidisciplinary practice in 2018. Primarily from Maine, these artists made excellent use of the gift of time away from their daily attention to their jobs, their families, and other pressures that compete with their artistic practices.
Hewnoaks opened an application process from February to March, and an independent jury of four arts professionals reviewed the applications, looking for artistic excellence and the artists’ intentions for the use of their time during the residency. The jurors read a rst round for review and each advanced select applications to a second round of review, which took place in person. They discussed then independently scored each application, and the scores determined the invitation list. We scheduled as many of the applicants as possible, extending invitations to 49 individuals and groups totaling 64 participants over a 14 week period running from the last days of June through the final week of September. 75% of our invitations went to Maine artists.
This year we granted stipends to five parent artists, to support their families with added child care needs while they participated in the residency.
In addition to our program, we continued to build relationships with the Lovell community, particularly with the Greater Lovell Land Trust and the Charlotte Hobbes Memorial Library, with whom we plan to partner on arts programming for 2019.
For the first time, we planned two events for the public to come to Hewnoaks to learn about the property andour programs. We didn’t account for some other events happening in the community at the time of the first one (in July) and have learned about adjusting accordingly for the future. For our second event, in early October after the end of our season, we oversold our tickets for a pizza dinner and were able to share the property with many Lovell and Maine neighbors and colleagues.
Selected Feedback:
“This was my first residency experience and it was a total reset—invigorating as well as relaxing, inspiring as well as head-clearing. I felt so lucky (and a little guilty, in the midst of all that is going on), to be given this opportunity. I got to do so much good work.”
“I loved my time at Hewnoaks. The atmosphere of contemplation creates the perfect environment to make progress on projects. I made headway on things that I had been stuck on for a while. It’s also a wonderful way to meet fellow artists and I hope to stay in touch with my cohort.”
“With two small children at home and the world of a novel growing in my mind, my residency was a godsend. The work I did at the residency will now sustain me through the winter and keep me on course to finish a manuscript by spring. Without Hewnoaks, that would not have been possible.”
“As a single mother of two kids with a full-time job, Hewnoaks was an extremely welcome and strongly-felt source of support for my writing that will resonate well beyond my week at Hewnoaks. The time and space to prioritize my writing in such a beautiful natural setting with fellow artists made an impact that will stay with me.”
