MacDowell
About this Residency
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Rating Breakdown
Artist Reviews
Transformative — the best creative month of my life
I attended MacDowell as a mid-career painter and left a changed artist. The privacy of your studio (lunch delivered in a picnic basket!) combined with the intensity of the community dinners creates a remarkable rhythm. Seeing what other disciplines produce under the same conditions pushed my own work in directions I hadn't considered. The staff are extraordinarily supportive. I applied 3 times before getting in — absolutely worth the persistence.
Total privacy during work hours, exceptional cross-disciplinary community, prestige opens doors afterward
Competitive — many rejections before acceptance. Remote location means you need a car for errands.
Excellent but the social dynamics can be intense
MacDowell lives up to its reputation in almost every way. The studios are private and well-equipped, the food is genuinely good, and the forests are beautiful. My only note is that the community of 30 artists living and eating together for weeks at a time creates social pressures that not everyone navigates easily. Come with clear intentions for your work and you'll be fine. Came as a composer, left with a nearly-finished song cycle.
World-class facilities, genuine prestige, fantastic location
Social dynamics can be cliquey, competitive application process