Meet Our Grantee-Partner: MacDowell
MacDowell provides artists at all stages of their careers with an inspiring residential environment in which to produce enduring works of the creative imagination without interruption.
MacDowell fellow, poet Ross Gay, in Mixter Studio during his first residency in 2021. Photo courtesy of MacDowell.
Mission: To nurture artists across disciplines and facilitate the creation of enduring works of the creative imagination that contribute to a robust and diverse global arts landscape.
MacDowell was launched in 1907 by pianist Marian MacDowell and composer Edward MacDowell with a vision of providing artists with a sanctuary to create work in an ideal community of peers. The oldest artist residency in the United States, MacDowell is the blueprint by which scores of artist communities worldwide have been modeled. It has nurtured more than 9,400 artists across disciplines, making significant contributions to a robust and diverse global arts landscape.
From Thornton Wilder’s Our Town to Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, MacDowell has been the birthplace of some of the most iconic works of the United States’s artistic canon. MacDowell has served as the launchpad for recipients of Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Guggenheim Fellowships, National Book Awards, National Medal of Arts, MacArthur Fellowships, Pulitzer Prizes, Rome Prizes, Tony Awards, and other prestigious accolades.
MacDowell provides artists at all stages of their careers with an inspiring residential environment in which to produce enduring works of the creative imagination without interruption. Each year, MacDowell welcomes 300 artists from multiple disciplines to its 450-acre wooded campus in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Residencies last two weeks to two months, and include use of a private studio with discipline-specific amenities, living accommodations, three meals a day, opportunities for artistic exchange and collaboration with peers, and the option to participate in community engagement locally. After fellows complete a residency, they stay connected to MacDowell’s expansive network of artists and art supporters.
MacDowell fellow, poet Katie Condon, in Sorosis Studio during her first residency in 2023. Photo courtesy of MacDowell.
MacDowell provides artists with uninterrupted time and space to create works that heal, disrupt, and inspire. Residencies are intentionally staggered so that each fellow shares their time with 50 other artists during the course of their stay. The relationships formed between artists spark experimentation and often lead to long-term creative partnerships. Fellows report that a MacDowell residency was a boon to their creativity and a transformative moment in their career.
Residencies are free to fellows, and to increase equity and access, MacDowell provides financial support to artists who might not otherwise be able to accept a residency due to costs associated with childcare, rent, travel, and lost employment. One-third of fellows receive financial aid, with more than $180,000 distributed each year. In recent years, more than 50% of fellows have been BIPOC, roughly one-third have incomes under $30,000, and 15% are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
MacDowell believes access to outlets for artistic expression through poetry is essential to the human experience. This is why MacDowell has opened its doors to 936 poets since its inception, including James Baldwin, Marilyn Chin, Tyehimba Jess, Audre Lorde, Marianne Moore, Eileen Myles, and Harriet Monroe, who founded Poetry magazine in 1912, among others. MacDowell nurtures poets holistically, providing them with space and time to create and be inspired in communal spaces like its James Baldwin Library and hiking trails.
In addition to residencies, MacDowell has awarded its Edward MacDowell Medal of the Arts to iconic poets, from Robert Frost to Sonia Sanchez. Receiving a spring 2024 Special Projects and Opportunities grant from the Poetry Foundation supported the creation of MacDowell’s Sonia Sanchez Poetry Fellowship, which was launched in 2022. The fellowship was awarded to Samiya Bashir in its first year and Chisaraokwu Asomugha the following year.
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