Monastery Arts Residency

 

The Monastery Arts Residency brings artists and writers to live, create, and seek beauty for a week under summer skies at Mount Saviour Monastery near Elmira, NY. 

Our artist residency dates for this summer are:
Session 1 // July 07-13, 2025
Session 2 // Aug 11-17, 2025

Applications are closed, thanks everyone!

︎︎ This residency reminded me of the gift of living and creating within community, and how tied art-making is to the contemplative life. I met artists of varying disciplines who all had a unique way of seeing and paying attention to the world, which re-invigorated my own desire to bear witness to what is beautiful.

—Emma B., Artist 

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A Unique Blend of Solitude and Community

Our time at the monastery residency is a unique blend of aloneness with oneself and intimacy with the group. We hope to find deeper beauty, creativity, and contemplation by sharing gifts and resources within communal rhythms of work, prayer, nature, and silence. Here the simplicity and single-heartedness of the monastic spiritual life meets the creative, seeking energy of the artistic life. It is the only arts residency in the world that takes place at an active Catholic monastery (as far as we know!)

Artist Studios, Spaces, and Meals

The residency in its current form runs two individual week-long sessions per year in the summer, with twelve to fifteen artists per session. Artists live in the main guesthouse, St. Joseph’s, each with their own private single room. As a community, we share a large living room, kitchen, and common bathroom. Visual artists have access to a shared studio (not individual studios) in the monastic crafts building; musicians have access to various quiet rooms and the monastery piano; writers have access to the library, great room, and conference room, as well as a writing desk in their private room.

Meals are included in the residency fee. For lunch and dinner, everyone eats in the refectory with the monks. Each residency session begins on a Monday afternoon and ends the following Sunday around 11am.

Important note: all who attend must commit to the full length of their session, as it is too disruptive for the monks and to the program to have people coming and going at different times.

Creative Freedom Within the Sacred Rhythm of the Monastery

Residents are free to use their time at the residency as they wish to pursue their own creative work and projects, with access to over 1,000 acres of gorgeous monastery grounds & working sheep farm. In the evening, we gather for programming, work-sharing, and community time, sharing wine and other refreshments. Residents should note this expectation when applying: evenings are more communal, daytime is more individual.

The overall rhythm of the residency is influenced by the monastic schedule and daily prayers—the Divine Office. Of course, no one is obligated to attend any service or prayer, though all are invited. It is our hope and intention that residents come with openness to the unique spiritual goods offered by the monastic community and a prayerful environment.

This information is meant to serve as a general outline for the week. More information will be provided to attending residents along with an updated program.

Important Things to Note

• Mt. Saviour monastery is an entirely smoke-free campus.
• There is no dependable wifi available here for guests, though there is cell service (if you search for it).
  
• Pets, children, and/or partners are not invited along with you as a participant, sorry.
• We currently do not accept groups as one “group application”; we only consider each artist individually. In other words, if you are interested in coming as a group, each member of the would have to apply individually and be accepted as an individual. If everyone ends up being accepted, you are of course free to do as you like with your time at the monastery.
  

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Do I seek contemplation but also value community? 

This residency consists of silence, space, nature, work, bells, chanting, and calm gatherings. It is rustic and rather off-the-grid. Our model is based on contemplation and creativity, not on workshops or masterclasses. As noted above, for most of the day artists will be free and entirely self-directed, while during our evening gatherings, the most “social” time, we emphasize community and give one another a share of our attention and time. If you are coming here to be left completely alone for a week with your work and not interact with others, this not the residency for you.

Am I cool being around monks? Can I handle people talking about God?

There will be a lot of Catholic monks walking around. People will be talking about God. It is at a monastery, after all. We are looking for artists and practitioners who would take advantage of and appreciate such an environment as described here, who would see such a week as an opportunity and a blessing for their creative and spiritual life.

Do I need to be a Catholic or Christian artist?

No. Artists do not have be Catholic or Christian to be at home here—in fact the majority of those who come aren’t—but we of course have the expectation that all will be respectful of the faith and the rules and customs of the monks and the monastery, as well as commit to doing their part in creating and maintaining a harmonious and compassionate community.

Do I need to be a professional artist?

No. Practicing artists at any stage in their career and who work in many disciplines are welcome to apply. We will trust that you take your practice seriously. So far we have been best able to accommodate:

Songwriters, poets, translators, textile artists, fiction writers, plein air painters, pianists, clowns, collage artists, actors, mixed-media artists, film makers, composers, performance artists, folk-musicians, essayists and art teachers... 

If the above descriptions feel like an atmosphere that is calling to you, that is a good sign that you will be happy here. 

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Program Rates for Summer 2025

Full Residency Rate: $1250
Discount Tier 1: $1000
Discount Tier 2: $800
               +
Brother Justin Fellowship: $350

Why Tiered Pricing?

We hope to welcome artists at various stages of career and income levels. For this reason, we use tiered pricing that allows artists to choose the cost that is most appropriate to their situation. We raise funds during the year to help underwrite these tiered discounts & fellowships.

The full cost of the residency is $1250. If you are in a position to pay the full residency fee, we ask for your honesty and respect to select this tier. It helps give opportunities to other artists in our community. What is better than artists supporting fellow artists? Otherwise, please self-select one of the discount tiers in accordance with your financial situation. All applicants of these three tiers will be considered in one main applicant pool and the selecting won't effect chances of acceptance. There is a seperate pool for the Br. Justin Fellowship; see below.

Brother Justin Fellowship

We are excited and proud to offer this tier, as we recognize that even the $800 discount tier is a stretch for many artists. For those artists in need of even deeper support, we offer the Br. Justin Fellowship, a special $350 artist’s contribution tier, thanks to our generous donors. These fellowships are limited to only a few artists each session, and therefore these applicants will be considered in a different pool. You will select on your application which pool you’d like to be placed in.

Our fellowship is named after Br. Justin Young. Br. Justin was a beautiful, creative, energetic monk at Mt. Saviour. He was deeply tuned to beauty and creativity, with degrees in Fine Art and Theater, and was our biggest champion when we first proposed the residency to Mt. Saviour in 2018. He passed away suddenly a few months before our first session at the monastery, but we know he has been and continues to be with us. We like to think of Br. Justin as our unofficial patron saint!



Help us in our efforts and make a donation below to support these artist fellowships and discounts:

 Donate︎