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And Now…
This year, approximately 100 Sedona Summer Colony artists were chosen through an application process. The artists will live on the campus for one-, two- and three-week intervals from July 16 through August 5. This year they will also need to pay a fee: $65 per day. Paul says he hopes one day the colony will receive grants to offset its costs, but until then, the organizers needed to do something to make sure the program was sustainable. “We aren’t looking to make money, but it’s been our intent all along that the colony pay for itself,” he says.
Though artists were invited to apply for the colony, there was still a vetting process, says Eric. “We’re looking for diversity,” he says. “Diversity of age, race, gender and creative disciplines. We want established and emerging artists, but they all have to be serious about their work. Last year, we had some artists under the age of 25 who were producing incredible work. We also had artists in their early 70s.”
The other new component to the 2017 colony is the chance for local artists to spend the day creating work on campus. For $30, an artist can take advantage of everything the full-time colonists receive minus the overnight accommodations. “Last year’s missing ingredient was the local artists,” says Paul. “They wanted to be involved, and we wanted to create an opportunity for that to happen. It was amazing to see how the artists last year inspired each other, and I think that will happen even moreso when you add locals into the mix.”
The weekly excursions will continue this year, as will the private, half-day tours of Museum of Northern Arizona’s Easton Collection Center, part of the museum’s Research Campus. Artists will also be on their own for dinner twice a week, something Eric calls Dinner on the Town. Transportation will bring the artists into Sedona where they will have the chance to
dine and shop. The popular Sunday potlucks are back, too. Those happen every Sunday, 4-6 p.m., and are open to anyone in the community who wants to share a dish and meet international artists.
Just like last year, there’s no requirement for artists to produce a finished piece during their Sedona retreat, a concept that is confusing for some art lovers but liberating for most artists. Some 2016 participants did produce a final product while others are still working on concepts developed at the colony. There are at least two books in progress. Eric, Paul and Carol say they’ve heard feedback from multiple artists about the effect Sedona had on their creativity. The colony’s Facebook page is full of heartwarming anecdotes.
“For people who find themselves here, they seem to experience something profound,” says Paul. “They can’t help but leave feeling inspired, moved and impacted by the beauty, the terrain – even the stars. There’s something about this place that makes an artist commit to labor further and make something lasting about their time here.”
For more information, visit www.sedonasummercolony.org or call 928-282-3809.
