Full Description of ISLAND Programs
[residency] [internship] [workshops & events] [library]
The Residency Program is an opportunity for artists — visual and performance artists, writers, filmmakers and musicians — as well as natural designers, sustainable materials builders, naturalists, land use planners, craftspeople, students of homesteading practices and alternative energy advocates (in the interest of brevity and clarity, hereafter referred to as “residents” or “residency applicants”) to live, work and learn on a piece of land provided for that purpose.
The Residency Program is open to folks who fit a number of different criteria:
- dedicated residency applicants looking for time and space to develop their work;
- professionals (such as graphic designers, educators) looking for a sabbatical to reconnect to personal development;
- learners willing to trade volunteer labor for experiential education at a basic or intermediate level
Residents will stay and work with ISLAND for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of eight weeks.
All residents must undergo an application process to determine their fit with the vision and programs of the Residency. The application process consists of a written application, including both resume-type information and open-ended questions requiring thoughtful answers. A phone or email conversation may be conducted to further clarify answers and intent.
Fit with the program is an important consideration that goes beyond simply being a qualified residency applicant. A good fit with ISLAND will include the following:
- professionalism, contagious curiosity and the potential to complete projects of quality;
- comfortable with rustic accommodations, which may include shared bathrooms, small spaces, second hand furniture, old-fashioned heating and cooling (woodstoves and fans);
- willing to participate in the daily upkeep of the land, including cooking, animal care (feeding chickens, goats, ducks, etc.), organic gardening, general cleaning (such as vacuuming, washing windows and dishes, etc.) and other farm or homestead type activities (chopping wood, turning the compost pile, etc.);
- interested in meeting others, developing relationships, discussing one’s work or area of interest, exploring areas that may seem outside one’s area of interest;
- supportive of sustainable living, in love with the natural world (even when it’s raining, or 20° below zero outside), willing and able to eat a restricted (vegan, vegetarian, local & seasonal, etc.) diet, relatively fit and healthy, self-directed and open minded;
- not compelled to use drugs or abuse alcohol while working as a resident.
A committee formed by the Board of Directors will choose residents from the pool of applicants.
PLEASE NOTE: ISLAND is not accepting residency applications at this time. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact us.
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Internship Program - The ISLAND internship program is based on the WWOOF concept of exchanging volunteer labor for room, board and experience. The internship program, like the residency program, is application based, and is open to students 18 and older who have the same fit with ISLAND that the residency applicants have.
Essentially, interns will work and live on the land, assisting with the day to day up keep of the property, buildings and living things. As needed, interns will tackle projects (weeding the garden, repairing a leaky faucet, building a compost bin, etc) or help with work projects on the properties of partners.
Interns will also be expected to make a small contribution to ISLAND to assist with the cost of their room and board, and to help ISLAND grow in its mission.
In exchange, interns will receive free access to all workshops and events, have additional time to work and speak with the presenters of these workshops and events, and have the opportunity to pursue educational projects of their own design.
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Workshops & Events - ISLAND will also provide programs and projects for those who may be able to visit and work with ISLAND for a matter of hours or days, but who are not interested in pursuing a full residency. ISLAND will provide projects through staff created and organized events.
Workshops and events will take place on the land (small-scale) or in a community space off-site rented for the purpose (larger scale). See the sidebar for an incomplete but suggestive list of potential workshop and event topics.
Workshops will be taught by ISLAND staff, residents or guest instructors, and may be single events lasting a couple of hours, one or two day workshops, or two week intensive courses. Workshops may also consist of multiple classes spread out over a number of weeks, in the mode of community education courses. Fees for these workshops will range from donation only events to sliding scale fees up to $2,000.00 ore more for a full two-week intensive course taught by a recognized expert.
Events will also include guest lectures, film viewings and performances, typically held in community venues. These kinds of events will take place as semi-regular events, or as a number of thematically connected weekly events in a series lasting four to twelve weeks.
ISLAND will also, in Phase III, host regular (monthly or bi-monthly) open house events, combining a potluck with a guided tour of the land and projects, an overview of our work to come and time for conversation and networking.
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Resource Library - ISLAND has already invested in roughly 2,000 library books covering the topics of sustainable living, alternative building, renewable resource use, natural design and art.
During Phases I and II, the library will be located in or adjacent to the directors’ offices, allowing them to manage the library while they work, or in public space managed by a partner organization.
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What is a residency program?
Although residency programs vary depending on the organization, we really like the definition provided by the Alliance of Artists Communities:
"There are places—hundreds of them, in fact—where artists can go simply to work on their art...Whether for a week or a year or more, these places exist to support the creation of new work and risk-taking in environments rich in stimulation and fellowship. In short, they are the 'Research & Development' department of the creative culture.
'Artist' doesn’t tell the whole story. Those served by these residencies are creative individuals of all kinds: visual and performing artists, composers and choreographers, playwrights and poets, creative and scholarly writers, architects and designers, historians, ecologists, scientists, and more."
Workshop and Event Categories
art focus
painting
photography
music
theatre
dance
writing
sculpture
crafts
pottery
weaving
loom
carving
furniture making
straw bale
stone
cob, adobe and rammed earth
earth sheltered or underground
timber frame
tree house
yurts, tepees and other non-permanent dwellings
passive solar
cordwood
double or super insulated stick built
papercrete
log
new technologies and combinations of the above
maintenance and renovation
specific trades
plumbing
electric
masonry
carpentry
salvage
homesteading
beekeeping
preserving food
canning
pickling
freezing
curing
drying
root cellaring
cheesemaking
homebrewing
animal care
goats
chickens
ducks
pigs
rabbits
syruping and sugaring
soap making
candle making
forestry
philosophy
ecological footprint
seventh generation
sacred spaces
agriculture
no till
biodynamics
extended season
orcharding
rooftop
animals
intensive and other methods
engineering and design
GIS
autocad
pattern languages
human scale/real world design
universal design
biomimicry
design for the environment (dfe)
environmentally benign manufacturing (ebm)
life cycle analysis (lca)
life cycle costing (lcc)
product stewardship
appropriate technology
bicycles
pumps
basic machines
cookstoves
methane digesters
aquaculture
irrigation
waste management
greywater
humanure
water purification
reuse & recycling
waste as food
alternative energy
passive solar
photovoltaic
wind power
hydro power
people and pedal power
wood heating
and more!
