Nature, Art, & Habitat Residency
Alternative Fellowship in Santa Ynez Valley, Southern California - October 2023
Apply by June 15th for the California Alternative Residency Fellowship in October!
A few years back I heard about this Nature, Art, & Habitat Residency (NAHR) fellowship in Italy and dreamed of being able to attend. 2-4 weeks during the summer in a tiny town in the Alps, surrounded by other artists, designers, writers, and philosophers — to work on a project of my choosing based on the annually selected theme. At the time it seemed so far out of my reach to be an impossibility — so I kept dreaming.
Then last year (2022) I heard that the theme was SOIL, and I decided “This is my year! I’ve got to find a project to apply for the fellowship with! This is my year!”
I came up with a pitch, and called it “Soil as Pattern Language: Emulating Healthy Soil Communities.” The idea was that I would visit local regenerative ag farms and ranches and look at their soil samples under a microscope to see what kind of healthy soil microbiome I could use as a metaphorical design template on how we might improve the designs of our meta-soil communities (farms, rural communities, regional food systems).
The application included pulling together a portfolio of some of my work — for this I gathered some items from my master’s program — as well as a CV and some references.
I was concerned about the fact that my project wasn’t necessarily “art,” but I found that I needn’t be as the fellowship is open to anyone with a project that would be appropriate for the region.
I applied for the California alternative residency as it was more reasonable for me to take the 2 weeks off of work and drive up to the location with my car than to travel to Italy. I had some contacts in the Santa Ynez Valley already from the 10-day Holistic Management and Ranching (Savory Institute) workshop I had taken in 2019.
The alternative residency program in California was the perfect fit for me, although before I applied I had concerns about being so “alone”. I would have 2 weeks to spend in a studio space (with a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen) to work out of and have as my “home base”. Coming from the city, it was a bit odd being so alone, and took a bit of getting used to.
The residency didn’t have any upfront costs besides becoming a fellow-member of NAHR (about $50). But I did need to cover all my transportation to, around, and home from the fellowship, food costs, supplies, and any other expenses incurred during my fellowship.
The October California Alternative Fellowship is collecting applications through June 15th. You can find more information at NAHR.it and you can go to the Current Program page, scroll to the bottom and click “apply”.