Jasper Johns plans artists’ retreat as legacy

Jasper Johns, America’s most acclaimed living artist, has a plan to make sure his bucolic Connecticut estate remains a creative haven long after he’s gone.

Johns, 87, whose 1950s depictions of the American flag (left) are considered one of the most influential contemporary works, received a green light last week to turn his 170-acre property in Sharon into an artists’ retreat after he dies.

It’s one of the steps that Johns is taking to cement his legacy — and control how his wealth lives on. He plans to create an endowment to operate the residency and maintain the grounds, according to a proposal submitted to the town’s planning and zoning commission.

The endowment would be funded by proceeds from Johns’ estate and his Low Road Foundation, according to the proposal.

Johns bought the first parcel of land on Low Road in Sharon in 1994. As prices for his art surged into millions of dollars, the artist purchased several more adjacent lots in the rustic town of about 2,900 full-time residents.

The hillside property abutting a lake includes six houses and a large studio in a barn, according to the proposal. It also features a network of trails and paths, an apple orchard and dramatic vistas of a mountain range.

Together, the lots have an assessed valued of $6.6 million as of 2013, according to Patricia Braislin, a tax assessor for the Town of Sharon. Johns declined to comment for this story.

The so-far unnamed retreat will operate as a nonprofit corporation or charitable organization and will welcome visual artists, musicians, dancers, writers and poets, who may work there for as long as three months.

The number of artists will be limited to two dozen at any one time, some of whom could work in the barn that has been Johns’ studio for more than two decades.