The write stuff for writers’ work
Many of the artists taking part in writer-in-residence programs find the work costly – and rewarding.
ORLANDO — Eleanor Matthews was inspired.
“I had the germ of an idea for a new novel,” she said. “It’s kind of a quiet novel in that it’s very much about a sense of place. So I really needed quiet to picture that and make that realistic.”
While she was able to get some writing done at her home in England, daily life wasn’t ideal for hammering out a new book.
“You have huge chunks of time that are broken up and your brain gets taken elsewhere. I think it’s quite difficult to focus, especially when you just starting a novel, when you keep getting taken out of it by bills.”
Matthews, 30, is the latest writer-in-residence for the Kerouac Project, an Orlando residency program that gives writers three months alone in a College Park house once lived in by author Jack Kerouac.
The idea of a free place to live for a time is obviously a big draw to people looking to create their opus. But the time comes with other costs that can take serious financial planning. The artists-inresidence programs themselves can struggle with making ends meet, too.
“In the U.S., we don’t invest in artists to spend time creating,” said Kevin Seaman, a performance artist from Los Angeles who attended a residency at New Smyrna Beach’s Atlantic Center for the Arts in 2016. Coming from San Francisco, the 36-year-old’s biggest expense was transportation. “I put a lot of things on credit cards … It’s a pretty penny, but it pays off.”
Known as the ACA, the Atlantic Center program is unique among residencies for its collaborative nature. The center chooses three master artists in a variety of fields from music to visual arts and each master selects up to eight artists from a group of applicants. These associate artists spend time honing their craft with the master.
“Some people don’t even create while we’re there,” said Ya La’Ford, a visual artist who splits her time between Tampa and New York. She attended in 2014. “They just do what they need to do to move their practice forward.”
The ACA also is unusual in that it charges a $900 fee to associate artists to help cover the costs.
“We’re working on eliminating that,” says Kathryn Peterson, marketing and membership director for the center.
Expenses can be considerable. The master artists are each paid an honorarium of $5,000 for their three weeks, in addition to covering their travel and getting them a vehicle during their stay. Residents also get all of their meals free at the facility.
“I think our chef does an amazing job of preparing some fabulous meals on really a shoestring budget,” said residency director Nick Conroy.
All told, the ACA spends about $4,000 per associate resident. Through a combination of grants and donors, the residency program has an annual operating budget of $1.6 million.
The Kerouac Project is relatively cheaper, with a price tag of about $28,000 a year to host four writers.
“It’s still real money, and it still has to come from somewhere,”
said Geoff Benge, director of the residency for the past three years. The biggest costs are maintenance of the 100-year-old house. “We’re gearing up for a capital campaign under the banner of making it ready for the next 100 years,” he said.
Since taking on residents in 2000, the Kerouac Project does not charge a fee. In fact, it gives the writers a food stipend of $1,000, plus a bike to get around town. Making it all last is something of a balancing act.
“Once you’re here and you get a sense of what food costs, you can plan,” Matthews said.
Planning is a big part of the decision to take a residency. The Maitland Art Center, created in 1937 as an artists’ colony, started taking residents in 2013.
Artists can apply for three-, six- and nine-week stints.
“We hope to get more artists to apply for six and nine weeks so that they will engage with the local community more,” said director of experiences Rangsook Yoon. “But there are a lot more applications for the three-week period because it’s less interruptive to their life.”
Many artists can’t afford to take weeks and months at a time away from their jobs. Matthews works for the University of Bristol back home, which she says has been very encouraging. “I was extremely lucky in having a supportive partner and a supportive job. Here in the U.S., from what I’ve gathered, it would be very difficult to get three months off.”
“There are scholarships for eating, but there are not scholarships for the lifestyle you’re leaving behind,” said La’Ford, 38.
Writer Kevin OttemFox has twice done the ACA residency.
“I work as a writer as people work as writers, which means I have a day job,” he said. “One of the ways I have set up my day job is that I have the flexibility to take time off ... If you’re going to have a steady income stream, it needs to be flexible.”
La’Ford, who splits her time between New York and Tampa, says taking residencies is a necessary step for improvement as an artist. “If you’re only painting and you’re not focusing on making sure you enrich your career in residencies, then you’re going to drop that ball.”
Some residencies require community engagement components from their residents. The Kerouac Project asks their residents to attend a welcome session and a farewell reading. The ACA sends it masters out to perform or lecture in Central Florida but doesn’t ask anything of the associate residents. These events can help with fundraising, but they don’t cover the expenses.
“It’s a net loss,” says Conroy. “But that’s why we’re in business.”
But the residencies leave their impact in other ways. OttemFox moved to Ormond Beach in part because of his time at the ACA, so he jokes that it definitely affected the local economy. “I bought a house,” he said.
Seaman is headed to Miami later this year for a collaborative performance with someone he met at his residency. And Benge notes that a number of residents have gone to literary success, such as Irish poet Annemarie Ní Churreáin.
“It’s incredible,” Peterson said. “Something will start as a seed here, and the next thing you know it’s opening in London or Berlin. What we do here really does spread throughout the world.”