ELIGIBILITY: Applicants must be Graduates of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. All Salt graduates are eligible, whether or not they attended Salt at MECA&D.
ABOUT THE RESIDENCY: Salt’s partnership with the Monson Art's residency program supports emerging documentarians and artists by providing them time and space to devote to their creative practices. Priority will be given to early-career applicants who have not yet done any artist residencies.
ABOUT THE RESIDENCY: Monson Arts is a new artists’ residency and arts center in Monson, Maine. Programs in development include residencies for artists and writers, intensive shorter workshops, and educational partnerships with area secondary schools. Monson is located at the edge of Maine’s North Woods - a 3.5 million acres of forest bordering Canada. It is the last town on the Appalachian Trail before the beginning of the 100-Mile Wilderness that leads to Mount Katahdin. Since it was founded in 1822, the community has had an economy based on natural resources. In the late 19th through the early 20th centuries, slate quarries supported a thriving industry. Moosehead Manufacturing produced wood furniture from the 1945 until its closure in 2007. The region also has a rich arts tradition— ranging from Henry David Thoreau, who wrote about the area in The Maine Woods to photographer Berenice Abbott who lived in nearby Blanchard, to traditional makers such as the North Woods Canoe Company in Atkinson. In the spring of 2017, Maine’s Libra Foundation began investing in the development of an arts program for Monson as a way to spur economic and creative growth in the region. The foundation has purchased and renovated over 20 buildings in the community to be used for residences and studios. Stuart Kestenbaum, former director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Maine’s poet laureate, advised the foundation on the development of the programs. Monson Arts has welcomed over 650 artists and writers from across the globe since 2018. Monson Arts’ mission is to provide time and space for creative work.
RESIDENCY DATES:
SPRING
3/29 - 4/22 - month long Residency
4/26 - 5/20 - month long Residency
5/24 - 6/3 - 2 week Residency
FALL
9/13 - 9/23 - 2 Week Residency
9/27 -10/21 - month long Residency
10/25 - 11/18 - month long Residency
AMENITIES
- Basic studio space
- Housing (private room, shared bath)
- Meals
- Access to basic wood shop and metal shop
- Stipend of $250 for two week residencies and $500 for month-long residencies
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Prepare the following information in advance of submitting your application. Incomplete applications will not be considered for review. Please upload online the following documents and images, not zipped, but individually uploaded.
APPLICATION MATERIALS:
- One-page statement of purpose explaining why you want to attend this residency (PDF)
- Biography
- Resume / CV
- 10 Work Samples
- Image descriptions that correspond to your images which include title, medium, size and year of completion.
- Choice of top three dates
All submissions must have been completed within the last three years. All documents listed above should be saved as a Word document or a PDF. Late and incomplete proposals will not be accepted. Only online applications via Submittable will be accepted. TIMELINE: Deadline for applications is midnight EST on January 31, 2027. Notification of awards will be made in February.
Maine College of Art & Design
The Above and Beyond Grant at MECA&D helps currently enrolled BFA, MFA, and MAT students access structured learning opportunities and experiences that take them above and beyond MECA&D's classrooms and facilities. By applying to this grant, students will learn basic skills in grant writing, budgeting, and formatting work samples while assembling proposals to fund activities such as conferences, workshops, or professional events. This grant does not support self-directed research or learning.
You will be asked to name the professionals who are involved in supervising this activity. Eligibility: For BFA applicants: students need a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the most recent semester. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors must be enrolled for the upcoming semester to qualify. Funds cannot be used for:
+equipment
+ projects that do not have professional supervision + projects that are part of the curriculum + activities that earn academic credit + resources that are available at or through MECA&D + day-to-day creative practice expenses (rent, materials, marketing, etc.)
Requests are capped at $750.
Students may only receive this grant once. Review Criteria: Quality of proposed activity Quality of artwork Clear goals for how this relates to artists' professional development Timing:
For activities taking place before April 1, 2027. Grant Recipients: + All funds are contingent on prior pre-registration or anticipated graduation. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors must be enrolled for the upcoming semester to qualify. + All grant recipients are required to provide a summary report within one month of completing the funded activity.
This form is only for use by students who applied for and received money supporting professional development from the Maine College of Art & Design.
Congratulations on receiving a grant from the Maine College of Art & Design to support your professional development and future creative and career growth!
This report form helps us keep track of what you did with your grant money, what you learned, and whether your experience is something we should encourage other students to pursue.