The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is now accepting applications
for short-term artists' residencies in creative writing, visual art,
film/theater, music, and more. These residencies are designed to give
artists time and space to complete their creative projects in a quiet
and productive environment.
The SAFTA farmhouse is located on a working farm that rests on a 29-acre
wooded plot in a Tennessee “holler†perfect for hiking, camping,
and nature walks. Located less than a half hour from downtown
Knoxville, an exciting and creative city of 200,000 in the foothills of
the Great Smoky Mountains, SAFTA is an ideal location for those looking
for a rural get-away with access to urban amenities.
Our short-term residency bedroom is 130 sq. ft. with queen-size platform
bed, closet, small dresser, and desk. The window faces the front of the
house with view of butterfly bush in the yard, and the room is painted
in a rich brick-colored mural by local artist, Chris Johnson.
The communal bathroom, shared with one other visiting artist, features
an oversized mirror, matte-finish white tile floors, glass-finish
white-and-black walls and back-splashes, toilet, and bathtub with large
fixed shower head. The room also contains a wall-length mural by
Sundress artist, Rhonda Lott.
There is also a communal kitchen supplied with stove, refrigerator, and
microwave plus plenty of cook- and dining-ware. Residents will be
responsible for their own food and meals. Please note that there are
currently no laundry facilities on site; however,there is laundry
service available at additional cost, and local laundromats are within a
15-minute drive.
The office has two computers—one Mac, one PC—with access to Microsoft
Office and Adobe Creative Cloud, among other applications. A large
selection of craft supplies is also available. Our library contains over
700 books, including a large contemporary poetry section and, thanks to
the
Wardrobe, many recent titles by women.
The facility also includes a full-size working 19th century Challenge
copy of a C&P old-style letterpress with type, woodworking tools,
and a 1930's drafting table. All tools are available to residency
artists upon training.
Each residency costs $250/week, which includes a room of one's own,
access to our communal kitchen, bathroom, office, and living space, plus
wireless internet and cable. There may be some scholarships and
financial assistance for those with large scale financial hardship;
please indicate this in your application if you feel you qualify. Other
scholarships for minority candidates are also available.
Residents are expected to perform 5-10 hours per week of service work at
the farm as part of their residency. This can include cleaning,
feeding and caring for farm animals, as well as general maintenance at
Firefly Farms.
The length of a residency can run from one to week to two months. We
are currently accepting rolling applications for our next three
residency periods:
October 26th-December 13th, 2014
December 14th, 2014-January 31st, 2015
February 1st-May 31st, 2015
To apply for the Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) residency, you will need the following:
-
Application form (including artist's statement and contact information for two references)
-CV or artist's resume
-Artist sample (see below)
-Application fee of $30 or $15 for current students (with student email)
payable online
FOR WRITERS:
-For Poetry: Writing sample of 8-12 pages
-For Fiction: Writing sample of 10-20 pages
-For Nonfiction: Writing sample of 10-20 pages
-For Playwrights/Screenwriters: Writing sample of 10-30 pages
-For Hybrid Work: Writing sample of 10-20 pages
FOR VISUAL ARTISTS:
We accept visual artists of all types including painters, sculptors,
metal-smiths, graphic designers, fashion designers, graphic novelists,
and those interested working in fiber arts, letterpress,
furniture-making, artisan crafts, handicrafts, etc.
-Representative selection of your portfolio with 8-10 high-quality JPGs (5MB maximum for each image)
FOR FILMMAKERS:
-A film reel of either 1-5 shorts or one full-length film, submitted
either through a .mov or .mp4 format with a maximum of 60MB per file, or
a web link to a streaming digital version
FOR COMPOSERS:
-10-25 minutes of high-quality MP3 or comparable format with a maximum file size of 60MB
OTHER:
We also accept submissions from those working in other artistic mediums
including dance, performance art, culinary arts, etc. If you are
interested in applying, please contact us at
safta@sundresspublications.com to determine what sort of portfolio you would need to supply.
Be sure to attach all of these documents to one email that is sent to
safta@sundresspublications.com.
You can download these application instructions as a PDF
here.
