How to Apply for Residency Sessions
We take a small group of people for each of the year’s intensive residency sessions, and enrollment is only open until residency sessions fill to capacity, so we advise you to be in touch with us as soon as possible. This page details enrollment cost, options, application instructions and things to consider before you apply.
Mildred’s Lane schedules residencies with Fellows on an individual basis. The annual Residency Program is guided, but not fixed, by the annual calendar of Summer Sessions. A majority of Fellowships are scheduled to coincide with a particular Session, though some fellows come for independent study that may overlap multiple sessions.
Residency/Fellowship Programs incur a fixed weekly cost. Costs cover expenses of lodging, food, and session materials, compensate our session collaborators for their intensive preparation of these unique curricula, and help to furnish honoraria for our visiting artists and lecturers.
1-week Fellowship — $1,300.00
2-week Fellowship — $2,400.00
3-week Fellowship — $3,600.00
By the day — $200/fellow
Overnight — $350/fellow
The richest experience recommended by Mildred’s Lane is for enrollment in 1–2 weeks of Independent Study and 1–2 weeks of an intensive session, in either order. Fellows in residence at Mildred’s Lane for two weeks or more will experience the dynamic range of an intensive educational environment and an open-ended social-ecological experience.
Once you have been accepted into the residency program by following the application instructions below, you can MAKE A PAYMENT. We require a 50% non-refundable deposit toward the length of stay upon acceptance and the total balance upon arrival to Mildred's Lane.
If you are a student or faculty member, see “INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIPS SECTION BELOW” and get in touch with the institutional department chairs and professors to potentially sponsor your enrollment.
Application Instructions
We review independent applications year-round. Please apply as early as January.
1) An essay or letter of interest explaining the reasons for wanting to be a part of the Mildred's Lane experience, 1–3 pages or equivalent
2) a letter of recommendation from a mentor or colleague
3) a résumé
4) a portfolio or work sample — a website or compilation of captioned images suffices
Please send applications in pdf form to workstyles@mildredslane.org
The fellow application is not designed to evaluate an applicant’s practice against any sort of subjective rubric, but to identify people who earnestly seek a collaborative environment for the exchange of ideas and engagement with the session topic. As well as folks who demonstrate an interest in the unique setting of Mildred’s Lane — if you haven’t already, do check out our 2024 catalogue that speaks to the environment more holistically.
The recommendation may included on letterhead as part of the application, or sent informally via email directly by the recommender. Recommendation may come from a supervisor, teacher, mentor, or qualified colleague. We aim to be inclusive of those who have not necessarily had formal education or professional experience within their given area of interest, nor do we abide by hierarchies of teacher & student. What we want to see is that the prospective fellow has a community around their work—that someone else can speak to their creative practice and ethos.
Is it the Right Fit?
Mildred's Lane is not suitable for everybody; it is a highly unusual social engagement and experience. The entire landscape becomes the studio. It is a rustic site where we apply our creative skills to every aspect of life. We cooperate in a critical engagement with the environment and each other through a collective labor system called WORKSTYLES. We all maintain and steward the site projects. It requires collaborative involvement, learning to work, and live together – better.
Mildred's Lane seeks rigorous, transdisciplinary individuals to function within a small group of other select, highly skilled creatives. We provide vital skills in working within a given community through the art of WORKSTYLES. Ask questions such as: Is the individual ready for a rustic experience deep in the woods? Is the individual willing to share the daily workstyles to benefit the group? Is the individual willing to work with others collectively? Is the individual self-motivated? Curious? Ready for change – to be a part of the change? We are excited to work together!
Institutional Partnerships
Mildred’s Lane works with dozens of academic graduate programs on an annual basis. Partner Institutions send fellows to our intensive residency sessions and/or for independent study. We think of this program as an award for exceptional student(s) and faculty with an interest in collaborative and interdisciplinary praxis.
Select a fellow by an internal application or use our application process. These are options for involvement:
• A Sending Institution structures scholarship funds in various ways to support fellowships for one or more persons in the sessions.
• A Sending Institution may contract Mildred's Lane as an adjunct arrangement, mentor, or instructor(s) including the use of the entire site and facilities, a program of instruction, lectures, workshops, events, or other devised by the participants.
• A Sending Institution may come as destination guests for short stays participating in the current program or collaborating with Mildred's Lane.