MacDowell

MacDowell makes a place in the world for artists, because art makes the world a better place.

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Interdisciplinary artist Chin Chih Yang.

Latest News + Events

Four New Members Bring a Range of Talent and Expertise to MacDowell Board of Directors

MacDowell, the nation’s first artist residency program, is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has elected four new members, tapping into diverse talent and experience in academia, entertainment, finance, cultural strategy, and non-profit development. The four join an all-volunteer board that is focused on guiding MacDowell into the future

Poet Sonia Sanchez to Receive 2022 MacDowell Medal

Novelist and MacDowell Fellow Walter Mosley will introduce the Medalist, a Langston Hughes Award and Robert Frost Medal winner, at a public ceremony that will include picnicking on the grounds, our first since August of 2019.

Firth Studio Upgrade Cuts Carbon Emissions, Increases Workspace and Adds Live-in Comfort

Renovation goals included increased usable wall space, improved lighting, and adding a bedroom and full bathroom, while eliminating a fossil-fuel furnace in favor of an all-electric heat pump.

Arrival of 64 Artists at MacDowell Marks Last of COVID-related Reschedules

The incoming group includes 13 international artists from Spain, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Brazil, Norway, Canada, Philippines, and Australia, and the rest will travel to New Hampshire from their homes in 19 different U.S. states. In total, almost 60 percent of the cohort are arriving for their first MacDowell residencies and all represent the last of MacDowell’s rescheduling efforts as a result of postponements of residencies due to COVID-19.

Swimming in It: Art and (Im)Morality

Author and playwright Jen Silverman argues that imprecise terms such as likability and problematic presuppose that art can be deemed good, bad, moral, or immoral based on a liberal or conservative lens. By saying art is “problematic, you are saying that it constitutes or presents a problem, to which my first instinct is to reply: I hope so,” Jen writes. Read the essay here.

MacDowell Decries Artistic Censorship

Freedom to Create has always been a touchstone of MacDowell’s core vision and values. We stand in solidarity with our artist Fellows against any form of the censorship of art, including violence against art or artists. Among frequently banned and targeted titles written by MacDowell Fellows and Medalists are works of art such as Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Beloved.

Explore Our Comprehensive Artist Index

We list all Fellows from 1907 to the present in this comprehensive artist index. Try the search window to see who's been in residence at MacDowell.

Our Mission, Values and Vision

In the summer of 2021, MacDowell’s staff and board of directors began the process of articulating a shared set of organizational values and revisiting our mission statement. We held our continuing work around diversity, equity, inclusion, and access at the core of these conversations. You can read the full “Mission, Values, and Vision” statement here.

Read About Our Vision

MacDowell Decries Artistic Censorship

In response to recent and ongoing attempts to suppress art in our democratic society, MacDowell issues this statement in solidarity with our artist Fellows against any form of the censorship of art, including violence against art or artists.

Read our statement

Get to know 8,000+ artists

Find out who has gone through our community and how their artistic dreams and passion are being fulfilled.

Browse Artists

Artist Accolades

The writers, visual artists, composers, filmmakers, playwrights, interdisciplinary artists, and architects who have attended MacDowell have won:

97 Pulitzer
Prizes

868 Guggenheim
Fellowships

33 National
Book Awards

8 National
Medals for the Arts

33 MacArthur
Fellowships

117 Rome
Prizes

9 Academy
Awards

18 GRAMMY
Awards

31 Tony
Awards

A house of dreams untold – It looks out over the whispering treetops and faces the setting sun.

- Edward A. MacDowell

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Our next application deadline is September 10, 2022 for Spring-Summer 2023 residencies. The application period will open in July.

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to provide vital support every year to more than 300 artists in seven disciplines.

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