PORT TOWNSEND — Artists will find lower-cost residencies at Centrum in the month of February.
Centrum, an arts nonprofit located within Fort Worden State Park, is slashing $100 from its weekly fee for sculptors, painters, photographers, writers and other creative folks who wish to apply for a residency.
“It’s that time of year when it is great to stay inside and get a lot of work done,” said Martha Worthley, residency manager at Centrum.
Once Worthley approves an artist’s application, she said, she will charge $300 a week for private housing in the park.
Studio spaces and meals are not included, although residences have fully equipped kitchens and a small amount of workspace.
A studio costs between $50 and $75 per week depending on its size.
Residency applications require a project proposal, biography, statement and work samples.
One week is the minimum stay.
“My studio at home is only 7 feet wide,” said resident artist Margie McDonald of Port Townsend.
McDonald reserved a top-floor studio for a month at the fort’s 205 Building to work on 12 sculptures ranging in size from 1 to 6 feet long. That studio is 48 feet long by 35 feet wide. Other available studios are 24 feet by 11 feet and 17 feet by 12 feet.
“Being able to work in a huge space like this lets me really see what my work would look like in a gallery space,” McDonald said.
”It’s been a great place for experimenting. There’s light, sinks, running water — all those good things I don’t have in my studio at home.”
Two artists-in-residence arrived in January from out of state.
“Centrum was a mutual choice for Lisa and me,” said Sandra Hunter, a fiction writer from Simi Valley, Calif.
She and her artistic partner, Lisa Sanders, an artist from Newark, N.J., are working “in parallel,” according to their artist statement, “with Sandra sending Lisa pieces of poetry and prose and Lisa sending images of drawings, paintings and sculptures.”
“We looked at a couple of other residencies,” Hunter said, “but nothing compared to the facilities at Centrum and the breathtakingly beautiful location.”
For more information, visit www.centrum.org/residencies or send an email to mworthley@centrum.org.
