HAMBIDGE RESIDENCIES

The Hambidge Center is situated on 600 forested acres in the mountains of north Georgia and offers miles of nature trails, meadows, waterfalls, a swimming hole and an abundance of wildflowers.

The oldest residency program in the Southeast, Hambidge provides a self-directed program that honors the creative process and trusts individuals to know what they need to cultivate their talent, whether it’s to work and produce, to think, to experiment or to rejuvenate. Residents’ time is their own; there are no workshops, critiques, nor required activities.

Each resident is given their own private studio which provides work and living space with a bathroom and full kitchen. The studios are designed to protect residents’ time, space and solitude.

Resident groups are intentionally kept small enough (8-10 people) to gather around the dinner table each evening, Tuesday through Friday, for delicious vegetarian meals prepared by our chef. These communal meals are an essential part of the Hambidge residency experience. Serious topics are discussed (and light-hearted ones, too), experiences are shared, and encouragement is given. Many a collaboration and life-long friendship have begun at the Hambidge dinner table.

Members of each resident group come from different walks of life and work in different creative disciplines; from musicians, culinary artisans and scientists, to visual artists, writers, dancers and arts & culture administrators. Each year, residents of all ages come to Hambidge from over 30 states across the U.S., as well as internationally.

Specialized equipment and facilities include the Antinori Pottery Studio, and a beautifully rebuilt turn-of-the-century Steinway grand piano housed in Garden Studio.

Accessibility - Hambidge offers two ADA-compliant studios: Brena Studio and Cove Studio. Our dining and common areas can be navigated, but are not yet fully compliant. There are no sidewalks or paved areas; the connecting driveways are gravel and uneven. If you come to Hambidge without a car, the on-campus studios will require a walk to get to Lucinda’s Rock House. On average, the studios are 0.3 miles from the Rock House with a 157-elevation gain, walking on a gravel road with uneven terrain. For more information, please contact our Office Manager at 706-746-7324.


WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU APPLY

  • The studios are comfortable, but rustic and secluded. They are purposely simple, and most are out of sight of each other and somewhat isolated. 

  • We are located in a forested environment. Residents should expect to occasionally encounter wildlife and insects – and sometimes the insects are inside the studios. 

  • It is very dark at night. There are no street lights or ambient light, other than the moon and stars.

  • Due to our remote location, there is no cell service at Hambidge. Each studio has a phone for emergency, local and incoming calls. 

  • To encourage focused creativity, there is no internet in the studios. WiFi is available 24 hours a day in the communal space of Lucinda's Rock House.

Please thoroughly read the Guidelines, Application Instructions, and our FAQs before submitting your application.


APPLICATION DEADLINES

• Apply from December 1 through January 15 for the SUMMER SESSION (June through August).

• Apply from March 1 through April 15 for the FALL SESSION (September through December).

• Apply from August 1 through September 15 for the SPRING SESSION of the following year (mid-February through May).

Hambidge is closed from mid-December to mid-February.

[+] Guidelines

Eligibility
Qualified applicants must feel they have achieved a level of excellence within their discipline. We are looking for applicants whose creative practice is a professional practice and not a hobby. It is not required that your creative career is your only career, or that you make your livelihood doing it. We seek applications from emerging and mid-career creatives, as well as from those who are established with national and/or international reputations.

Applications for residency are judged primarily on the quality of submitted work samples and professional promise. Hambidge accepts approximately 170 artists each year. There are no publication, exhibition, or performance requirements contingent on a Hambidge residency.

The Hambidge Center encourages creative professionals of all backgrounds to apply for admission. We celebrate varied ideas, world views, and personal characteristics, and are committed to being an organization that welcomes and respects everyone regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, race, religion, philosophical or political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, nationality, geographic origin, and socioeconomic status.

Returning Fellows
Returning Fellows must submit a new application with recent work samples in the appropriate category of their discipline. After attending a Hambidge residency, Fellows must wait 2 years before returning. For instance, if you were in residence during the 2022 Summer Session, you may apply to return for the 2024 Summer Session.

Fees
There is a $30 application fee. If this represents a barrier to submitting an application, please contact our Office Manager at office@hambidge.org to discuss a waiver. The DEADLINE to request a fee waiver is four days before the application deadline.

The residency fee is $250 per week.
Note: the actual cost of a residency is $2250/wk. Every year, the Hambidge Center raises funds to supplement $1950 for every residency week, leaving each resident with only the $250/wk fee.

Funding
Hambidge offers several merit-based Distinguished Fellowships which remove the fees for a two-week residency and provide a $700 stipend. Available Distinguished Fellowships vary from session to session and are listed in each session's application. Unless otherwise noted, they are reserved for first-time residents. The list of previously awarded Distinguished Fellowships can be seen here.

Financial Aid
Hambidge offers limited financial aid scholarships to accepted residents. The average award amount is $250, with a maximum award of $500. In an average year, aid is awarded to 35% of those who requst it; resulting in 8% of all residents receiving some financial aid.

Upon acceptance to the program, applicants requesting financial aid will have five days to complete the required forms and may be asked to submit last year's tax return or other confirmation. International applicants will be asked to complete a questionnaire instead of providing a tax return.

Admission Panels
Applications in each discipline are reviewed by panels of three esteemed peers within that discipline. Panel membership is rotated frequently.

Length of Stay
Applicants may request stays between two weeks and eight weeks. Residents arrive on Tuesday and depart on Sunday. Residencies of one week are available to Arts & Culture Administrator applicants and Culinary applicants ONLY. Eight-week residencies will only be scheduled in the Fall and Spring Sessions. The maximum length of residencies awarded in Summer Session is four weeks. Because of differing lengths of individual stays, residents will arrive and depart on varying schedules.

Creative Disciplines
Hambidge accepts applications in the following disciplines:

ARTS & CULTURE ADMINISTRATION - including proposals for professional projects and/or personal creative projects by administrators working for arts, culture or environmental organizations, or independently (a freelance curator, for example). It is not a requirement that the organization be a non-profit, however it must be an organization that works with or assists other people or produces public projects.

CERAMICS - including functional and sculptural

CULINARY ARTS - including recipe development, cookbook writing, food writing, food styling, food photography, and food preservation

DANCE - including choreography, performance, and theory

MUSIC - including composition, performance, vocal, and theory, in all genres of music

SCIENCE - this residency offers scientists in any branch of science a place to write and/or organize research

VISUAL ARTS - including book arts, conceptual art, design, drawing, environmental art, fiber arts, film & video, installation arts, metalworking, mixed media, multimedia art, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and woodworking

Note: We do not have darkroom, sculpture/woodworking, or printmaking facilities, but provide exploration space for artists working in those disciplines. Those working in wood or metal must bring their own tools and machinery.

WRITING - including academic scholarship, criticism, fiction, history, poetry, journalism, nonfiction, philosophy, playwriting, screenwriting, storytelling

Multidisciplinary
If your proposal combines PROFESSIONAL expertise in more than one discipline, you will be asked to indicate the other discipline(s) that should be considered in the JUDGING of your proposal. Make sure your proficiency in each discipline is demonstrated in your submitted work samples. Expert jurors from all the indicated disciplines will be asked to judge your submission at an expert level.

Examples: a journalist creating both written and photographic content; a graphic novelist; a ceramicist writing a guide to glazes. NOT, for example, a visual artist exploring scientific themes in their work.

NOTE: Don't weaken your application by including secondary, less expert work samples. If, for example, you are a dancer who intends to dance during your residency, but also enjoys painting, you may dance and paint if you're accepted at Hambidge without saying you are Multidisciplinary and without including paintings in your work samples.

References
Hambidge no longer requires letters of recommendation as part of the application materials.

Collaborations
Collaborative couples and groups must submit the Slideroom application specific to Collaborations. EACH MEMBER of the collaboration must ALSO complete this form before the deadline in order for your application to be complete.

Couples
Non-collaborating couples who wish to be in residence together must submit individual applications. They may request concurrent residency dates and choose whether or not to share studio/living space. The acceptance of one partner does NOT guarantee the acceptance of the other. No other provisions are made for partners.

Children
Hambidge has hosted several residents accompanied by their children. We are still developing our parental program, but we are quite willing to work with applicants to find the best timing and to recommend part-time childcare for their stay. Before you submit an application, read more about our Parental Residencies.

Pets
With the exception of certified service animals (as defined by the ADA), pets are not permitted.

International Applicants
Hambidge welcomes applicants in all disciplines from around the world. Writers who work in languages other than English should supply samples of work in translation as well as in the original. A working understanding of English is required. Hambidge does not provide an interpreter for residents who speak little or no English.

[+] Application Instructions

All application materials must be submitted electronically through hambidge.slideroom.com. Step-by-step instructions are included in each application. For technical assistance during the application process, contact Slidroom Support in the Help tab of the application portal.

Late applications will not be accepted.

Notification of results is sent via email approximately 7-8 weeks after the application deadline.
NOTE: We will contact you using the contact information in your Slideroom Account. Before submitting your application, please double check to make sure ALL your Slideroom account info is current.

The applicant portal is open

  • On December 1 through January 15 for the SUMMER SESSION (June through August)
  • On March 1 through April 15 for the FALL SESSION (September through December)
  • On August 1 through September 15 for the SPRING SESSION of the following year (mid-February through May)

APPLICATION MATERIALS INCLUDE

Applicant Proposal
A one-page proposal which addresses the concept and direction of submitted work samples, what you hope to acheive while at Hambidge, and how a residency will move your practice forward.

Hambidge honors the creative process and has no requirements for specific accomplishments during a residency. Therefore, we don’t require that your proposal be about a specific project - although it can be, if you have one in mind. In the proposal section of the application, it is very important that you describe your work and where you are within your practice in a cohesive way. The jurors need to understand what is important to you in your work (ie: conceptually, socially, formally, etc), how you see your work developing, and how a Hambidge residency will further that development.

Bio
A 300-word Bio which includes a brief description of education, training, achievements and honors.

Resume/CV
This one-page summary should include educational background, teaching, publications, exhibitions, awards, honors and other pertinent experience.

Preferred Residency Dates

Work Samples
These should be recent and representative of the best work according to the applicant’s medium and discipline.
See below for specific requirements for each discipline.

Arts and Cultural Administrators
This residency opportunity encourages personal work in creative media for a rejuvenating experience, but we also understand the need and benefits of having focused time to work on professional projects. You may propose to work on either or both.

NOTE: We consider creative disciplines to be professional careers, but for the purposes of this application, we will term your creative discipline as "personal creative," and work you might do for your organization as "professional." Examples of professional projects: writing a grant; organizational review; researching a project; creating a marketing plan. Examples of personal creative work: painting; functional ceramics; writing poetry; composing an opera.

If you're proposing to do work for your organization during your residency, submit supporting materials from your organization. This can include PDF documents about your organization, images, video, and links to social media. If proposing to do personal creative work, submit a combination of recent work samples and supporting materials from your organization. Accepted files: PDF documents (up to 10MB each), images (jpg or png; up to 5 MB each), video (mov or mp4; up to 250MB each, or link to embedded files on YouTube or Vimeo), sound files, and links to social media.

Ceramics
Submit up to ten high resolution images of your work. Any detail images must be included in that number. Image format: jpg or png; up to 5 MB each. If your work includes video, sound, or performance, you may include video or sound files within your total of ten items. Audio format: mp3; up to 30 MB each, or link to embedded files (e.g. SoundCloud). Video format: mov or mp4; up to 250MB each, or link to embedded files (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo)

Culinary
In support of the proposal, you may submit supporting material in the form of PDF documents (up to 10MB each), images (jpg or png; up to 5 MB each), video (mov or mp4; up to 250MB each, and/or link to embedded files on YouTube or Vimeo), and links to social media.

Dance
Submit up to 4 separate works. Video format: mov or mp4; up to 250MB each, or link to embedded files (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo)

Music
Submit up to 4 separate audio files up to 30 MB each, or link to embedded files (e.g. SoundCloud)

Sciences
Provide curriculum vitae and abstracts from recent works along with descriptions of your areas of research. Document format: pdf; up to 10 MB each.

Writing
Submit 12 to 15 double-spaced pages of your work. Extra pages will not be reviewed. Include a synopsis of the larger work to provide context. Poets submit 6 to 8 poems or appropriate excerpts from longer works. Playwrights submit 10-15 pages in the standard format. Screenwriters submit 10-15 pages in the standard format.

Include your name on each page of your submission and pages numbers on multi-page entries. For writers who work in languages other than English, submit both original language examples and English translations. Document format: pdf; up to 10 MB each.

Visual Arts
Submit up to ten high resolution images of your work. Any detail images must be included in that number. Image format: jpg or png; up to 5 MB each. If your work includes video, sound, or performance, you may include video or sound files within your total of ten items. Audio format: mp3; up to 30 MB each, or link to embedded files (e.g. SoundCloud). Video format: mov or mp4; up to 250MB each, or link to embedded files (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo)