Organizer Information
Trillium Arts is an artist residency center located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, United States. The organization provides a secluded, nature-immersed environment designed to support creative production, reflection, and research across multiple artistic disciplines. Its mission centers on offering artists time, space, and environmental immersion to develop new work outside the pressures of everyday professional life.
The residency is structured as an intimate, small-scale program where individual artists live and work on-site in isolation from other participants. Trillium Arts emphasizes solitude, natural surroundings, and interdisciplinary exploration, with a strong focus on literary, visual, and time-based practices. The residency is particularly aligned with artists seeking conceptual development, research-driven creation, or restorative creative retreat.
Title & Description
Trillium Arts Individual Artist Residency – Blue Ridge Mountains, USA
The Trillium Arts Residency is a short-term, immersive Residency program designed for individual artists seeking focused creative time in a remote natural environment. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the program offers a secluded setting for artistic development, reflection, and experimentation.
This opportunity supports artists working in the visual arts, writing, photography, and select performance-based disciplines. The residency lasts one week (seven consecutive days) and is structured to provide uninterrupted creative time alongside basic support services and optional mentorship.
Artists live in private accommodations and have access to shared outdoor spaces, including a firepit, hot tub, waterfall area, and covered open-air workspace. The residency encourages engagement with nature as part of the creative process, offering a landscape conducive to ideation, research, and conceptual development.
Two residency formats are available:
- Independent Artist Residency (self-directed practice)
- Mentorship Residency (includes conceptual guidance sessions)
This program is especially suited for artists seeking solitude, focused production time, or early-stage project development in a quiet, rural environment.
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Photography
- Writing / Literature
- Creative Writing
- Interdisciplinary Arts
- Performance (choreography, theater, live arts)
- Arts Administration
- Site-specific / Environmental Practice
Eligibility
- Open internationally (no geographic restrictions specified)
- Applicants must be 21 years or older
- Artists at all career stages (emerging, mid-career, established)
- Individual applicants only (no groups or collectives allowed)
- Suitable for writers, photographers, visual artists, choreographers, and performance artists
- Applicants must be able to work independently in a solo residency setting
- Collaborative projects are not hosted on-site (external accommodation required for collaborators if needed)
Program Benefits & Awards
- Private one-week Residency (7 days)
- Private accommodation in a one-bedroom suite
- Access to natural surroundings and outdoor creative spaces
- Shared facilities including firepit, hot tub, and waterfall area
- Covered outdoor workspace and contemplative areas
- High-speed fiber internet access
- Laundry and basic household supplies are included
- Welcome dinner hosted by residency hosts
- Optional work-share event at the end of residency
- Optional mentorship sessions (additional fee)
Additional financial support:
- Work scholarship option (50% fee reduction in exchange for 8 hours of service work)
- Mentorship available for deeper conceptual development
Application Fee
No application fee. However, residency participation is fee-based:
- Independent Residency: $475/week
- Mentorship Residency: $600/week
Application Requirements
- CV or Resume (max 5 pages)
- Project Description (1 page)
- Artist Statement: “Why Trillium Arts?” (1 page)
- One Letter of Recommendation
- Work Sample (depending on discipline):
- Writing: PDF manuscript (max 15 pages)
- Visual Arts/Photography: PDF portfolio (max 15 pages, 10MB max)
- Performance: Video link (max 15 minutes)
- Optional: short process video (max 3 minutes)
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 15 May 2026
- Notification: Late June 2026
- Residency period (Fall cycle): September 15 – October 30, 2026
- Residency duration: 1 week (7 days)
Location
North Carolina, Blue Ridge Mountains, United States
Additional Details
- Residencies are strictly individual (solo experience only)
- No overlapping residency participants on-site
- Artists may define exact dates within the fall residency window
- Mild priority given to projects with ecological or environmental themes
- Limited accessibility for collaborators; external lodging required for groups
- Check-in after 3:00 PM; check-out by 11:00 AM
- Optional mentorship includes 5 hours of conceptual guidance
- Application review conducted by a selection panel; late/incomplete applications are not accepted
- Strong emphasis on nature, solitude, and conceptual development