Residency - Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia for a writer - spring 2026

The Blue Ridge Center for Music and the Creative Arts (www.blueridgecenterarts.com)  is hosting a new residency program in our Syria-Etlan valley bordering the eastern slope of the Shenandoah National Park in central Virginia.  This is a uniquely beautiful area with a rich history, and the goal of the residency is to have a writer help bring some of the beauty and history to light through stories and essays of various kinds.

This is a three-week residency, to be scheduled for Arril / May with the exact timing subject to mutual agreement.  The resident artist will have the use of a full guest house with kitchen on the grounds of a beautiful, secluded property in the Valley and within walking or 5 minute driving distance to Graves Mountain Lodge, DuCard Vineyards, and Possum’s Store – the three ‘public’ venues in the valley.  A stipend of $3000 will be provided.  The artist will be responsible for most of his/her own meals, but some community table meals will be provided at Graves Mountain Lodge, which has a dining room that serves its cabin and motel guests, and charcuterie and other light bites – and wine – will be provided by DuCard – in both cases when the artist is there to give readings or lead discussions for guests, as outlined below.

We expect to meet initially with the artist and provide context and introductions to support and enable the artist to create a set of original stories, essays and articles (or more broadly perhaps, poetry or one-act plays or other format as appropriate). We envision that these could be character sketches about interesting local residents, historical fiction relating to past events in the area (including Shenandoah National Park), ghost stories using local properties as the backdrop, materials relating to local agriculture, fly fishing hunting, grape growing or other important activities in our valley - or other topics and formats as appropriate.. The resident artist will be expected to hold short readings of the created stories and lead informal discussions about the creative process that the artist follows, for guests staying at Graves or visiting at DuCard or Possum, with a schedule that we would develop jointly.  We are looking for someone who has an inherent curiosity and can develop finished works that bring alive some of the interesting aspects of our local area. These finished works would be donated to the Center for our ongoing use, though in selected cases we would work with the artist on publishing the work(s) as desired.

as noted, examples of relevant work, and artist statement

The resident artist will need to have their transportation to the area, and a car to get around during their stay, plus whatever art supplies or support materials may be needed.

We are asking for three examples of written work to be supplied together with a description of why the applicant is interested in this residency and why they would be well-suited for it.