Mudhouse Residency accepting applications for the 2024 Residency Session

THREE SESSIONS FOR SUMMER 2024

JUNE 10 - JUNE 24 | JULY 1 - JULY 15 | JULY 22 - AUGUST 5

We will be holding three summer residency sessions in 2024; from June until the beginning of August. Fellowship and General Applications for Visual Artists & Writers are open! Deadline to apply is 3/30/24.

The Mudhouse is an artist residency located in the village of Agios Ioannis on the Island of Crete, Greece. The Mudhouse Residency aims to provide artists inspiration derived from an engagement with the stunning natural beauty of its environment, solitude to foster creative growth, an artistic community to enrich professional practices, and an immersive cultural experience within a profoundly rich historical context.  

Started in 2015 and now in its eighth year, the Mudhouse offers three two-week sessions each summer for international contemporary artists working across a manifold of artistic disciplines, from paint, to ceramics, to experimental film. We welcome visual artists, writers, musicians and performers. Hosting an incredibly diverse, multicultural, multi-generational cohort of artists in each residency session, the Mudhouse encourages dialogues across traditional boundaries. Artists are invited to present a slideshow, lecture or reading on their work for fellow residents, as well as participate in a closing exhibition at the Residency’s conclusion that will be installed jointly in the ruins around the village and the exhibition space. The artists' time is their own, to focus on their art practice and explore the rich history of southern Crete and the Minoan civilization. 

As an artist founded and operated residency, the Mudhouse’s ethos continues to be to provide an increasingly diverse group of artists an affordable, international residency experience. Through the support of individual donors and foundations, the Mudhouse is able to extend a Partial Fellowship to every artist who attends, and three Full Fellowships. All fellowships are awarded through a competitive, juried process. Determined by a selection committee, Full fellowships will be based on the merit of the applicants work while Partial fellowships will be need based. 

Partial fellowship recipients are asked to pay a reduced fee to attend. While the overall cost of The Mudhouse Residency is $4,200 per artist for the Summer 2024, the residency fee for partially funded fellowships is $3200. Artists who demonstrate additional financial need may request further financial assistance of a 25% discount, bringing the residency fee to $2600. 

Its name, the Mudhouse, derived from the specific building technique once used to construct this former medieval shepherds village, actively seeks to revitalize the culture and economy of this once burgeoning agricultural community which fell into abandonment in the 1980’s. Now colloquially known as the “artist” village the Mudhouse aims to benefit the local community that is its home. Bringing cultural life to this formerly deserted village, residents look forward to meeting international artists, and toward their exhibitions and artist presentations. Economically, the Mudhouse Residency supports the village by housing each of the residents in local accommodations and providing meals at the local taverna, the Kafeneio. The Mudhouse Residency includes the accommodations of the artist for the duration of the Residency, as well as lunch and dinner served family style each day within the village. Prepared by Christina, a talented cook and mother of two, who inherited the Kafeneio from her mother and grandmother, our program keeps Christina in business and provides incentive to the villagers to keep Agios Ioannis alive and well. 

Thinking and acting locally, internationally, and globally, the Mudhouse encourages its residents to consider the existential threat that climate change poses to us all. Set within a stunning rural mountain village in southern Crete overlooking the Libyan Sea, the Mudhouse confronts resident artists with an extraordinary natural beauty, that belies its context as one of the first landscapes irretrievably altered by humankind. Emphasizing the value of artistic solutions, the Mudhouse asks and empowers its residents to engage this crisis. 

Duration:

Two weeks. We will be holding three residency sessions in 2024; the first session will be June 10 - June 24, the second session will be July 1 - July 15 and the third session will be July 22 - August 5.

Disciplines:

The residency program is ideal for professional artists with an established practice seeking the time and space to realize an individual project. The residency includes 24 hr access to a spacious studio facility, practice space with athletic flooring, or access to the Music house grand piano, depending on the artist's discipline. We welcome writers, photographers and filmmakers as well, as our residency provides the time and structure to focus on a non-studio based project. 

The residency is inclusive to a number of artistic disciplines, with the facilities to accommodate studio artists, painters, printmakers, filmmakers, ceramicists, fiber artists, photographers, writers, poets, dancers, musicians, choreographers and composers.

Accommodation:

Artists are provided housing in local accommodations around the village. Artists have their own private bedroom, and may have a private bathroom or may share a bathroom with one other artist. Artists may share a kitchen and sitting room, based on the particular accommodation. Every accommodation has a kitchen and a terrace. Housing assignments are at the discretion of the directors, but we do our best to house the artists in accommodations that facilitate their project based needs. Agios Ioannis has a large international community, with residents from Italy, England and Australia, in addition to Greece. Each residence was rebuilt from the ruins of the original stone village to the specific taste of the owner, and no two residences are alike. Linen is provided and laundry facilities are available. WiFi is available for basic internet use at the Taverna. Most accommodations do not have WiFi.

Studio/ Workspace:

The Studio is equipped with:

1200 sq foot open format studio space

Natural light

Electricity and electric light for working at night

Tables and chairs

Easels

Carving tools, pin press, burnishers, rollers and instruments for manual printmaking processes

Additionally:

Eco-Processing and Alternative Processes for Black and White Negative Film

Paper Making and Paper Clay tools

Large format (A3) Epson printer

Project-based studio assistance and support: the Mudhouse Residency is located in a rural area, but we are committed to helping the artists-in-residence realize their project.

One dancer/ choreographer per session will have use of the practice space with athletic flooring

One musician/ composer per session will have use of the concert hall with the grand piano

There is a ceramics facility in the nearby town of Ierapetra, with a potter’s wheel, ceramic tools, an electric kiln, and a selection of glazes

Fees:

Through the support of individual donors and foundations, the Mudhouse is able to extend a Full or Partial Fellowship to every artist who attends. As an artist founded and run residency program, The Mudhouse aims to provide as much support to artists as possible through full and partial fellowships each application cycle.

All fellowships are awarded through a competitive, juried process. Determined by a selection committee, Full fellowships will be based on the merit of the applicants’ work while Partial fellowships will be need-based.  

Partial fellowship recipients are asked to pay a reduced fee to attend. While the overall cost of the Mudhouse Residency is $4,200 per artist for the Summer 2024, the residency fee for partially funded fellowships is $3200. Artists who demonstrate additional financial need may request further financial assistance of a 25% discount, bringing the residency fee to $2600. 

Our residency includes an open format studio space, accommodations for each resident, group meals, access to visiting artists and curators, equipment, staff support, session specific workshops and excursions to places of interest on Crete. 

The Selection Committee for Fellowship Review will be headed by Ermanno Rivetti, Associate Director of Mendes Wood Gallery, New York.

Expectations:

Artists are invited to present a slideshow, lecture or reading on their work for fellow residents, as well as participate in a closing exhibition at the Residency’s conclusion that will be installed jointly in the ruins around the village and the exhibition space. The artists' time is their own, to focus on their art practice and explore the rich history of southern Crete and the Minoan civilization.