Free Artist Residencies in Upperville

Oak Spring Garden Foundation

Upperville, United States

The Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) offers a unique residency experience located in Upperville, Virginia, nestled between the towns of Middleburg and Marshall. The foundation is dedicated to perpetuating the gifts of Rachel "Bunny" Lambert Mellon, including her extensive gardens, estate, and the Oak Spring Garden Library. The OSGF focuses on interdisciplinary residencies that bring together artists, conservation practitioners, researchers, and scholars who are connected through their creative and investigative practices concerning plants, gardens, landscapes, and related environmental themes. Established in 2021, the residency program supports individuals engaged in a variety of disciplines including the arts, conservation, humanities, and plant and ecological sciences. Residents are provided with fully furnished accommodations and have access to studios, a significant library collection, communal meals, and various natural and cultivated landscapes on the 700-acre property. The program aims to foster a collaborative environment among residents while also providing opportunities for solitude and focused work. Key components of the residency include initial orientations to the resources available at OSGF, involvement in community meals prepared by an on-site chef, and optional involvement in activities that enhance their experiential learning and connection to the site.

Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s Botanical Artist in Residence programme gives established botanical artists three weeks in Upperville, Virginia, to make scientifically accurate work from direct observation of the foundation’s plants and landscapes. Residents are housed in appointed homes with a private bedroom and bathroom, sharing a living room and kitchen with one to three other artists, and have dedicated studio space nearby, with roughly three shared meals a week alongside other residents. Each artist receives a $1,000 grant, and the foundation offers a further $1,000 to acquire one finished work for its collection.

Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s Culinary Residency gives a working culinary professional two weeks in Upperville, Virginia, cooking with the foundation’s gardens and landscape and developing recipes and practice. The resident has a private bedroom and bathroom in on-site accommodation, shared kitchen and living space, and access to kitchen space for recipe and professional development, and receives $2,500 on completion. The role is physically demanding and set partly outdoors in a rural setting, so the foundation asks for a professional track record, food-safety knowledge and the ability to work collaboratively.

Oak Spring Garden Foundation — Interdisciplinary Residency

Upperville, United States

The Oak Spring Garden Foundation Interdisciplinary Residency in Upperville, Virginia, offers 2-week or 5-week sessions for artists, conservation practitioners, researchers, scholars, scientists, and writers to pursue creative projects focused on plants, landscapes, gardens, and the natural world. This flagship program, started in , provides time and space for independent work alongside optional activities like library visits, landscape exploration, and volunteering at the Biocultural Conservation Farm. Selected residents receive stipends of $800 for 2-week stays or $2,000 for 5-week stays, with housing and ground transportation from Dulles Airport or Union Station.

Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s Music Residency hosts a group of four to five acoustic musicians for one week in Upperville, Virginia, working in old-time, bluegrass and roots-oriented Americana. Groups apply together with a single application, and musicians need not be professional performers so long as they bring experience and commitment to the form. Residents get private bedrooms with shared kitchen and living space, rehearsal space chosen for its acoustics, and outdoor performance areas, plus roughly three communal meals a week with the wider resident community. Each musician receives $850 for the closing performance.

The Perennial Residency invites alumni of Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s residency and fellowship programmes back to Upperville, Virginia, to continue work begun there. Residents get a private bedroom and bathroom, sharing a living space and kitchen with one to three others, and visual artists are given studio space while writers, researchers and ecologists get a dedicated writing space. Meals are shared when Interdisciplinary Residents or Fellows are in residence. Residents who lead a workshop, open studio or presentation receive an $800 honorarium. Oak Spring provides ground transport from Dulles or Union Station; travel to those points is the resident’s own.