Back in January, before COVID sank its teeth into the world, I applied for a bunch of residency programs, and got into one. When things started getting real in April, pretty much every residency shut down for obvious reasons, and my plans to go to Arts, Letters and Numbers in August were tanked.
It wasn’t a big deal; everyone’s plans for 2020 have gone awry.
Originally my thinking was that getting away to work would be an opportunity to meet a bunch of new people, and part of the appeal of that was simply meeting people who would only know me as Colleen. I was also looking forward to collaborating with folk in a shared studio space. It was a different way of working that I thought would shake things up for me. So, I would miss this opportunity; fine. I had a job, so did Andi, we were healthy and had a roof over our heads. There are much worse things to be worried about, and not being able to go to a residency felt a little like my privilege talking.
But as the year kept going, the fatigue of the sameness of life was beginning to get to all of us.
Then ALN started what they called a Pilot Light program, an informal low occupancy, socially distanced residency option. It was really just to keep the place ticking over until next year - bad things happen to unoccupied old houses, and besides, I think it was a way for them to keep the dream of it alive. They emailed people who’d previously been accepted, explaining the idea and the COVID restrictions that would come with it (quarantine beforehand, masking, no shared food, no visitors - all the sensible things and in line with NYS COVID policy).
After talking it through with the family, I decided to go. It wasn’t going to be the experience I’d originally thought - shacked up with 30 other artists in a giant house making art. But it was still something different.
I had two weeks. I spent the first week working on a mapping of A Pattern Language, and the second week writing (I’m writing a long-form fiction piece whose working title is “My Ridiculous Novel”, because it’s ridiculous that I’m doing it).
The three other residents were laid-back and friendly, and between us we had something like 10,000 square feet and a 6 bedroom house, so there was plenty of breathing room. I was grateful and thankful for the opportunity for a brief respite from 2020, even if it meant I missed the Philadelphia celebrations when Pennsylvania was called for Biden.
As of a week ago when I left, they were still looking to continue the program with new residents, but who knows with the COVID numbers climbing. If you’re interested I can put you in touch.
Here are some photos from ALN.
