Millay Colony for the Arts
Encyclopedia
The Millay Colony for the Arts is an artist residency program in Austerlitz
, New York
. The colony offers one month residencies to visual artist
s, writer
s, poet
s and composer
s. The Millay Colony for the Arts was founded in 1973 by Norma Millay Ellis, sister of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay
, and her husband, Charles Frederick Ellis, a painter and actor.
The colony is located at Steepletop
, the property where the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) lived and wrote for 25 years. Residents are given a bedroom and studio in the Steepletop Barn
or Main Building. The Steepletop Barn was built by Edna St. Vincent Millay and her husband from a Sears & Roebuck kit in the 1920s. The Main Building was designed by a team of artists with disabilities
. It is based on the principles of universal design
, and has offices, two bedrooms, studios, a darkroom
, kitchen, dining room and an art library donated by Nancy Graves
.
The colony is adjacent to Edna St. Vincent Millay's former home and the Harvey Mountain State Forest. Edna St. Vincent Millay's former house and gardens, maintained by the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society, are a National Historical Landmark. Steepletop is named after a pink, conical wildflower
that grows there.
Austerlitz, New York
Austerlitz is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,453 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the Battle of Austerlitz.The Town of Austerlitz is in the east part of Columbia County.- History :Ellis, Capt...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The colony offers one month residencies to visual artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
s, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
s and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s. The Millay Colony for the Arts was founded in 1973 by Norma Millay Ellis, sister of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
, and her husband, Charles Frederick Ellis, a painter and actor.
The colony is located at Steepletop
Steepletop
Steepletop, or Edna St. Vincent Millay House was the farmhouse home of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her husband Eugene Jan Boissevain, in Austerlitz, New York, United States. Her former home and gardens are maintained by the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society. It was...
, the property where the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) lived and wrote for 25 years. Residents are given a bedroom and studio in the Steepletop Barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
or Main Building. The Steepletop Barn was built by Edna St. Vincent Millay and her husband from a Sears & Roebuck kit in the 1920s. The Main Building was designed by a team of artists with disabilities
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
. It is based on the principles of universal design
Universal design
Universal design refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments that are inherently accessible to both people without disabilities and people with disabilities....
, and has offices, two bedrooms, studios, a darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
, kitchen, dining room and an art library donated by Nancy Graves
Nancy Graves
Nancy Graves was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometime-filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels or maps of the moon...
.
The colony is adjacent to Edna St. Vincent Millay's former home and the Harvey Mountain State Forest. Edna St. Vincent Millay's former house and gardens, maintained by the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society, are a National Historical Landmark. Steepletop is named after a pink, conical wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
that grows there.