LOOKING GLASS ARTS

“Always wedded to the couch, the back porch, the swing, I want to see the world standing still. My thoughts are movements, my idea, my adventures…. This solitary space is sometimes a place where dreams and visions enter and sometimes a place where nothing happens, Yet it is necessary to active work as water is to growing things.” 

-bell hooks (Art on My Mind)

2025 Goldfinch Writing Residency Application

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Goldfinch Writing Residency Dates

Monday, August 4 - Friday, August 8

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Looking Glass Arts Mission Statement

Looking Glass Arts is an artist-led non-profit residency organization in Upstate New York democratizing access to the space, time, and natural beauty critical to artistic growth and practice. Our programming prioritizes people of the Global Majority; artists who make up the bedrock of our cultural lives.

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About the Goldfinch Residency

Looking Glass Arts understands that some writers come to their craft as very young people, others begin writing as mature adults. For many reasons, including obligations and hardships, it can be challenging to consider writing as a career. 

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The Goldfinch Writers’ Retreat is a fully-funded residency established to support writers who demonstrate a unique commitment to their craft who have not made it a career and are not yet published by a major outlet. Writers aged 45+ will be prioritized in the selection process. 

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Works can include a novel, collection of short stories, poetry, memoir, graphic novel, play, screenplay, essays, hybrid work and more. Residencies are self-directed. There is no requirement to share your work. Writers' applications are adjudicated in two rounds; the first a written application and the second a conversation over Zoom.

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If accepted, each writer is expected be present for the entirety of the residency.

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Hospitality

• A private bedroom (with writing desk) in the Farm House

• A shared bathroom

• Additional work spaces include: the Barn, the Milk House, the Bull Pen, front porch, sun room and more

• High speed fiber optic internet in the Farm House

• There is no wi-fi or cell reception in the Barn, the Milk House or the Bull Pen

• Three meals a day prepared by the resident chef

• Depending on each artist’s circumstances and individual need, we can discuss reimbursement for RT Amtrak tickets and/or cost of gas up to $100 per artist

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This season LGA is scaling back our programming in order to develop our administrative infrastructure so that we can grow sustainably and better meet artists' needs in future years. This year there will be only one Goldfinch Writing Residency. We will offer more writing residencies next year!

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APPLICATION DEADLINE: Friday, April 18, 5pm

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ZOOM INTERVIEW FOR FINALISTS: Within the first two weeks of May (to be scheduled, not all applicants will be asked to attend a Zoom)

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NOTIFICATION: Third week of May (by email)