The farm has been a sanctuary for artists and curated artist residencies have been happening for the last 20 years. Our residency program has supported artists from various disciplines: musicians, writers, visual artists, arts educators, activists, and community organizers who lean into creative practice.
Most of our residencies take place at the House on the Hill—a beautiful hexagon cabin with a clawfoot tub, an upright piano, skylights, a wood stove, and a beautiful view of the pastures and woodlots at Earthwork Farm.
Recent residencies have included Penguin/Random House author Antonio Michael Downing, folk/electronic recording artist Steve Leaf, jazz bassist Ian Thompson, singer-songwriter Sari Brown, Mellow Music Group producer The Lasso, saxophonist Jarad Selner, and cellist Jordan Hamilton.
We can’t recommend it highly enough
This place is very special to me. I started my first book, Saga Boy, right here in this room. It’s filled with blessings and beautiful scenery. Mostly what it gives you is the vibe of creativity, fellowship, community, and this is why I find it so inspiring and I always come back here.
—Antonio Michael Downing
I absolutely adored my time at the Yurt at Earthwork Farm for my week long artists residency. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for respite, healing and grounding. I enjoyed walks on the property where I discovered the bee farm, and rediscovered my ability to find beauty in the greens and textures of nature. I fell asleep to the sound of rain after spending time in song. I connected in friendship with others around the farm which further inspired my song writing, infiltrated my journaling and really solidified an already beautiful experience. I will always carry with me the photos, fond memories of jam sessions and a taco recipe that has changed my life forever.
—Sierra Skye Baker
We live in an incredibly busy world and because of the Earthwork Farm and my residency at the House on the Hill, I was able to slow down, disconnect, and actually listen to my natural rhythm. The opportunity to exist without distractions and take every step of my day with intent allowed me to regroup my thoughts, break negative patterns and find alternative ways forward with not just my art; but my life. I am forever thankful for the experience the Bernard family has graced me with.
—Arthur Marshall
This residency was a great opportunity for me to focus on my artistic project after I was stuck for a long time. The positive energy and the vibes at the farm. Meeting many people from different countries, singing around the fire at the evening. It was just a very special time for me.
—Ayed Arafah
Earthwork Farm has been a special place to me and my family since I first attended Harvest Gathering 8 years ago with my (then) baby son and his father, who was performing in the barn for the Detroit hiphop showcase. That year I became fast friends with some of the organizers and in subsequent years was invited back as the coordinator of the People Care Tent, where myself and other Social workers, Nurses, and holistic healers had the opportunity to practice abolitionist crisis response and authentic community care, building relationships between radical practitioners across Michigan. This winter I was invited back for my second writing residency on the farm, a magical space that has become integral to my healing justice writing practice over the years. Living in the city can be very loud and the farm has provided a quiet & reflective place to land where I can untangle my thoughts, commune with the land and find deeper clarity regarding complex organizing work. Earthwork has been extremely supportive of the healing co-operative I’m a member of in Detroit, Motor City Mobile Wellness as well in the form of retreat and noncarceral, holistic practice space. Having participated in multiple residencies over the years I can definitively say there is no place like this land, and I am eternally grateful for the time and space to write and think, and aspire to return for years to come.
—Rachel Thompson
I am an interdisciplinary artist and while I love to plan and prepare, I also know that what I find myself doing at an art residency could and actually should surprise me. When I went to Earthwork Farm I packed 40 ceramic ghosts that I made and the equipment I would need to film them in stop-motion animations. I brought the gear necessary to keep up my physical therapy routine, and I had my car for rural and small town adventures. I had stayed at the House on the Hill a decade or more earlier, and knew it was a sacred space.
This was the spring after the first year of the pandemic and I had experienced the death of my brother in that year. The residency space was a place for me to play with my ghosts, to make short films and take focused time to edit a music video I had shot months prior, to express my grief in a gentle and quiet place where I could walk in the woods, play the piano, and take long hot baths. I can’t think of a more serene place with more gentle caretakers, the artwork you make is part of living and life on the farm is good.