It was the wish of Jack Heliker and Bob LaHotan that their home and studios on Cranberry Island in Maine continue to be used by artists. To this end they left their estates to the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation, with a mandate to operate the complex of buildings on Cranberry Island as a place for artists to live and work.

The three-to four-week residencies are designed for artists of established ability. Because the purpose of the Foundation is to provide opportunities for mature individual artists to work uninterrupted in a tranquil setting, spouses, partners, children, or pets are not included in the arrangements.

In applying for a scheduled residency time period, artists are asked to indicate their first, second and third preferences on the application form available in PDF format from the link on this page. For the current season, the program will be accommodating two artists in each time period. If you wish to request a simultaneous residency with another artist, you may apply jointly for the same residency period and indicate this request on the application form, but each artist who applies is judged individually on the strength of her or his own work. Preference is given to those who may not otherwise have an opportunity to work in Maine.

As a resident, you are a guest in an historic private home maintained for the use and comfort of the artists who are invited to live and work on the island. For this reason, no pets are allowed and you are asked to maintain and return the home and its contents in the same condition as at the beginning of your stay.

The Heliker-LaHotan complex of buildings includes a winterized and thoroughly updated 19th century farmhouse, two separate private heated studios and a large storage barn; all located on a private stretch of shorefront with serene views across a tidal basin known on Cranberry as 'The Pool.' Lawns and informal flowerbeds surround the buildings and a terrace at the side of the house overlooks the water shore.

Residents are lodged in the main house with private bedrooms and use of the large and well-equipped kitchen, library, and other living quarters; your meals are your own responsibility. Due to the remote setting, a modest weekly credit is established at the island store for food for each resident; you may also establish your own accounts at mainland groceries that will make deliveries to the daily island ferries. A housekeeper cleans the house weekly, but each resident is responsible for daily maintenance of shared facilities and of their private studio spaces.

The studios are essentially painters’ studios with easels and workstations, and are not equipped for welding or large-scale work in sculpture. One of these sits directly on the shore of the tidal basin; the other has more controlled light and is also equipped for printmaking with an etching press and running water. Donation of the press and other equipment from the studio of the late artist Charles Wadsworth, a friend of Heliker & LaHotan, makes residencies for printmakers also possible. Residents must bring with them whatever materials they will need, as there is no source of art supplies on the island, and few on the mainland. The Foundation recommends that supplies and equipment be shipped prior to arrival. Helpful information on ferry schedules and getting to the island is available on a website maintained by one of the local residents: http://cranberryisles.com. Detailed logistical and tactical information will be provided to successful applicants.

Although the summer population of the island swells to hundreds of part-time residents and summer vacationers, artist residents should be aware that island life means they must be resourceful and comfortable on their own in fairly isolated circumstances. A caretaker will meet residents at the dock and transport them to the Foundation.  Bringing a car onto the island is not recommended and requires a deposit to the Town of Cranberry Isles in addition to a barging fee. The island is small enough to explore on foot, and bicycles and a wheeled cart for groceries are available for residents’ use.

Great Cranberry Island has a small post office, a general store, a community center, an exercise facility, and a single island church with non-denominational services in July and August. The annual Cranberry Island Ladies Aid Fair, held the first week in August for more than one-hundred years, brings visitors to the island from far and near. The island also has a busy Library with computers for high-speed and wireless Internet access, and a small museum and historical society. Residents may make brief long distance use of the Foundation telephone for emergencies; some cell phones do not work on the island.

The Foundation may request a digital image of work(s) done during residencies for use on its website or publications and may request the loan of works for exhibition purposes. While the Foundation is highly protective of the privacy and working environment at its location, we encourage residents who would like to do so to open their studios at the end of their residencies to exhibit or present a talk on their work locally and the island population welcomes such opportunities.

Download Residency Application