Call for Poets!

In recognition of the 29th anniversary of National Poetry Month in April 2025, Bethany Arts Community (BAC) in Ossining, NY is offering its fifth annual residency focused on poetry.

Bethany Arts Community designs its residencies to provide an environment where artists can work near each other, creating opportunities for cross-pollination, collaboration, and connection. Residents will find both solitude and community with a small cohort of other poets and artists sharing the residency. Residents will be surrounded by opportunities for uninhibited creativity during their time at BAC, in the form of other Poetry Residents, local studio artists, BAC staff and board members, those presenting programs on campus, and more!

A unique component of residencies at BAC is Community Programming. As part of a residency, we ask each artist to develop and facilitate a Community Program related to their residency plan. This part of the residency is an opportunity for artists to share with the local community in Ossining and Westchester County, and for the local community to engage with artists through their work.

Please read all guidelines and application instructions carefully, incomplete applications or submissions that exceed outlined content limits will not be considered. Please only apply to this residency if you are able to stay in residence from date start to date end.

The Poetry Residency is for one week: Monday, March 31 to Monday, April 7, 2025. Artists are provided room & board, a private studio, 3 basic meals a day (see note below)*, and a $225 stipend upon completion of the residency. Artist is responsible for transportation to and from BAC and any supplies or materials needed for their practice. We ask that you only apply if you can stay for the entire length of this residency.

    *Please note for the 3 meals included during the residency, Bethany Arts Community is only able to accommodate for vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, dairy-free, and/or gluten-free diets. Please contact submit@bethanyarts.org with any questions or if you have any further allergies/dietary needs not listed.

Application Deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025 at 11:59PM EST

Letters of Recommendation Deadline: Monday, January 13, 2025 at 11:59 EST

As letters of recommendation (LOR) are sent out at the time of application submission, we give applicants another week to ensure that their LOR is in. Please ensure your LOR is submitted by this deadline to be considered.

There is one letter of recommendation and one reference (not the person who wrote the LOR) required to be considered.

Notifications: Friday, February 14, 2025

We will be hosting two Q&A sessions for this residency application on Thursday, December 12 6-7PM EST & Tuesday, December 17 1-2PM EST. If you're interested in attending, please email submit@bethanyarts.org for the Zoom link. Attending these sessions will not impact the selection process for residency.

To check out our grounds, other residency programs, and more visit our website at www.bethanyarts.org.

If you have concerns or questions about accommodations for your artistic practice, please email: submit@bethanyarts.org

If you have issues using the submission form, please contact Submittable.

Bethany Arts Community residency programs are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, ArtsWestchester, and The New York Community Trust.