MacGown Art Retreat and Studio (MARS) and the MacGown Art Artist in Residence Program

MacGown Art Retreat and Studio (MARS) 

Wow! It has been a while since I have posted here and lots has happened in that time period! Our art retreat concept is slowly coming to fruition and with it our Artist in Residence program. We have a piece of rural property located in the Sessums community 10 miles from the Mississippi State Campus where we create art, music, and other creative endeavors. We have seen many changes over the last few years as we finished our guest cabin for visiting artists, we are close to having our own in house frame shop, and our future gallery/workshop is 70% done!!  

A view of our house, pavilion, and studio from across Lake MacGown

The guest cabin that Joseph MacGown and I built has been used by several exciting and super talented artists, writers, musicians, and scientists. It is located on the north side of our small MacGown Lake (3+ acres) and we incorporated rough cut cedar and pine, Cretaceous fossil mosaics, and numerous reclaimed materials to build it. It is full of art and creativity. 

Exterior view of the cabin

Interior view of cabin

Interior view of cabin

One of the coolest things we have going on is our Artist in Residence program. We have different levels depending on the needs of the creative individuals interested in partnering with us ranging from paying to stay, working to stay, and we offer stipends for 2 to 4 artists per year along with free housing and some meals. Stipends are provided by the local philanthropic Del Rendon Foundation, which supports the arts in the Golden Triangle region of Mississippi. 

Mural created by Julia Reyes for our gallery (in progress)

Thus far, we have had three artists receive stipends including Joseph Garland, Karina Rovira, and Julia Reyes. Each stayed approximately 2 weeks. We ask that each artist do something artistic to leave at our place such as a mural, sculpture, painting, etc. We interact with  artists and work to have them featured in local media, online media, and culminate their activities with a show, talk, or something similar. Our next Artist in Residence will be Zoe Ishee, coming in late July. 

Folks interested in being an artist in residence with us should contact me at art@joemacgown.com and send in 6-10 samples of their work, a photo of themselves, a bio, a statement of goals and why they would want to work with us in our unique setting in the countryside of Mississippi. Paid residencies with us can be 2-4 weeks, and artists receive $2,500 over two installments. This is highly competitive and we are looking for individuals who find will connection and inspiration from nature and especially from our property, which is located on a Black Belt Prairie remnant. Underlying the prairie is a Cretaceous fossil bed full of marine fossils from 70 million years ago when the area was an ocean. 

Works created by visiting artist Joseph Garland

Self portrait by Karina Rovira, visiting artist from Berlin Germany

Pastel painting by Karina Rovira

Zoe Ishee, our next Artist in Residence

Mushroom Men by Zoe Ishee

Covid, Art, and Change

 Wowzers! What a year. I retired from my job as a scientific illustrator/research technician on July 1, I got remarried on October 10 to Jennifer, a wonderfully creative lady, and we have made lots of progress on building an art retreat at our property located in Sessums, Mississippi. 

Joe and Jennifer MacGown

Yep, I have long wanted to create an art retreat of some type where people can come look at art, create art, participate in art and music events, to enjoy and learn about nature, and even to start an artist in residence program. The idea sounds a bit crazy, but I believe it is feasible. 

the front of our art house

living room area with art on wall and art border

kitchen/dining

We plan on turning the existing house into a place for resident artists to stay while visiting and using other rooms as inexpensive sleeping options for various guests who may be at an event or something. We will be building a small cabin near the pond to live in, which gives us this amazing option! If all goes well, we are hoping to be ready by the fall of 2021. We already have a functioning studio, are about 80% complete on a cool art cabin/studio, have started building a gallery/workshop, and have a cool pavilion on the pond, which would be perfect for musicians to play on! 

pavilion on a snowy  day

art cabin

gallery/workshop started

rafters

studio

One goal is to have an artist in residence come stay for one to three weeks, with perhaps 3-4 artists per year. I would like each artist to leave their footprint on the property in same way such as creating a sculpture, painting a mural (or helping), doing a painting, or some other expression of what they do. Also, I am hoping to have artists conduct workshops in the gallery/workshop building that I recently started building. 

a fun view of studio and pavilion from pond

painting in the canoe! 

I am looking forward to completing these projects so we can get started on hosting art events as well as showcasing our own art! 

current work

love my inks

some of Joseph's whimsical ceramic pieces

Happy new year!