Salad Days Artist Residency
Every year during the second weekend in July, Watershed welcomes guests to campus for our annual ceramics picnic, Salad Days. Prior to the event, the annual Salad Days Artist creates hundreds of plates for the celebration. On Salad Days, guests select their favorite handmade plate to take home. Many attendees return year after year to collect new plates. The event also includes a pottery sale, artist demonstrations, campus tours, delicious food, and much more!
Watershed selects a Salad Days Artist annually to create plates or shallow bowls for the following year’s Salad Days. The Salad Days Artist spends seven months at Watershed – from September to April – producing 500 plates for the following summer’s Salad Days. The Artist is also commissioned to create approximately thirty small functional or decorative pieces for Watershed’s sustained giving donors and a t-shirt design for the summer.
The residency runs on campus during Watershed’s quieter programming season. While the Artist works closely with studio staff to fine-tune their plate design and making process, much of the work is completed independently. Strong self-management skills and comfort working independently in a rural area are essential.
103 Cochran Road
Edgecomb, ME 04556
United States
Residency Program Information
Residency Program Summary
Application Information
To apply, artists submit the Salad Days Artist application. The application includes:
- Questions related to your experience and interest in the Salad Days Artist role
- A proposed design for the Salad Days plates or shallow bowls which includes a written description and a visual prototype (sketch, drawing, photo of finished work, etc.)
- Images of work
Artists who are comfortable working independently in a clay studio with experience working in series are encouraged to apply. The Artist is selected annually by Watershed staff in consultation with other practicing studio artists, as needed. Consideration is given to the feasibility of applicant’s proposed design, quality of work, and experience working independently on large-scale projects. Applicants with promising proposals will be interviewed by Watershed staff to discuss their ideas and plans.
The annual application deadline is early March. Artists are notified of their standing by mid April. The residency begins in mid September and runs through the following April.
Because of the length of the residency, applicants must be American citizens. At this time, Watershed is not able to support work visas or study visas for international artists.
Accessibility
Watershed's studio and Salad Days Artist housing is fully accessible and ADA-compliant. Watershed's campus consists of rolling, sloping hills and a dirt road. Resident artists are welcome to drive their vehicles between the upper campus housing and the lower campus studio.