Mineral School Residencies 2025-2026
Mineral Arts & Residencies (formerly Mineral School) is an artists residency founded in a former 1947 elementary school near Mt. Rainier, in Mineral, Washington. During 2025 and the first half of 2026, we'll host 32 creative people during six sessions ranging from one to two weeks in length, providing them with time, space, nutritious food, community, and access to the outdoors as well as the wild and wonderful energy of the region. (We'll also host four artists on an invitational basis via a partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools program; WITS writers need not complete this application.)
We provide accepted applicants space and time to create new work without the interruptions of normal life and with the bonus of healthy meals prepared by a caterer using locally-grown organic produce and eggs where possible. During each session, four residents will live in an 800-square foot former school classroom that offers peekaboo views of Mineral Lake and Mt. Rainier, and that will double as their writing or art studio, with desk and chair, lighting, bookcase, optional tables and task lighting, and lots of chalkboards. The school building has shared bathrooms with showers. Residents are served all meals daily (plus 24/7 access to a snack fridge and coffee/tea station), with food sensitivities accommodates, and will have the opportunity to share work with the public. Additionally, we will host a "bigger" residency cohort during the short session from September 28 to October 5, when six artists will stay at the nearby Mineral Lake Lodge, and also during October when we host two artists at Ashford's Jimmy Beech House (accessible) during the two-week session from October 12 to October 26.
Mineral features a fishing lake, boat rentals, in-town hiking trails, a bar, a general store, churches, a post office, and many deer. It's a 25-minute drive to the Ashford/Nisqually entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park.
Visiting authors and artists: During each residency, special guests will visit and present work. Typically, alumni presenters visit and in some cases bring with them a special guest artist they've chosen to introduce to Mineral. These events are free and open to the public, and are casual dessert potlucks.
Resident presentations: If they wish, residents can share with one another and the public at each session's "show and tell" held during residency. These presentations are typically held after dinner in our library/multi-purpose room and are casual dessert potlucks.
We are accepting applications from April 6*, 2025, through May 15, 2025 (Midnight, PST) for 2025-2026 residencies. Notification will be given at least two months before the residency period for which you've applied. (*We meant for these to be live on April 1 but had a small delay.)
2025-2026 RESIDENCY DATES
Residency sessions will be held during the following time periods:
- September 13-September 21, 2025 (All genres)
- September 28-October 5, 2025 (All genres; with four folks at the school and six folks at the Mineral Lake Lodge)
- October 12-October 26, 2025 (All genres; with four folks at the school and two at the Jimmy Beech House in Ashford)
- November 2-November 16, 2025 (All genres)
- March 8-March 22, 2026 (All genres)
- April 5-April 19, 2026 (All genres)
RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIPS
During 2025-2026, we are able to offer 11 fellowships so writers and artists may attend residency at no cost; fellowshipped writers are provided with travel assistance to Mineral from within the I-5 corridor between Portland and Seattle. Otherwise, one-week residency costs $450 and two-week residency costs $900, which includes all meals, linens, and programming.
June Dodge Fellowships (8) are open to poets or writers from the Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington) or the provinces of western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon) and whose work is inspired by adventure, travel, the outdoors, and a feisty won't-give-up spirit. Though named for a woman, applicants of any identity may apply! These fellowships fund a two-week residency and include transit to Mineral from Portland, Seattle, or points between along I-5.
The Tahoma Literary Review Fellowship (1) will offer one writer of poetry or prose who identifies as part of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color) community support for a two-week residency. Applicants may request that their submission be read solely for residency or also considered for publication in Tahoma Literary Review. TLR is supporting this fellowship and publication opportunity to recognize and uplift BIPOC voices. The fellowship also includes travel assistance from points between Portland, OR and Seattle, WA along the I-5 corridor, if needed.
The Mona Lisa Roberts Visual Artist Fellowship (1) supports a two-week residency for one visual artist who self-identifies as LGBTQ+ and lives in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington) or the provinces of western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon). This fellowship funds a two-week residency any month. Depending on the medium and artist preference, the accepted artist can work in the studio room where they also sleep, spread out in the gym, or work outdoors.
The Erin Donovan Writing Fellowship (1) supports one woman writer at midlife (40+). A fan of small town culture, travel, dive bars, nature, wordplay, and late-night talks about the meaning of life, Erin Donovan lived with abandon. Her friends and family co-created a fellowship in her memory open to applicants from the states where Erin lived. This residency is open to a woman-identifying writer of poetry or prose living in Massachusetts, New York, Washington, or Oregon, who is at least 40, and whose writing expresses wit and compassion. This fellowship funds the two-week residency fee and offers travel support upon proof of travel purchase or mileage, up to $175 (OR/WA) or $400 (NY/MA).
Residency Eligibility
Residency Experience Summary
Application Information
We offer residencies for adults 21 and up. We do not exclude people currently enrolled in fine arts higher education (BFA/MFA). Please visit our Submittable page for information about special sessions and fellowship opportunities for writers and artists from the Pacific Northwest, who are BIPOC, or who are LGBTQ+ visual artists from the Pacific Northwest. We offer a mix of fellowships and low-cost paid residencies; if you apply for a fellowship for which you're eligible, you can elect to also be reviewed for paid residency. (This way, you are juried as narrowly or broadly as you wish within one application fee.)
Our Submittable page with application information is here.
We charge $450 for a one-week residency and $900 for a two-week residency, including all meals and snacks (allergies accommodated), linens, and programming. We can provide transportation from points along the I-5 corridor (airports, Amtrak, bus stations, towns/addresses) between Portland, OR and Seattle, WA for a $25-30/fee each way; these fees are waived for fellowship recipients.
Our fellowships cover the one-week ($450) or two-week ($900) residency fee, including room and board, and include transportation from within the Portland-to-Seattle corridor along I-5 (pickup/drop-off at airports, bus stations, Amtrak, your friend's house), so the artist pays no fee other than getting to Portland/Western Washington. We have one fellowship which provides a larger travel stipend -- from $175 (if traveling from the West Coast) to $400 (if traveling from the East Coast) -- and that is the Erin Donovan Writing Fellowship.
