Writing Residency

Our self-guided writing residency gives writers an affordable way to stay and create at the Mendocino Art Center.

Apply For our Writing Residency at the Mendocino Art Center

Our self-guided writing residency gives writers an affordable way to stay and create at the Mendocino Art Center.

We offer an unhurried place to read, write and imagine

Nestled between ocean and redwoods, the Mendocino Art Center’s Writing Residency invites writers to take a beat from the hustle and drop into a slower rhythm—a time to engage in deep work, rest, introspection, and creative process.

Whether you’re crafting a memoir, novel, nonfiction work, poetry, or pushing at the edges of genre, this residency is a call to come as you are—to gather the threads of a project that’s been waiting and start to weave it into being. 

We welcome writers at any stage of their journey—emerging, established, or returning to the page after time away.

What You’ll Find Here

Self-Directed Time
This is your time. Bring a project-in-progress or start fresh. Some residents use the space to draft a manuscript or revise, others come to rest, reflect, immerse in quiet and nature and books. You decide how this time best serves you.

A Beautiful, Rustic Setting
You’ll stay in a private, furnished studio apartment with your own kitchen, bath, and writing nook. The natural surroundings—foggy cliffs, wild coast, forested trails—offer a deep sense of place to root your creative practice in.

Access to our community spaces

Whether you want to try a hand at ceramics, paint in our art studio, or share a meal with the community in our communal kitchen, we invite you to fold yourself into the fabric of our community during your stay here. We are offering a quiet retreat, yes, but also the opportunity to weave into our creative ecosystem. And if you'd rather just type away in quiet, that's 100% okay too. 

Duration
Residencies are offered in 1-week engagements throughout the year. Please share your preferred week(s) for attending when completing the application below, and we'll do our best to accommodate. 

Sliding Scale offering:

We offer sliding scale tuition of $450–$700 per week, with the aim of making the residency accessible while sustaining our community and space.

We trust residents to select the rate that feels most aligned with their financial reality. No additional documentation is required—just an honest assessment of what you can contribute. Choosing a higher rate helps subsidize others and keeps the residency viable for the long-term.

A limited number of full and partial scholarships are also available thanks to the generosity of our donor community. If you need additional financial support to attend, we encourage you to indicate this in your application. We’re committed to making space for those whose voices and stories are vital—and whose presence may otherwise be limited by structural barriers.

Open Studio / Reading (not sure if this is true/possible!)
At the end of each session, residents are invited (but not required) to share their work with the local community through a reading, open studio, or conversation.

Who Should Apply?

Writers of all genres and backgrounds are encouraged to apply—especially those working at the intersections of art, activism, justice, identity, ecology, belonging and imagination. 

We especially welcome writers whose work engages justice, land, lineage, ecology, body, resistance, healing, or collective memory—but your work doesn’t need to fit neatly into any one box. To all the Indigenous writers, BIPOC writers, LGBTQIA and two-spirit writers, neurodiverse writers, writers on the margins writing ourselves into the narrative: we especially invite you to apply. If you're called to this place and moment, we want to hear from you.

You do not need an MFA or publications to be considered. What matters most is a sense of clarity about how you’d like to spend your time here.

Application: 

  • Please email Dav Bell director@mendocinoartcenter.org, the following

Form questions:

  • First name:

  • Last name:

  • Pronouns:

  • Preferred weeks (dropdown? Please list 3) 

  • Please describe what you hope to work on during your time here:

  • If you are from a historically-excluded background, please feel free to share that:

Sliding scale: 

  • 1. Seed ($300/week)
     For those with limited financial access or impacted by structural inequity.
    By selecting this rate, you are receiving support from others in the community who believe in your voice and your work. We’re honored to make this space accessible to you.

  • 2. Sustain ($450/week)
    This middle tier reflects the true cost of running the residency. Choosing this rate helps sustain the program and ensures we can continue offering sliding scale access.

  • 3. Abundance ($600/week and above)
     For those with financial abundance or institutional support.
    Paying at this level helps directly subsidizing seed and scholarship recipients, ensuring this residency remains available to a wide and diverse community of writers.

2025 Writers in Residence

Eva Recinos 

Matt Austin

C Alexandria

Emily Coletta

Kiki Lechuga-Dupont

Sophie Lev

Sara Sadek

Karolina Letunova

Ella Mckay

Mihee Kim

Alex Arzt

Shiloh Gastello 

Agatha French