"I have lived much of my life on the San Andreas Fault which creates an expectation of the unexpected and so as I shut my door and headed to the Airport on July 31st, I looked up and down my block and said, 'When I return, whatever happens, this will be different. I will be different.' You can say that, know it to be true and still not know what it means until after 'different' begins to take on color, become shaded. That's where I am right now. I've been home about five or six weeks and know I am experiencing the imperceptible aftershocks as I attempt to integrate August at Millay and reinvent my life based on some deepened sense of my craft and purpose."

The Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, New York—approximately 2 1/2 hours north of New York City and 2 1/2 hours west of Boston, Massachusetts. Full directions can be found on our location page.

The Colony is secluded, though the towns of Chatham and Great Barrington are both within a 20-minute drive. The Austerlitz Post Office is two-miles away, down a dirt road that winds through the forest. The nearest general store is in Spencertown, about 5 miles away. Colony staff will often provide transportation to and from towns. We also have a Colony vehicle that is generally available for residents' use.

We have a six-acre campus that is bordered by Edna St. Vincent Millay's former house and gardens, maintained by the Millay Society, and the beautiful Harvey Mountain State forest. Resident artists are free to walk in the gardens of the Millay house, near her famous stone pool, and may explore Millay's "hidden meadow" and former tennis courts, now overgrown with fragrant wild thyme and blueberries. Millay's home is not open to the public, however visits are occasionally arranged for groups of resident artists. The State forest is available for general public use. We provide residents maps of all the trails. There is excellent hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, bird-watching and blueberry-picking in the State Forest. A short drive will bring you to the Catamount Ski resort and numerous parks and swimming holes.

The Millay Colony campus centers on two buildings—the Steepletop Barn and the Main Building.

The Steepletop Barn was built in the mid 1920's by Edna St. Vincent Millay from one of the classic kits designed by Sears & Roebuck. It was renovated and made into Colony housing in 1980. There are four bedrooms on the ground floor and four studios upstairs. Two studios are for writers, one for a visual artist, and one is used for both. The studios measure 14' by 20' and have full-spectrum fluorescent lights and adjustable incandescent lights. There is a small area near the second floor studios with sinks, a refrigerator, and appliances to make coffee and tea. The Barn was recently renovated and now features two new full bathrooms downstairs.

Thanks to a host of generous area businesses, industrious community volunteers, and committed former residents, the barn has been updated with new bathrooms, floors and bedding. It is newly plush but still basic. There is no air conditioning. However, the mountaintop campus stays fairly cool in all but the hottest weather. Fans are provided. A telephone is available in the barn.

The Main Building was designed by a team of artists with physical disabilities. It offers "universal access" and comfortably accommodates artists with a wide range of abilities. Completed in 1997, the Main Building has the Colony's kitchen, dining and living areas, music room/library, laundry room, phone room with internet access, and public bathroom — all of which are fully accessible and available to all residents.

The main building has two suites. The Speinson Suite has a 16' by 20' studio, two bedrooms, a bath with a roll-in shower, and a door to an adjoining carport. The two bedrooms make the Speinson Studio usable by an artist requiring an aide or by two artists working on a collaborative project. The studio has a door that opens to the grounds, full-spectrum fluorescent lights and adjustable incandescent lights, a sink, and a full room ventilation fan. The McClennen/Hope Suite has a 15' by 22' studio, one bedroom, and bath. The studio has a door that opens to the grounds, full-spectrum fluorescent lights and adjustable incandescent lights, a sink, and a full room ventilation fan. The Main Building is not air-conditioned. Two source-capture exhaust systems are available for visual artists to use in their studios, as well as an air filter unit.

The Main Building also includes the Martha Dupee Darkroom, equipped with a Beseler dichro 67S enlarger (6X7 formatting) with color head. Photographic chemistry is not provided. The Speinson Suite has a Yamaha U1 upright piano, for use by composers.

We also have a general and an art library, thanks to the generosity of sculptor Nancy Graves, both of which are available for residents' use.

The Millay Colony buildings are smoke free. Animals are not invited except for aide dogs.