Call for Artmonk Chef

Cooking In Paradise:

A Summer Chef Position at the Art Monastery

From former Artmonk Chef Emma Wyman:

Opportunity to give and receive abounds as Artmonk Chef. This is a chance to put yourself at the heart of a community founded on intimacy and expression, gratitude and presence. Here, a chef can revel in the abundance of local food ranging from beautiful produce, herbs and fruit grown at the Art Monastery, to meat, eggs and dairy produced by close neighbors, and abundant wild foraging opportunities. There is no lack of inspiration in this fertile river valley. Though I’ve cooked in many settings, I’ve never felt gratitude for my culinary offerings as acutely as I did on a daily (multiple times a day) basis at the Art Monastery. I believe being thanked so much, and so genuinely, changes a person. Whether your creative practice dwells prominently in the kitchen or has a life outside, you are sure to be fed by this role of service and feel the richness and vitality of this community infuse you and your work, rippling outward and outward.

The bright and shiny vision of the Art Monastery is to cultivate personal awakening and cultural transformation through creativity, contemplation, and community. Essentially we aim to live the dream of lovingkindness, liberated self-expression & eating delicious food that we grow on the land.

Does that light you up?

As it happens, we are looking for a summer Chef to support our programs (ongoing artists-in-residence, two Artmonk Retreats, an Embodied Artist retreat and a movement-based Wild & Well gathering), as well as a small residential community.

During the Artmonk Retreats everyone will be in silence, and we ask that the kitchen is also a silent space during that time (functional speech). Check out our program pages for more info about the particular retreats.

We are a non-sectarian artist collective strongly influenced by intersectional liberatory movements of every stripe, buddhism, earthbased spirituality and visionary art. Team members have a range of professional, educational and experiential backgrounds and current spiritual practices.

How Can We Support One Another’s Freedom?

Daily meditation and group singing, daily periods of silence and regular group ceremony are all important parts of our shared practice life. We encourage the Chef to view the kitchen as an opportunity to practice mindfulness, kindness, and creativity while cooking.

Chef Responsibilities

Your responsibilities as chef are to plan the meals, shop, and cook (with the help of one or two volunteers per meal) lunch & dinner 5-6 days/week (depending on the programming for that week). The rest of the community is responsible for meal cleans. Other people take care of most breakfasts. You’ll be cooking for 5 to 15 people per meal, including Artmonks, volunteers, and program guests. We prioritize using veggies from our garden, and local/bulk food as much as possible. We eat on a budget of $8-$15 per person/per day depending on the program. We do serve meat, but there are always vegetarians and possibly a couple of vegans, gluten-free or no-dairy-folks. We accommodate food allergies / special diets as much as possible.

Our ideal candidate has experience cooking for a spiritual community or retreat center.

Time Commitment

Full time summer position: May 5 – August 18

Minimum summer position: June 24 – August 18

We will prioritize applicants who have the most availability.

Compensation

In exchange for your work, we will provide housing and food for the time that you are with us. This also includes alcohol, wifi, use of the car while you’re here, and utilities. Please ask if you have further questions.

Living Arrangements

A truly special 7-acre farm on the banks of the Connecticut River, we will live in tents and in the 6-bedroom farmhouse. The barn-turned-movement-space is available for movement-based practices as well as a variety of other shared and outdoor art-making spaces.

Art Monastery Vermont, 2315 Connecticut River Road, Springfield, VT.

Shared accommodations available, 2 people per room. If you are interested in camping, we can offer a private tent.

Kitchen

The kitchen is a normal family-sized farm kitchen, not a commercial kitchen. So you’ll need to be prepared to be flexible in the space. There is a 5-burner gas stove with oven, toaster oven and a grill over the outdoor fire pit. The kitchen is equipped with crockpot, blender-mixer, dehydrator, immersion blender, and nice (consumer-grade) food processor, plus an assortment of new & antique tools of the trade. We are happy to answer any questions you have about the kitchen.

Garden

We plant a big garden each year with a variety of veggies and herbs. We ask the Chef and kitchen crew to help tend and harvest outside in order to become familiar with the garden. We wish to use and preserve as much produce from the garden as possible.

To apply

Please email info@artmonastery.org with:

• • your cooking or food-systems resume

• a one-page statement of interest including
  • • what calls you to the Art Monastery
  • • experience living in community
  • • your background in spiritual practice
  • • additional info about previous experiences working in kitchens
  • your calendar availability