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This program is on hold because of the ongoing nature of social distancing.

If you would like to know more about the possibility of a new program,

Art Monastery Quarantine Social Sculpture,

please send an email to info@artmonastery.org.

 

 

Artmonk Life: Worktrade

Artmonk Life (Sowing&Planting) May 9-30

Hosting Season May 30-June 22 (full)

Artmonk Life (Harvesting) June 22-July 13

 

Join the Artmonk team and participate in a radical experiment in alternative living.

Artmonk Life is what we’re calling the ‘social sculpture’ of our community when we are not hosting a formal retreat program. It is inspired by renunciate monastic ways of structuring time and activities to create a safe, dynamic, inspiring refuge from the norms and values of the prevailing culture.

Artmonk Life will be defined by a regular schedule for all residents consisting of silence until lunch; morning meditation and singing; unstructured creative time; lunch and personal check-in; and 5 hours of afternoon/evening work projects.

A deliriously invaluable resilience-building component of Artmonk life will be regular community ‘artshares’. Supported by an ethos of “No Preamble, No Applause”, Artmonks are encouraged to allow the work to be received in the widest possible aperture, without overly complicated it with egoic concerns. Artshares are an opportunity for residents to reveal works-in-progress before an audience of avidly interested peers, and solicit (and define) particular feedback.

We will also be experimenting with forms and rituals aimed at raising the potential for mindfulness in daily life; incorporating half-day meditation days into the weekly/monthly calendar; holding new and full moon ceremonies; and developing creative means of deepening interpersonal relationships, particularly in the arena of conflict and feedback.

The Art Monastery is looking for heart-centered folks ready to co-create a vision of enlightened society through contributing energy and aesthetics to the ever-changing communal life of the Art Monastery.

The Work

All worktraders will be asked to assist in the art of hospitality: welcoming guests, retreatants and one another with a baseline of kindness and clear communication.

Worktrade tasks vary according to your skills and our needs. These tasks will center around kitchen/food systems, garden/landscaping, and recurrent household cleaning and maintenance tasks.

It is possible that you may have the opportunity to help in the areas of carpentry/renovation, sign-making, administration, graphic design, and hospitality. Please let us know what kinds of skills you have that you’d be excited to share!

Thank you for considering giving this gift of yourself to strengthen and expand the expansive vision of the Art Monastery. Your contribution helps make the unique offerings of the Art Monastery available to more people.

During Artmonk Life: Sowing/Planting (May 9-30), we will wake up the land and prepare for Hosting Season. We will

  • prepare outdoor and indoor spaces for summer programming;
  • work on perennial land, barn and home-based maintenance projects; and
  • sow seeds, prepare the soil with compost, plant the summer garden.

During Hosting Season (May 30 – June 22) worktraders have the opportunity to be part of the hosting team during programs. This means you participate in the programs as fully as possible (including practicing silence during silent programs), while also attending behind-the-scenes meetings and supporting the other participants. The schedule is very full and the experience tends to be rich and intimate. Worktrade during Hosting Season is only available by invitation to those who have worktraded for a minimum of two weeks previously.

We will

  • maintain the garden and outdoor spaces;
  • prepare outdoor and indoor spaces for program participants;
  • support programs while they run by helping in the kitchen and to keep spaces clean & tidy.

During Artmonk Life: Harvesting (June 22-July 13), the garden will be in full swing and we’re looking for 2-3 worktraders to be harvesting & processing our homegrown vegetables, herbs, and fruit.

We will

  • harvest, clean, and prep fresh food;
  • pickle, can, and preserve;
  • harvest and make pear butter; and
  • dehydrate herbs & teas.

During all seasons, in addition to all these awesome outward manifestation projects, we will begin building the interpersonal “social sculpture” of the Art Monastic community which is the foundational collaborative artwork that will allow us to identify and explore our deepest intentions.

The social sculpture is expressed in co-creating the awakened journey of daily life, wherein we each share ritual and responsibility for cultivating harmony and beauty. A shared schedule—which includes open space for solitude and self-direction—is the framework for the unfolding experiment in living. You can expect to:

  • practice meditation and chant together each morning,
  • cultivate friendships that nurture your authentic self-expression
  • prepare and share delicious meals from our garden & neighbors’ farms every day,
  • swim in the beneficent Connecticut River,
  • enjoy nearby wooded hill walks and evening campfires,
  • honor the new & full moon with ceremonies, and
  • gather for spontaneous artshares.

Details

We are deeply grateful for the dedication, heartfelt enthusiasm and good humor of Worktraders!

It has been our experience that when working closely together to create a safe refuge and intentional community, profoundly meaningful transformations occur. These epiphanies open up new understandings about the potential and direction for our human lives. This growth in understanding of self, other and world is the sole purpose of the Art Monastery.

Since love (understood as creative, free and liberating relationships) cannot be monetized, we intend that the “work” offered by all participants (in labor exchange or currency) naturally becomes part of the radical “gift economy” that pays generosity and abundance forward endlessly.

We look forward to welcoming you into being an active part of our loving community.

Worktraders

  • work 5 hours each day for 5 days of the week, in addition shift in the kitchen, helping to prep for or clean up after meal
  • work 2 hours, plus 2 kitchen shifts on 2 ‘weekend’ days (days with no formal schedule)
  • contribute $70/week to offset expenses

We gladly offer

  • three lovingly prepared meals per day, endless snacks, coffee and wine* (*there is no alcohol offered during the Artmonk Retreat);
  • access to landline telephone and high-speed wifi; and
  • space to camp (when space permits, we are happy to offer indoor sleeping, but worktraders should plan on camping their whole stay with us).

We are committed to keeping the Art Monastery accessible to those who want to come.

The Worktrader price already does not cover expenses (it costs us more than $70/week to host an individual). If this monetary donation is a hardship for you, please let us know. We would love for you to be here if it is what your heart is calling for. Please reach out with any questions or concerns, we’re very happy to help however we can.

We look forward to welcoming you as an active part of our loving community.

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