Mineral School is an artists residency founded in a former elementary school bult in 1947 near Mt. Rainier, in Mineral, Washington. During 2024 and the first half of 2025, we'll host 36 creative people during seven sessions ranging from one to two weeks in length. With the exception of our early October session, each residency supports four artists at a time who live onsite along with a chef and a host.

We provide accepted applicants with space and time to create new work without the interruptions of normal life and with the bonus of healthy meals prepared by a chef using locally-grown organic produce and eggs where possible. Each resident will live in an 800-square foot former 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. Mineral features a fishing lake, boat rentals (or our kayaks), some in-town hiking trails, a bar, a B&B, 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 15, 2024, through May 31, 2024 (Midnight, PST) for 2024-2025 residencies. Notification will be given at least two months before the residency period for which you've applied. 

2024-2025 RESIDENCY DATES

Residency sessions will be held during the following time periods:

• September 14-September 22, 2024 (Visual artists)
• September 28-October 6, 2024 (All genres; four folks at the school and eight alumni in-town)
• October 13-October 27, 2024 (All genres)
• November 3-November 17, 2024 (All genres)
• December 8-December 22, 2024 (All genres)
• March 2-March 16, 2025 (All genres)
• March 30-April 13, 2025 (All genres)

RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIPS

During 2024-2025, we are able to offer eight fellowships so writers and artists may attend residency at no cost.. Otherwise, one-week residency costs $450 and two-week residency costs $900, which includes all meals, linens, and programming.

June Dodge Fellowships (5) 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 the I-5 corridor.

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. 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 reimbursement upon proof of travel purchase or mileage, up to $175 (OR/WA) or $400 (NY/MA).