Who Are They?: Celebration Barn – Part 3

Incubation Residencies

This blog post is part of a series called Who Are They? where information is provided for the Maine Arts Ed blog readers to learn about community organizations and institutions that provide educational opportunities in the arts. You will learn that they are partnering with other organizations and schools to extend learning opportunities, not supplant. Please consider ways in which you can collaborate to provide excellent arts education for all learners.

This is the third of 5 blog posts about Celebration Barn which is located at 190 Stock Farm Rd, South Paris, ME. Thanks to Ian Bannon for providing the posts.

Celebration Barn Theater is an incubator for physical theater with an emphasis on collaborative process. Our Show Incubation Residencies provide artists a retreat from daily demands, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in creating and refining work. This year, we will host up to three artists/ensembles for two week-long residencies in June August.

Performers of all types are encouraged to apply to the residency. Last year’s forms included physical theater, interactive performance, juggling, and puppetry. 2015 participant Lisa Jackson-Schebetta from the University of Pittsburgh valued, “the trust and faith placed in artists. The ownership given to artists to steer the course of the week, not only in their work, but in the day to day ness of the experience: this is incredibly valuable.”

“This is the kind of experience that lets you realize how important your surroundings can be when working on a project.” — Thom Wall, Juggler
Photo by Davin Currie

Located in the beautiful countryside of western Maine, Celebration Barn’s 44 year history fuels a super-charged atmosphere that encourages artists to play on their creative edge, to be nurtured and challenged by collaborators, and to launch performance in new directions. Thanks to generous support from the Nolan Family Foundation, the program, including our meal plan, is free for all participants.

In addition to housing and meals, the Barn provides artists with designated rehearsal studios; opportunities to share work, network, and process with other artists; a public workshop performance; and access to the Barn’s 11 acres of fields and forests including a fire pit, volleyball court, horseshoe pit, and laying hens. In exchange, artists are asked to provide feedback on how the residency served to advance their work and provide visibility for Celebration Barn in promotional materials for the work.

For more information about Celebration Barn Theater workshops, visit their by CLICKING HERE.