Skowhegan is an intensive nine-week summer residency program for emerging visual artists established in 1946.

Skowhegan seeks each year to bring together a diverse group of individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to artmaking and inquiry, creating the most stimulating and rigorous environment possible for a concentrated period of artistic creation, interaction and growth. Located on a historic 350 acre farm in rural Maine, the campus serves as a critical component of the program.

Neither a school in the traditional sense nor a retreat, Skowhegan draws its vitality from the community created through the talent and energy of the participants, and the distinguished Faculty of Resident and Visiting Artists who provide them with support and critical assistance. Founded by artists, and still governed by artists, the program provides an atmosphere in which participants are encouraged to work free of the expectations of the marketplace and academia.

While on campus, participants are given individual studio spaces, as well as access to a sculpture studio, a fresco studio, a media lab, a library composed of over 10,000 volumes, over 300-acres of farmland, forests, and lakefront, and a rich community of artists. Alumni often report that the intensity of the Skowhegan experience has had a profound effect on their work and their lives. In order to allow others entry, no participant is allowed to return for a second summer. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.