Welcome to Portland Arts Retreat

An environment where ideas can take root and flourish.

The Portland Arts Retreat is a subsidized self-guided residency program in Portland, Oregon for artists. If you’d like to be selected, we invite you to apply.

Testimonials

  • “The moment I arrived, I felt inspired by the weather, the location, and the people of Portland. I started writing immediately and now find myself 60 pages deep, with plans to double that by Sunday.”

    Jessica Granger

    Writer/Producer

  • “The residency was an invaluable experience with profound and lasting implications for my life and practice. I committed myself to engaging with something new every day—whether it was writing, visiting a place, reading literature, exploring art, or simply enjoying music or food.“

    Janelle Lynch

    Artist

  • Michael Bunker is an off-grid farmer, author, historian, philosopher, and father of four. Living in a “plain” Christian Community in Central Texas, Michael spends his days reading, writing, and occasionally “tilting at windmills.” His work reflects a deep connection to history, community, and independent living.

    Michael Bunker

    Writer/Philosopher

  • Nam Le is the author of THE BOAT, ON DAVID MALOUF, and 36 WAYS OF WRITING A VIETNAMESE POEM. His work, which appears in modern classics series, has received major awards in America, Europe, and Australia, and is widely translated, anthologised and taught. He is based in Melbourne, Australia.

    Nam Le

    Writer

  • You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

    Maya Angelou

  • Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

    Edgar Degas

  • “What happens when people open their hearts?" "They get better.”

    ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

  • Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

    Vincent van Gogh

  • The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.

    Francis Bacon

  • Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life

    Fernando Pessoa

  • I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.

    Jorge Luis Borges

  • Stories are the wildest things of all. Stories chase and bite and hunt.

    Patrick Ness