2024 Volland Residencies

Applications are now open | Due January 19th 
Click here to access the application

The Volland Foundation is committed to providing time and space for creative practitioners of a wide range of disciplines to gather in a community setting for work, thought and exchange of ideas, and to experience immersion in a unique ecosystem and rural culture. In 2024, Volland will offer 14 residencies across the spring, summer, and fall seasons.

 I am leaving gloriously bewildered and deeply mystified and fully in awe of the raw magic of connection and proximity—to others, to art, and to the world. – Lindsey  Drager, 2023 Volland Resident, from “Embracing the Enigma”

Applicants are encouraged to visit our page “Where Artists Live and Work” and read below to better understand the conditions of this rural setting.

 

About 100 miles west of Kansas City, Volland is located in one of the most picturesque valleys in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Its home county, Wabaunsee County, is highly agrarian, but nestled in between several small population centers. Volland has its roots in the railroad, where towns were established every eight to ten miles to replenish coal and water for steam engines. Cattle pens, a robust train schedule, and a mercantile run by two brothers, the Kratzers, made Volland a lively place. This all changed after trucking cattle became the predominant method of shipping. Learn more about the history of Volland here. Today, the Volland Foundation revives that sense of community through the arts with exhibitions, programming and its residency program.

The Residency

Volland provides three rarities in today’s world:  quiet, darkness, solitude.

The distractions of daily life often drift away at Volland, leaving meaningful time for work, personal discovery and engagement with nature. In addition to time and space, other residents, staff and locals endow a sense of community to the residency program.

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If you’re looking for a residency that offers quiet in a singularly beautiful landscape, the freedom to structure your own time, and a surrounding community that’s friendly and embraces art and artists, then The Volland Foundation residency is for you.  During my residencies there as a poet, I found a quality of concentration and openness that I’ve not experienced elsewhere.  Ever.  It has influenced me and my work in the deepest possible ways.  – Mary Pinard, Poet

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We are looking for applicants in all stages of their career (emerging, mid-level, professional) and all areas of the globe: local, national and international. The Foundation is committed to equity and welcomes people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.

Residents who enjoy solitude, working independently and are self-guided will do well in this residency. Applicants should consider whether this is the right environment for them. Volland is located 8 miles outside of Alma, a town of 900 people. The nearest grocery store is a 30-minute drive. If you are sensitive to noise, please note that Volland is near the railway.

The Volland Foundation does not require work to be completed or shown during the residency, believing the resident can best determine how this offering of time and space should be used. Volland encourages some degree of public interaction during residencies. Past examples have included group open studios or a presentation, trips to the local museum for research or to participate in a group activity, and attending local gatherings. The foundation allows residents to determine their choice of public engagements.

2024 Residencies

Spring

May 7 – May 21 | 2-week residency | 2 openings

May 23 – June 6 | 2-week residency | 2 openings

May 7 – June 6 | 4-week residency | 2 openings

Summer

July 9 – August 6 | 4-week residency | 4 openings

Fall

September 17 – October 15 | 4-week residency | 4 openings

From the founders, Patty and Jerry Reece: “A number of artists, writers, poets, musicians, designers, and scientists have spent time in Volland since it was first reopened.  We observed how they connected deeply to this place, and we understand the power of the tallgrass prairie to inspire and refresh. The Volland Foundation offers space and time for creative practitioners of various disciplines to live and work, to step outside their daily lives, have time to dream, and let creative juices flow.” 

Stipulations

Because of the remote location, it is necessary for all participants to have a car during their residency, plus a valid driver’s license.

Artists must arrive and depart on the stated times of the residency.

Artists are responsible for their own meals. Evening meals are a pleasant time for interaction, and shared meals may be arranged by residents at their discretion.

Spouses interested in their own residency should apply separately.

A collaborative team may apply for a residency.

Family is welcome to visit on the weekends, but must acquire their own accommodations offsite.

The rural nature of Volland means the foundation cannot ensure the safety of pets. As a result, we ask they stay home for the duration of your residency.

Feedback during and after your time at Volland is appreciated so that we may learn from your experience.

Volland encourages its residents share their experience on their social media channels.

Information and photos describing residents’ experience at Volland will be shared on our website and on social media.

Further Context

ABOUT VOLLAND |  It was the exceptional quality of tallgrass prairie that brought cattle by train from points farther south. The deep roots of the tall grasses defied drought, and cattle could graze and fatten up before being shipped on to market. Volland was a railroad shipping point in the early 20th century.  Two brothers, Bill and Otto Kratzer, opened Kratzer Brothers Mercantile in Volland in 1904, and it quickly became the social and cultural center of the ranching community that surrounded it. Otto, the young storekeeper, relished bringing the newest and best of everything to Volland. The brothers prospered, and in 1913 they built a big brick store (now The Volland Store) to add to their enterprise.

By 1971, the economy had changed, the population had declined, and the Store closed upon Otto’s death. It sat vacant for forty years and was in danger of being torn down. By 2011, a small remnant of the town remained: the boarded-up Kratzer stores (original and “new”),  a few houses and outbuildings, two residents, and then one.

ART AND COMMUNITY | In 2015, The Volland Store reopened after substantial renovations. It was re-purposed as an art gallery and gathering place for the community. It became a destination for visitors from near and far, building a like-minded community of supporters from across the country, and attracting artists, poets, and musicians.  An architectural award-winning space, it thrives on good art and friendly conversation.  It is owned and operated by the Volland Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, and serves as an anchor for the foundation’s activities in Volland: art exhibitions and community programming in the gallery; outdoor performances at “the Ruin;” artist residencies in Volland; guest accommodations in the Loft and the Little House between art  residencies; and the History, Nature, and Sculpture Trail.

PLACE | Volland is located in the Flint Hills of Kansas, a place of extraordinary beauty and exquisite subtlety: rolling hills, distant horizons, and a sky full of stars. It is the largest remaining contiguous area of tallgrass prairie in North America that once stretched from Texas to the Canadian border, from the western edge of Indiana to eastern Kansas. Only 4% of it remains. It is the most endangered ecosystem in the world.

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We believe that the gift of time and space in this wide-open landscape can create a change in the creative trajectory of those who participate in the residency program at Volland.