Yaddo is one of the best-known artist residencies in the world, and also one of the quietest. There are no exhibitions to mount, no talks to give and no reports to file. You are given a room, a studio, meals and time.
That simplicity is exactly why getting in is competitive. The application itself is short, but every part of it carries weight.
Here is how the Yaddo residency works, who can apply, what each discipline has to submit, and how to put together a stronger application.
What Yaddo is and why artists want to go
Yaddo is an artists' community on a 400-acre estate in Saratoga Springs, in upstate New York. The financier Spencer Trask and the writer Katrina Trask bought the property in 1881 and, after the deaths of their four children, decided to turn it into a retreat for artists.
The first guests arrived in 1926. Since then the estate has hosted more than 6,000 artists, among them James Baldwin, Sylvia Plath, Langston Hughes, Aaron Copland, Philip Guston, Flannery O'Connor and Jacob Lawrence. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2013.
The name, by the way, came from one of the Trask children and was meant to rhyme with "shadow".
For many artists the appeal is less the history than the terms. A Yaddo artist residency lasts from two weeks to two months and includes a private bedroom, a private studio and meals. Yaddo places no publication, exhibition or performance requirements on the people it invites.
Who can apply
Yaddo offers residencies to professional creative artists from all nations and backgrounds. In practice that means people already working at a professional level, or emerging artists whose work shows clear professional promise.
The work is judged on quality alone. You do not need a gallery, a publisher or a long CV, and references are not currently part of the process.
There are a few firm limits worth checking before you start:
You cannot apply while enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate programme, or while completing coursework toward a degree. That rules out current MFA and PhD students, including those on practice-based doctorates.
You can apply only once every other calendar year, whatever the outcome of your last attempt. Someone who applied in August 2024, for example, becomes eligible again for the July 2026 deadline.
Yaddo supports artists generating new, original work. Auxiliary roles such as sound and lighting technicians, performing musicians, dancers and designers are not eligible on their own, and collaborative teams are not currently accepted.
The five disciplines
Applications are reviewed by panels of practising artists, and the membership of each panel changes every round. You apply to one panel, in one genre, choosing the one that best fits the project you want to work on.
Literature covers fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, librettos and graphic novels.
Visual art covers painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, mixed media and installation.
Music composition includes instrumental and vocal forms, electronic music, music for film and sound art.
Performance covers choreography, performance art and multimedia work built around live performance. Film and video covers narrative, documentary and experimental film, animation and screenplays.
Deadlines and how the Yaddo application works
There are two application cycles a year, and both run through the SlideRoom portal at yaddo.slideroom.com.
The winter cycle opens on 20 November and closes on 20 December at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. It covers residencies starting from May through March of the following year, and results arrive by email by mid-March.
The summer cycle opens on 1 June and closes on 1 July at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. It covers residencies starting from November through June of the following year, with results by early October.
One detail catches people out. The winter portal closes either on the deadline or as soon as 1,600 applications have arrived, whichever comes first, and there is no live counter. Treat the deadline as a backstop rather than a target.
The application fee is $35, it is non-refundable, and SlideRoom only accepts payment by credit card. Late applications are not accepted.
What to submit for each discipline
The work sample carries the most weight in a Yaddo residency application. It should be recent, finished work that relates to the project you plan to pursue there.
The early stages of review are anonymous, so remove your name from file titles and from anything embedded in the files. A name left in a PDF footer or a video credit is an easy mistake to make.
Writers submit a two-page preview plus a longer double-spaced sample. That is about 20 pages for fiction and nonfiction, 30 for drama and libretto, and 10 for poetry or graphic novels.
Visual artists submit seven images, with an optional video documenting an installation. Panels look at the images both on individual screens and projected large, so file quality and consistent photography matter.
Composers submit two separate works with a recording of at least one, and each needs a score or a brief statement. Performance artists and filmmakers each submit a two-minute continuous preview and a longer sample of up to ten minutes.
Screenwriters send a longer screenplay sample of up to 30 pages or 10,000 words, plus a two-page excerpt from the same script.
How to make your application stronger
Because the sample does most of the talking, sequencing is worth real thought. Lead with your strongest piece, since the preview is often what a panellist sees first.
Make the link between your samples and your proposed project easy to see. A panel is trying to imagine what you will do with the time, so recent work that points in that direction helps.
Visual artists should state the dimensions of the work they plan to make. Yaddo's studios vary in size, and the information helps staff match you to a suitable space.
Good documentation pays off here too. If your images were shot in uneven light or your audio is thin, fix that well before the portal opens. Our overview of research documentation tools artists actually use covers simple ways to record work properly.
Finally, apply early in the window. With a cap on winter submissions, the last week is not a safe place to be.
Life on the estate
Residencies run year-round except for a winter break from mid-December to mid-January. From May to September there are around 25 to 30 artists in residence at once; from October to April, around 18.
Each artist has a private bedroom and studio. There are dedicated studios for painting, printmaking, sculpture, welding and choreography, a black-and-white darkroom, and pianos in the composers' studios. There is no film or video editing equipment.
Quiet hours traditionally run from 9 am to 4 pm and again after 10 pm. Breakfast and a packed lunch are provided, and dinner is served communally. Those dinners are the one fixed social point of the day, and guests are expected to attend.
Yaddo does not provide general supplies such as paint, paper or computers, though there is shared wireless internet and a few computers for guest use. Saratoga Springs has an art supply shop, and our guide on what to pack for an artist residency can help with the rest.
Partners, friends and pets cannot stay, with the exception of service animals, which you should flag in the application.
Costs, access and international artists
There is no charge for the stay itself, but artists pay their own travel to and from Saratoga Springs. Yaddo offers modest access grants to help with the costs of accepting an invitation, and the grant application arrives with the invitation.
International artists are welcome. A working knowledge of English helps, but Yaddo does not provide interpreters or help with US visas, so build visa timing into your planning if you are travelling from Europe.
The estate has accessible bedrooms, bathrooms and studios year-round, while the mansion and dining room are only accessible in warmer months. Many paths are dirt or gravel, so contact the programme director first if mobility is a concern.
Is Yaddo the right fit?
Yaddo suits artists who want uninterrupted working time more than networking, public programmes or production support. If you need technical equipment, an exhibition outcome or institutional partners, another kind of residency may serve you better.
If you are weighing those options, our piece on choosing between an artist retreat and a residency sets out the differences.
For the full current guidelines, check Yaddo's own application page before each cycle, as dates and requirements can change from year to year.
About Dr. Mira Solheim
Dr. Mira Solheim is an art historian and writer focused on artistic research, Nordic visual culture and the intersection of art with technology and film. She writes for Artistic-Research.no on methodology, institutions and practice.