The Mother's Milk residency program provided a unique opportunity to introduce my work and engage with the Newton, KS community. While my time at the residency was short, it positively impacted my art practice. During my residency period, the staff assisted with organizing a small exhibition at the residency site and in one of the local galleries in town. I couldn't be more thankful for their assistance in making my engagement with the residency program a memorable experience. The tranquil environment provided a great place to reflect on work and, more importantly, a brief escape from the hectic pace of life.
The Mother's Milk residency was an unexpected gift of time and space. The studios and shared house offered a good balance of privacy and connection with other residents. The varied indoor and outdoor spaces seemed to encourage me to move between materials and during the residency I drew, stitched, walked, wrote, and made music, extending in-progress projects and beginning new ones. Gerry and Nelson are excellent hosts--available and encouraging but never intrusive, and very willing to facilitate excursions so that residents get glimpses of Kansas beyond just the secluded residency property. Highly recommend!
In 2024, I spent the month of July at Mother’s Milk for my first ever residency. I spent two weeks weaving on their 4-shaft floor loom and the next two weeks learning stained glass. The barn studio was a great place to work, allowing me to really spread out and tackle many projects at once. Both Geraldine and Nelson were so sweet and accommodating during my month stay, as were the other residents. Always happy to pass the time together or drive wherever for a field trip or grocery shopping. As someone without a car (or a license) this was a huge relief for me! The time I spent in Newton was a much-needed break from living in a major city. Their beautiful property includes a sprawling garden and comfortable home and studio. Safe to say you’ll feel at home here.
True to its name, Mother’s Milk is a deeply nourishing place. I arrived with the aim of reconnecting with my creativity and sense of play after years of work that had sucked me dry. Over the course of two weeks, I was able to rest, slow down, and ultimately build creative rituals that I’m still using months later in my city life. I still think about moments spent looking out my bedroom window at the expanse of soy fields across the street. The land is so very alive that I could just lie in a hammock at night listening to the orchestra of cicadas and be entertained. Most importantly of all, Gerry and Nelson truly understand that artists need both solitude and community and I was so impressed by how they nurtured both.
Geraldine and Nelson have lovingly transformed their homestead into a studious and supportive creative incubator. I am very grateful to have spent two weeks with them and one other artist, working through the night developing rolls of film in a coffee pot, learning new songs on my ukulele, playing pool at Bankshots, bowling at Eastgate Lanes, making cyanotype/watercolor postcards, recording the sounds of cicadas, and attending one unsettling rodeo. The facilities were above and beyond what I had been expecting, their hospitality deeply thoughtful and comfortable. Such delightful immediate company was a welcome fortification against the loneliness of the landscape.
This residency is a perfect combination of solitude and comradery with other residents and the artist directors Gerry and Nelson. I felt nurtured by the beauty of the Kansas farmlands and the care of the residency that the directors conduct from behind the scenes. The Mother’s Milk spaces are cared for and loved which is evident in the building materials, and details in building studio and residence. The land holds the history of the family and the signs of the past. The left-behind machinery and tools make the daily walk to the studio a new and interesting experience daily. The studios offer privacy and community with curtained walls that easily convert to both needs. Besides for a productive studio time, meeting other great resident, and getting to know Gerry and Nelson I loved the amazing local YMCA which is new and beautiful and a pool next to a wall of windows.
I had a wonderful time at Mother’s Milk. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do while at the residency, but the landscape was so influential to my working that I went in an entirely different direction. Looking out at the endless fields of crops, felt akin to looking into the sea or at a Rothko painting. The studio space and house are very lovely. It is in a very quiet town, which is nice for some self-reflection. I wish I could have spent more time there!
Mother's Milk provided the perfect reset experience for me. Gerry and Nelson are thoughtful and generous supporters of artists, and creators of this special place for quiet, independent work. Numerous microenvironments on the grounds provided different spots for reflection and artmaking. I loved my makeshift outdoor studio by day, and having a clean indoor place to assess things each evening. Mother's Milk is a hidden refuge on the edge of Newton, Kansas, a town surrounded by working farmland and full of history.
My residency at Mother’s Milk took an unexpected turn the first afternoon I was there. I went for a hike around the property to see what I could find for my assemblage work. I discovered a partial male deer skeleton which became the focus of the rest of my time there. I collected all the bones I could and brought them back to my studio. In addition to the skeleton here was a variety of other material left behind from the original use of the property as a dairy farm. Old glass jars, pieces of rusting farm equipment and an assortment of rusty nails, screws, and other small objects, that I collected and took back to my studio. All these various objects were then laid out on the floor to see which felt connected. I completed a tryptic of stacking glass jars and a small sculpture that I left there.
I am so grateful for my time at Mother’s Milk and the impact this residency has had on my work. My research is on the history of social justice movements and the social and economic landscapes of rural America. Newton, offering both seclusion and small-town connections, was an ideal location for me. Beyond how inspiring the land surrounding Mother’s Milk was, Kansas is rich with stories of liberation struggles, from John Brown to Populism. It was so beneficial to utilize the studio space Mother’s Milk provides and draw inspiration from the region through day trips and backroad drives. You couldn’t ask for better hosts than Gerry and Nelson. The care and intentions they put into the house, the gardens, the studio barn, and the delicious shared meals and cocktails made the experience so special.
I am so grateful for my time at Mother’s Milk and the impact this residency has had on my work. My research is on the history of social justice movements and the social and economic landscapes of rural America. Newton, offering both seclusion and small-town connections, was an ideal location for me. Beyond how inspiring the land surrounding Mother’s Milk was, Kansas is rich with stories of liberation struggles, from John Brown to Populism. It was so beneficial to utilize the studio space Mother’s Milk provides and draw inspiration from the region through day trips and backroad drives. You couldn’t ask for better hosts than Gerry and Nelson. The care and intentions they put into the house, the gardens, the studio barn, and the delicious shared meals and cocktails made the experience so special.
It’s been two months since I left Mother’s Milk, and I still see the sunflowers so vividly, and the big sky. I miss stepping out from my studio to pluck fresh kale and arugula for dinner, and basil for cocktails to sip around the firepit. I felt so at peace amidst the flowering gardens. Gerry and Nelson are a big part of this, with their generous support and companionship. I was able to complete a draft of my novel, which happily shares a similar setting to the farm. Everything—the lovely home, contemporary studio, other artists, and environment—was conducive to completing my project.
My time at Mother's Milk was incredibly productive, despite me whiling away the first days meandering around, staring out windows, riding the little road bike, poking through the woods and soaking it all in -- the sound of cicadas and crickets and the deer prints in the muddy creek beds and giant yellow orb weavers and sunflowers and the smell of sun hitting rusty iron and the clay from the fallow fields. Both the accommodation and the studios were comfortable and quiet. To top it all off, Gerry and Craig are just so special. They're tactful and generous, but also such interesting, curious, intelligent people... their presence really added a generative spark of magic to my experience in this corner of Kansas. I'm recommending MM to all the artists I know.
The residency gave me a wonderful jumpstart to my studio practice after an extended break due to medical treatments. The studio space was wonderful, and I was able to set it up for efficient production. I collected plants from the property to use in my imagery and enjoyed the chance to visit with both Geraldine and Nelson in the gardens. They were gracious and engaging hosts who gave the residents all the space they desired but were available to assist as needed. We invited Gerry and Nelson to a salon night- they were eager to participate and gave insightful feedback on our projects. It is a great residency where you can come to either recharge and rejuvenate, or to roll up your sleeves and get a ton of work done, or a little bit of both. Thank you!
Everything about my Mother’s Milk residency felt magical, from the artfully decorated farmhouse, to the downtown Newton antique and sewing supply shops. I enjoyed using the time and space following my drive to the center of the country to explore my families’ ancestry while I stitched patchwork in the studio on my Featherweight. The experience of meeting other artists with a variety of backgrounds was stimulating and we enjoyed carpooling to the pool. As everyone else says: I would have stayed longer if I could have. Also, if Nelson and Gerry offer you pie, accept it, it really is the best ever.