Photo by Ryan Jones
Volland is located in the Flint Hills of Kansas, a place of extraordinary beauty and 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, and it is the most endangered ecosystem in the world.
Volland offers three rarities in today’s culture: quiet, darkness, solitude. A working landscape and ranching culture are complemented by nearby communities with opportunities for mutual engagement. 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.
If you’re looking for an artist 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
A number of artists, writers, poets, musicians, and scientists have spent time in Volland during the past several years. We have observed how they have connected deeply to this place, and we understand its power to inspire and refresh. Now, the Volland Foundation will offer 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.
– Patty and Jerry Reece, Founders, Volland Foundation
Introducing Volland Residency 2023