KFW’s Retreat Program offers retreats of up to six days, free of cost, at Hopscotch House for artists, activists, and allies who live and work in Kentucky and whose goals are to create art, gain a deeper understanding of feminism, and strengthen their understanding of their art and social change goals. The program brings together artists, activists, and allies in a feminist space located on 10 acres of land. Retreats support participants at all stages in their artistic, feminist and social change development.

Hopscotch House is not available for on-site childcare thus other arrangements must be made by Hopscotch House patrons for all children. For individual retreats, KFW provides stipends for childcare assistance.

Retreats are open to artists, activists and allies, both individuals and groups.

Participants requesting a retreat should:

• • live and work in Kentucky,
  • work in the areas of feminism, art, and/or activism,
  • clearly explain why participating in a retreat at Hopscotch House will advance her feminism, art, or activism,
  • focus on advancing artistic expression, deepening an understanding of feminism, and advancing social change for women and girls in Kentucky,
  • have a goal or plan for taking her newly developed work, ideas, or understandings back into her community,
  • not use Hopscotch House for for-profit activities.

Examples of Successful Individual Retreats

• A visual artist participates in a six-day retreat to explore video and installation. She gains experience working with multi-dimensional space and strengthens the feminist content of her art. A stipend provides her the financial support to take time from work to develop her artistic practice. Her focus is on creating sculptural forms with found objects. She will teach youth the new techniques she learns.

• A poet participates in a five-day retreat to finalize and format her collection of feminist themed poems for publication. Her work is accepted for publication and her chapbook is now available in hard copy and online, which creates broad opportunity to impact social change.

Examples of Successful Group Retreats

• Five visual artists participate in a six-day retreat to create work for a fundraiser to support a school building effort in Ghana, West Africa. The group is able to advance their art-making skills together, discuss issues that affect women and girls in Kentucky, and consider the global intersections of social change with their work at home.

• An inter-generational retreat brings together mentors with teenage girls representing various nationalities and educational levels. The adults arrive first to discuss their mentoring process. The teenagers arrive on day two. Together with the mentors, the girls explore writing approaches for creating a magazine they publish and distribute to teen girls. The goal of the publication is to empower the girls who read it as well as the girls who produce it.

Before you decide to request a retreat at Hopscotch House, please review the links below to make sure you understand KFW’s mission and to help you think through your ideas about feminist art and social change.

• Thinking About KFW’s Mission
• Thinking About Feminism, Art, & Social change

You can book a retreat between the dates of Tuesday, February 2 through Sunday, June 27.

View date availability on calendar before applying.

Additional Requirements:

Men:

While men-identifying artists may participate in day retreats as part of a group, Hopscotch House has a women-only policy for overnight stays.

Childcare:

The Hopscotch House is not available for on-sight childcare thus other arrangements must be made by Hopscotch House patrons for all children. For individual retreats, KFW provides stipends for childcare assistance.