Why Travel to An Artist Residency? 

So you want to travel meaningfully, with purpose, but you aren’t sure where to begin. We decided to write an article about the top 10 reasons why everyone should travel to an artist residency. 

Our generation is one that is waking up. We no longer abide by the 9-5, and we are striving to understand our purpose. We have been disillusioned by society in general and want to understand our connection to the greater cosmos. 

So, we quit our job and hit the road. We’ve heard the story. 

But, as we travel and check off our bucket list destinations, we quickly realize that the answers we’re looking for are not in the geographical destination.We quickly realize, they are not outside of us. They lie within us. So, we register for a Vipassana to explore our inner depths. Maybe we go to an ashram or sign up for a yoga teacher training. We contemplate doing an intensive plant medicine journey in the jungle. Some of us actually do and some serious explosions go off. Things just start making sense. 

The answers start revealing themselves to us and we start witnessing the connection between all things, and all beings. Existence starts making sense and we become excited to share. But as we turn to our neighbors to discuss, we realize, it’s not everyone that has taken the first step to the journey of self-awareness. 

We start seeking connection to those who also see, seeking to communicate with the curious. This is where community comes to play. The ability to surround yourself with people’s resonating on the same vibration. This is when people first hear of Momentom residencies, become intrigued and reach out to join in.

It’s the people who have done the first leg of the journey. Residencies are not just for artists, they are for the creators of our generation. Those that want to create new worlds with fresh perspectives. We call these creators: artists.

But what is an artist residency? Let’s break it down. 

res·i·den·cy /ˈrez(ə)dənsē/ noun: – the fact of living in a place.

A residency is where people with common interest reside. Not just coming in for a few days, shoot the shit and then leave- rather, they commit to residing in a specific and working on a specific goal. 

art·ist /ˈärdəst/ noun: An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. More importantly, it is a person skilled at a particular task or occupation. 

Over the years we’ve come to understand that an artist is anyone who is able to utilize their creative energy to create – anything. For us, an artist is characterized by someone who has unlocked a love for creativity; someone with a creative mind and who gets turned on at stimulating the infinity of their imagination. So an artist is also an entrepreneur, it is also a spiritual being, a cook, a poet, a surfer. 

Artists residencies are places people co-create and magic unfolds, simply put. 

Below are 10 reasons to travel to an artist residency:

Artist Residencies give you a space to meet like-minded people.

An artist residency provides the inspiring spaces for the ultimate flow of creativity for the most amount of people in the arts field. By providing spaces for movement, for music production, for meditating, then you will inevitably attract people who are interested in these fields. Put a lot of people interested in niche industries, or inspired by self-transcendence, the quality of conversation will be high and will feed those that are in the facilities. 

We call it human feng shui – the organic space for meditation and creation of art will allow residents to come face to face with beings that inspires them- or to start a conversation with someone who will teach you the exact lessons you are seeking answers to because they too have undertaken a similar journey.

Delicious, yummy plant based, non-GMO food.

Food is at the heart of any good community. This is where it all starts.  We tend to see it as fuel for the body, but its also fuel for the soul. When you are traveling, you constantly have to go seek for food three times a day, or take the time to make food yourself. At an artist residency, you know the chef well, he is trained in creating protein-rich, delicious, plant-based, non-crappy GMO-filled, non-crulety food that will give you the wow sensation in the moment, but also allow you to achieve high performance for your training and deeper meditations for your mind.

Access to a space for devotion that’s not an ashram or an expensive retreat.

A place for devotion allows for artists & travelers to tap into their inner knowing and communicate with themselves, spirit and/or visions. An Artist residency devotes a space that is meant for just that –  devotional practices. On the road, you might be able to access this meditative space if you join a yoga class, or an ashram.However, you still have to get out of bed and go. There is an energy when 30 people wake up at 7 AM to go meditate together.

It’s a kick in the butt to go too, and it allows you to dive into a collective devotion for self-awareness and a reprogramming for the self. In residency, you have access to tons of different introspective practices too, that you might never have access to in one place: think kundalini on Monday, AUM chanting on Tuesday, Vipassana on Wednesday, Self-love on Thursday, so you get to taste many flavors of introspective practices and you choose the one that most resonates for you!

A yoga & movement shala that takes your breath away.

Artist residencies most likely will house many movement artists and yogis.  A good artist residency will honor a space to train the body, explore movement, and expression in peace. This space, whether for dance, acrobatics, or breath work, is a space to cultivate discernment, awareness, self-regulation and higher consciousness. Why does this matter? Because if you can cultivate these in the yoga space, you can practice for the real world and embody these qualities in everyday life.

A good artist residency will be creative in how they create these spaces. A circus castle. A jungle shala. Let the space for creation and expression be one of the wildest of dreams and watch the dreams unfold into reality.

Produce music in a music studio that won’t break the bank.

Musicians and producers have this conundrum. Where do they produce music in a professional studio that won’t break their wallet in half?

A good artist residency will have a space reserved for professional music production and have musicians jamming in community spaces. This will attract DJs, Music Producers, sound engineers, singer- songwriters and watch the entire residency explode in high resonance.

Get exposed to the elements and get connected to mother earth.

We believe that states of inspiration ignite in natural spaces and exposed to the elements. Society is confined within concrete buildings and sometimes alienates us from our connection to the world. Once we hit the road too, we sometimes spend times in AirBNBS, hostels, or other confined spaces.

Artist residencies give you the choice. Your room is private, but the training spaces are in the elements, overlooking the ocean, or in the middle of the nicaraguan jungle.

Being in nature has been shown to reduce anger, fear, and stress and increases euphoric & pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. So, its important

Get messy in a space designated for Visual Arts and content creators!

A good artist residency has a space for painters to get messy. A space for the visual artists to explore and make all sorts of intuitive strokes. A space perfect for visual artists, painters,  drawers, printmakers, sculptors, ceramics artist, photographers, videographers, filmmakers, designers, architects.

Everything is included; Worry-free existence.

A good artist residency will have everything organized for you to put your attention to where you most want it: on your art. No cash, no worries, no cooking, no cleaning – you are there to concentrate on your skills, creations and intentions and you resume everyday tasks when you get home. 

Live with your favorite influencers and stop being shy about it 

We are so used to standing in the crowd at a busy concert that the thought of dining with our favorite DJ is a bit of a dream. An artist residency allows us to break these barriers and come eye to eye with the people we most resonate with and be at the same level. You can shoot the shit, talk art, or just hang out next to them on a hammock. The idea is to break levels of hierarchy, and be all one. 

Program the healthiest habits that will follow you for the rest of your life.

Meditation in the a.m, yoga every day, some kind of movement, talk of paradigm shifting ideas, cool projects, finish the day with gratitude and maybe a yin class. If you do this for 28 days or more, you are programming your subconscious to acquire the habits that can be translated and embodied out of residency.

This is by far one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves that will allow us to continuously step into our higher selves.

With all of these elements in mind, an artist residency is achieved. And this is why Momentom rocks so hard at creating these alternate realities filled with creators of their own lives. 

Want to know more? Come to one of our artist residences and explore your creative potential. Still not convinced? Check out these 10 insanely talented artists you can live with in paradise.