Shadowcliff is closed for the 2025 season. Be the first to know when 2026 bookings open — sign up for our newsletter.
Where artistic practice meets place and community
Each September, Shadowcliff hosts a cohort of nationally recognized interdisciplinary artists for two weeks at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. Residents arrive from across the country and across disciplines — visual art, music, performance, research, writing — bringing their work, their questions, and their own ways of seeing. What the residency offers in return is time, immersion in the magnificent landscape of the Rocky Mountains, and authentic encounter with the people and community of Grand County.
The residency is built around exchange. Artists participate in site visits and creative research with local partners, open studios and informal gatherings with community members, and a free, all-ages public practice-sharing event in Grand Lake where residents present work and take part in a moderated conversation with attendees. Each year, a printed and digital publication extends the program's reach beyond the residency itself, offering creative reflections distributed through local libraries, visitor centers, and community hubs.
Participants in Shadowcliff's pilot artist residency program answer questions from audience members after a public event at the Grand Lake Community House.
Photos by Alexander Thompson and Ash Hanson
Participants in Shadowcliff's pilot artist residency program learn about the role beavers play in the ecology of the Colorado River watershed from members of the Upper Colorado Watershed Environment Team.
Li Harris leads members of Shadowcliff's community in a tuning meditation by composer Pauline Oliveros.
The Artist Residency is an invitational program. Each cohort is assembled with attention to the range of practices represented, the questions artists are sitting with, what the particular context of Grand Lake might offer their work, and what their work might offer the community.
If you're an artist or creative researcher drawn to what Shadowcliff offers, we'd love to hear from you. Write to Alexander at [email protected].
The Artist Residency is made possible by people who believe in the power of art and community. Your support helps bring nationally recognized artists to Grand County, sustain the partnerships and public events that connect them with local residents, and build a program that grows in depth and reach each year.