DYEA — The Alderworks Alaska Writers and Artists Retreat in Dyea is now accepting applications for its summer 2017 cabin residencies.
Three log cabins will be available as residencies for two 4-6 week periods in early and late summer. The application period for these residencies began on Nov. 15, 2016 and will end on Feb. 15, 2017.
Situated on a five-acre homestead along West Creek at the end of the Dyea Road, the retreat is within the Dyea-Chilkoot Trail unit of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Dyea was a jumping off point for young Jack London and other stampeders in 1897-98. For hundreds of years leading up to that event, Dyea was a Tlingit fishing and trading village.
Jeff and Dorothy Brady of Skagway acquired the retreat property in 2011. The site originally was homesteaded in the 1950s by Dorothy’s aunt and uncle. Restoration of the three resident cabins — Bea, Margaret and Mary Jane — and a bathhouse occurred in the summers of 2012-2014. The cabins were sampled by guest Alaska-Yukon residents in 2015 and then were opened up for a first full summer of residencies in 2016, when Alderworks hosted poets, non-fiction writers, oil painters, and a printmaker.
Testimonials, a photo gallery, cabin descriptions, residency guidelines, and information about how to apply online may be viewed at www.alderworksalaska.com.
The cabins are best suited for writers, artists working in small mediums, and acoustic singer-songwriters. All residents must have a degree of self-reliance, as they will be doing their own cooking and working on their own schedule.
In their vision statement, the Bradys state, “The idea is simple enough: give writers and artists a quiet, beautiful spot to create or enhance their works, and wonderful things will happen.”
For more information, please email alderworksalaska@gmail.com.
