Call for Worktraders

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Opening Season May 5-June 15 Hosting Season June 24-August 18

The Art Monastery is looking for up to 5 folks ready to co-create a vision of enlightened society through bringing energy and aesthetics to everyday life. Join the Artmonk team and participate in a radical experiment in alternative living.

During Opening Season (May 5-June 15) we will wake up the land and prepare for hosting season. We will

• finish up our renovation project on the oldest part of the house (which used to be a general store in the early 1800s),
• plant the garden, and
• prepare outdoor and indoor spaces for summer programming.

During Hosting Season (June 24-August 18), worktraders have the opportunity to be part of the hosting team during programs. This means you participate in the programs as fully as possible (including practicing silence during silent programs), while also attending behind-the-scenes meetings and supporting the other participants. The schedule is very full and the experience tends to be rich and intimate.

We will

• maintain the garden and outdoor spaces;
• prepare outdoor and indoor spaces for program participants;
• support programs while they run by helping in the kitchen and to keep spaces clean & tidy.

During both seasons, in addition to all these awesome outward manifestation projects, we will begin building the interpersonal "social sculpture" of the Art Monastic community which is the foundational collaborative artwork that will allow us to identify and explore our deepest intentions.

The social sculpture is expressed in co-creating the awakened journey of daily life, wherein we each share ritual and responsibility for cultivating harmony and beauty. A shared schedule-which includes open space for solitude and self-direction-is the framework for the unfolding experiment in living. You can expect to:

• practice meditation and chant together each morning,
• cultivate friendships that nurture your authentic self-expression
• prepare and share delicious meals from our garden & neighbors’ farms every day,
• swim in the beneficent Connecticut River,
• enjoy nearby wooded hill walks and evening campfires,
• honor the new & full moon with ceremonies, and
• gather for spontaneous artshares.

Worktrade tasks vary according to your skills and our needs. These tasks will center around kitchen/food systems, garden/landscaping, and household tasks like cleaning. It is possible that you may have the opportunity to help in the areas of carpentry/renovation, sign-making, admin, graphic design, and hospitality.

Thank you for considering giving this gift of yourself to strengthen and expand the expansive vision of the Art Monastery. Your contribution helps makes the unique offerings of the Art Monastery available to more people.

We are deeply grateful for the dedication, heartfelt enthusiasm and good humor or Worktraders!

It has been our experience that when working closely together to create a safe refuge and intentional community, profoundly meaningful transformations occur. These epiphanies open up new understandings about the potential and direction for our human lives. This growth in understanding of self, other and world is the sole purpose of the Art Monastery. Since love (understood as creative, free and liberating relationships) cannot be monetized, we intend that the "work" offered by all participants (in labor exchange or currency) naturally becomes part of the radical "gift economy" that pays generosity and abundance forward endlessly.

We look forward to welcoming you into being an active part of our loving community.

Worktraders

• work 5 hours/day, 5.5 days/week and
• pitch in $20/night toward expenses

We gladly offer

• • three lovingly prepared meals per day, endless snacks, coffee and alcohol (there is no alcohol during the Artmonk Retreat);
  • access to landline telephone and high-speed wifi; and
  • space for your tent on the land (We have some tents and tent platforms available on a first-come, first-served basis. When space allows, you are welcome to a shared bedroom in the house.).

We are committed to keeping the Art Monastery accessible to those who want to come.

The Worktrader price already does not cover expenses (it costs us more than $70/week to host an individual). If this monetary donation is a hardship for you, please let us know. We would love for you to be here if it is what your heart is calling for. Please reach out with any questions or concerns, we’re very happy to help however we can.

We look forward to welcoming you into being an active part of our loving community.