Applications for the 2024 retreat are now closed, and decisions have been sent out via Submittable. If you applied and have not yet received an email notification, please check your spam folders and/or log into your Submittable account.

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Application Deadline: SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST

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HOW TO APPLY

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Please read the following information carefully and apply at the Submittable link at the bottom of this page. If you have any questions, we recommend reading the FAQ page and then reaching out to hello@brewandforge.org if you still have questions. Read more about the retreat here.

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Application Requirements:​

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1. Eligibility and contact information, including a 150 word bio.

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2. A work sample:

• For poets: 5-7 pages of poems that represent your work.

• For organizers: Descriptions and/or photos of up to 3 actions, protests, or events you organized. Text should be double spaced, 5 pages max. 

• If you work in both disciplines, you are welcome to upload up to 3 pages of work or up to 3 links in the discipline other than the one you’re applying under (e.g., 3 pages of poems if you’re applying as an organizer).

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3. Essay Responses (500 words max for each answer):

• We are looking for people who are interested in the project of community building. What are the groups–formal and informal–that you are involved in? Who would you bring back your learnings to?

• What is your experience in working at the intersection between the arts and organizing/activism/social justice movement-building?

• What do you hope to get out of this retreat?

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IMPORTANT INFO FOR APPLICANTS

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A note on accessibility: While we provide some general information below, we will shape the program to accommodate the access needs of our participating retreat Fellows. The application includes an option to share your access needs to help us in the planning process; we will collect more detailed information from participants once decisions are made.

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​THE BASICS

• Location: Prindle Pond Conference Center, 19 Harrington Rd, Charlton, MA 

• Dates: Friday, August 16 through Monday, August 19, 2024.

• Arrival/Departure: We expect fellows to arrive by 5:00 pm on Friday and depart after lunch on Monday.

• Cost: There is no fee to attend the Witches & Warriors Retreat! Participants will be reimbursed for travel costs up to $150.

 

VENUE ACCESSIBILITY

• The retreat will be held in the Pondside Facility’s Center Building, which is ADA compliant but an older building (built in the 1980s).

• The building has two entrances accessible by ramp. All full-group activities will be held on the ground floor of the building.

• Paths to other sites on the grounds are packed gravel and include some steep inclines. We will have cars on site to help shuttle participants to other locations as needed. (Nothing is more than a ~5 minute walk away.)

• There are two all-gender bathrooms with multiple stalls and showers, including a roll-in shower and wheelchair-accessible toilet.

 

COVID SAFETY

​All retreat Fellows, staff, and faculty will be required to:

• be up to date on the latest COVID vaccines, if medically able.

• take a COVID test prior to arriving at the retreat center and provide proof of a negative test result.

• test every day of the retreat.

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We expect to require masking indoors; however, we will determine masking polices based on the needs of attending Fellows.​ HEPA filters will be set up in the conference space. As weather allows, meals and programming can take place outside.

 

TRAVEL

• All Fellows must make their own travel arrangements to the retreat center. Travel stipends are available, up to $150 per Fellow.

• The conference center is about an hour’s drive from Boston, Hartford, and Providence.

• For public transportation, we recommend taking a bus/train to Worcester, about 30 minutes away; we will arrange pickups.

• We will also connect Fellows to each other prior for carpooling purposes.

 

ROOMS & LINENS

• Fellows will be sharing a room with up to one other person. Each room has two bunkbeds and two dressers. There will be a limited number of single rooms to accommodate fellows with access needs that require them.

• Everyone must bring their own linens (sheets/sleeping bag/pillows and towels) 

 

OTHER POLICIES

• We love animals, but pets (other than service animals) are not allowed.

• We are not a dry retreat, but we will not serve alcohol to participants under 21. We will ask all fellows to sign a community conduct agreement, including responsible consumption of alcohol and other substances.

 

POST-RETREAT COMMITMENTS 

• All fellows will be asked to take what they’ve learned at the retreat back to their communities in some way. This could include a workshop, presentation, zine, or other small project, to be completed within six months after the retreat.

• Fellows will have other opportunities to stay involved in the Brew & Forge community through our listserv, volunteer opportunities, and other ways to plug in.

 

For more info, please read the FAQs.

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