STONEBOAT
SELF-DIRECTED RETREATS

Do you have a project you are working on, but just can’t find the time or space to really get your hands, heart, and head into it? StoneBoat Arts Centre (SBAC) is an ideal place to disconnect from the outside world and find inspiration to create. Here you are free to direct your own experience at a rustic farm surrounded by nature. We offer affordable artist rates. Book today.

Artists of all disciplines are welcome!

BOOK YOUR RETREAT

facilities

Accommodations

Cabin A (10x10) 1-2 people with small desk
Cabin B (10x10) 1-2 people, with small desk
Cabin C (10x10) 1-2 people with desk & bunk bed
Cabin D (10x16) 1-2 people, no desk
Shared accessible washroom with shower and sauna

Extra Studio Space

Large barn (24x32 ft.) with sprung dance floor
Library (aka The Piggery) with balcony suitable for writing/brainstorming
Workshop with tools and space for visual artists
Sleeping cabins can be used as work stations, too.

Other Features

240 acres of land to explore
Instruments for rental (guitars, amps, keyboard, cables, mics)
Free Wifi
Cookhouse with a shared kitchen and lounge area

the details

the experience

Why StoneBoat? What we’re growing here on the farm is a place where artists feel free and safe to create. Each day, you're in control of your own artistic path. Start your morning in your cozy cabin, then take a jog up the lane or stretch out with yoga in the barn. Pick up a fresh egg or two from the chicken coop for breakfast in the cookhouse and then choose your workspace—maybe it's the leather chair in the library for reading, a bench in the workshop for tinkering, the sprung floor in the barn for staging, or a picnic table by the pasture for writing. Explore the surrounding fields and forests for inspiration, free to come and go as you please at your own pace. Evenings may include story-telling at the firepit, music in the barn, or star-gazing. One of the most rewarding aspects of past residencies has been the opportunity for collaboration. You might connect with other artists on similar journeys here, break bread together, share stories, work together, form lasting friendships.

FEES and OTHER INFO

$100/night, $160 for duos (will share a double bed)
Apply as a solo artist or group of up to 8.
Meals are not provided. Bring your own food & drink. Our cookhouse includes a fridge, stovetops, toaster oven, microwave, kettles, coffee machine, and BBQ for your use.
Bedding is provided. Please bring your own towels.
Sleeping cabins are off grid – no electricity – rustic style!

how to get here

We are located in Lanark County between Perth and Westport, Ontario. 70 minutes from Kingston, 85 minutes from Ottawa, 3.5 hours from Toronto by car. Address and driving instructions provided upon booking.

If you are unable to access a vehicle to drive to our farm, we can arrange a shuttle service for $25 a head from the Smiths Falls train station. If we have artists coming from the same location we can also help arrange a carpool which we encourage.

questions?

Send us an e-mail at vanessa@stoneboatarts.ca

What people are saying

SBAC alumni include award-winning dancers and choreographers, film directors and theatre-makers, sculptors and painters, photographers and cinematographers, screen-writers, novelists and poets, singer/songwriters, musicians and film composers, actors, clowns, mimes and more.

Locked in my very own private cabin and surrounded by a roaming pack of cows, I got to work. To my own surprise, the pages began to add up each day, and by Friday, there I was, leaving Stoneboat with the first 50 pages of my novel.

— Andrea Werhun, Writer

SBAC might be the most charming residency in Ontario. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to think and work there.

— Sarah Phillips, Writer

A remarkable experience for us as a band. I, for one, dream of returning to StoneBoat daily.

— Raha Javanfar, Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes

Audience chairs for performances outdoors

Dancing inside the barn AND right outside so I can still hear the music but be under the stars. Some wild animals screeching right after we spoke about wolves -- sounded like an opera!

— Celia Green, Performer

Lors de mon passage à la résidence Stoneboat, j’ai découvert un lieu incroyablement propice à la création...

— Yan Giroux, Screenwriter

What a gift to be there. My only regret is that we weren't there longer to fully explore the acres of land around the farm. If you have the chance to attend at any point, take it!

— Liz Peterson, Theatre-maker

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make a donation

SBAC is a not-for-profit centre dedicated to making affordable workspaces available to artists where they can create, experiment, rehearse, collaborate or simply relax and rejuvenate.

Your donation dollars help reduce operating costs and keep fees low so that more artists can take part. We welcome donations of all sizes.

Thank you!

Click To Donate

You Are Welcome Here

We welcome all genders, all races, all faiths, all sizes, all abilities, all sexual orientations, all countries of origin, all languages, all ages, all people.

We stand with you, you are safe here.

StoneBoat Arts Centre is located on Omàmìwininìwag (Algonquin) territory. We endorse the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and support an ongoing shift from gate-keeping to space-making in the arts.

STONEBOAT SELF-DIRECTED RETREATS