Our Response to COVID-19
March 19, 2021
Hello Friends,
We are happy to share some good news - we are planning to reopen BMC this year!
Since our last update we have been busy gathering information and having meaningful conversations about the complexities of hosting guests in the time of Covid-19. Our discussions with health officials, residency leaders, staff, deferred residents and conference organizers have helped us gather information and insight from a wide range of perspectives. This collaborative process has deeply informed our plans for a safe reopening in 2021.
This year BMC will host 4 month-long residencies starting in June. By lowering the density of each residency session (10 residents instead of the usual 15), participants and staff will be more easily able to follow our social distancing protocols. This structure will allow us to run a safe program for everyone regardless of the progress of vaccinations. Residencies will run from mid-June through October. In November we plan to host a shortened conference season with three regional conferences addressing issues of prison justice and gun violence, and supporting New York progressive arts publishing collaborations.
Our special appreciation goes out to the inspiring individuals we accepted in 2020 but were unable to host. They have patiently supported us in our careful, optimistic steps towards reopening, and we are so excited to be able to finally invite them to join us here at BMC.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to host our annual season opening Work Weekend this year, or our popular Alumni Memorial Day Weekend Retreat. We look forward to welcoming the full breadth of our community back to BMC in 2022.
Thanks to all of you who shared your encouragement and appreciation for BMC throughout this long closure - you have reminded us of BMC’s contribution to a creatively nourished, more just world. We are grateful for your presence and support, and for the connections we share.
Wish us luck!
In solidarity,
Ben Strader, Nica Horvitz & everyone at BMC
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November 15, 2020
Dear Friends of Blue Mountain Center,
Blue Mountain Center is closed for the remainder of the 2020 season. We are currently planning our 2021 reopening, keeping the safety of our guests, staff and community as our top priority.
If and when we do open in 2021, we will be inviting all of the originally invited 2020 program participants who we were unable to host this year. Therefore we will not be accepting any new applications this year for 2021. There will be no application process for 2021. We hope that you will find a productive and peaceful place to pursue your work in the coming year, and look forward to hosting an open application process in the fall of 2021 for our 2022 season.
We look forward to sharing with you the projects we have accomplished in this strange year. Some information is available on our blog, and there will be more in this year’s edition of Blue Notes coming out in early December.
Thank you to everyone who has supported BMC through this difficult time. We look forward to seeing you soon, and wish you a safe winter season.
Sincerely,
Ben Strader
Executive Director
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April 1, 2020
Dear Friends of Blue Mountain Center,
I wish I could start this announcement by clinking my water glass (pro tip: clink the part of the glass not full of water), seated at BMC’s dining room table with you each gathered around, chattering and passing food to your neighbors. But this is how it must be - an email like all the others flooding your inboxes during these bewildering times of separation.
So here it goes. With a heavy heart we are writing to let you know that Blue Mountain Center will not be hosting residencies this summer.
While we deeply wish we could welcome guests in the near future, we have made the difficult decision to reschedule our spring conferences and defer all 2020 residency acceptances to our 2021 season. After a great deal of thought and discussion with residency leaders, participants, our trustees & advisors, health officials, staff and the local community, we concluded that this is the best way to ensure the health and safety of our Residents, employees and Hamilton County neighbors.
In lieu of scheduled Spring and Summer programming we are shifting our focus. BMC staff is already hard at work:- Serving the urgent needs of our local community.
- Improving our buildings and accessibility.
- Strengthening our internal systems and emergency preparedness.
- Building virtual connections within our alumni community.
- Most important, preparing BMC to safely and responsibly host guests when the time is right.
- And -- less important -- gathering sap and making maple syrup as we do every year up here in the mountains.
We look forward to keeping you updated as the work evolves. At this time, we plan to reopen in October for our scheduled conference season, and will be working with all groups and individuals unable to come to BMC in 2020 to ensure that they can do so in 2021.
We are thinking of you during this time - and wishing you well, in body and spirit.
With care and best wishes,
Ben Strader, Director
Please consider contributing to BMC's General Fund or our newly established Hamilton Helps Project in response to the COVID-19 crisis.