How to Start an Artists' Colony

Determine your artist demographic. While openness and diversity are advantages to any artist community, at the end of the day the residents of the future colony need to get along. Think about who you are as an artist or art lover so you can determine what kind of artist is ideal for your colony.

Gauge interest from artists you know. As with other kinds of communities, starting an artists colony begins with the people you know. Survey your friends and artist acquaintance to see if there's any interest for a local artists' colony and, if there is, try to determine the level of enthusiasm for the idea.

Give the colony a name. In many ways, to give something a name is to give it life. Find a good name that encapsulates the values of the colony. Along with the name, write a mission and vision statement for the colony since, after all, the artists' colony needs to survive like any other company.

Create a shell for the colony. Once you have a name for the artists colony you can begin making the colony real by developing a logo, building a website and starting an advisory board. While these things may seem nominal, they are the bridge which will get you from pipe-dream to hard reality.

Secure investment and property. Even if your artists' colony is very informal and does not require huge amounts of monetary investment, it will always require resources of some kind. If the colony needs manpower, then develop a co-op system of rotating shifts to do necessary work. If you decide that you want a more formal colony, look for a wealthy patron who can help secure financing and land for the colony.