If you are an artist who craves to live far from the madding crowd and focus on your art, seeking inspiration from clear waters, natural landscapes and azure skies, then we are glad to tell you that your dream can come true. A young and passionate person from New York has the grandiose plans to create a small and sustainable artist residency in an uninhabited island in Michigan.
Rob Gorski made this wonderful purchase in February 2010 after seeing an advertisement about the same on Craiglist. He worked with the local nature conservation organization to make an environmental ease on the land, thus ensuring the government that the ecosystem will remain protected forever despite inhabitation by men.
The island is known as Rabbit Island and lies three miles east of Northern Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula on slightly raised sandstone amidst Lake Superior. The place is wild and virgin in every sense as the vast 90-acre tract of land is bountiful with natural flora and fauna. The island has always been in its natural state without any kind of manipulations by the government or other private agencies.
Now Rob and his ally London Based Andrew Ranville, who will be the principal resident artist in the residency and will design and construct the residency, have the big plans of building a sustainable and eco-friendly off-the-grid residency with modest cabins and studio for the artists to stay and do their art work. The first logical step in this direction was raising funds, which the duo started earlier this summer and have reached their financial goal of $12,500 meant for infrastructure needs like solar panels, power and hand tools, a boat, and a chainsaw. People can still contribute money to fund the project and they will get their rewards in the form of organic cotton tote bags and t-shirts, artwork from artists and even a trip to the island to witness the eco-friendly ways of constructing a building.
Via: Mnn