At the MacDowell Colony, where isolation spurs inspiration, artists emerge from their cottages at midday to find picnic baskets left quietly on their doorsteps. But when it comes to property taxes, the town insists there's no such thing as a free lunch.
For nearly a century, the famed artists' retreat has welcomed thousands of writers, composers and others who enjoy up to two months of rent-free solitude and support. Within its rustic stone and clapboard cottages, Thornton Wilder wrote "Our Town," Aaron Copland composed "Appalachian Spring" and Dobuse and Dorothy Heyward wrote "Porgy and Bess." More recently, Jonathan Franzen finished writing "The Corrections" and Alice Sebold worked on "The Lovely Bones."
You know, I really do not have a problem with a colony of artists sharing a house and writing and painting. I know it is romantic to think of quitting your job and heading off into the woods to create. But most people usually keep their day job and create on second shift.
Maybe they should call themselves a religion. Then it is tax-free.