MacDowell (Artists' Colony)

MacDowell is an artists' residency and workshop in the small town of Peterborough, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1907 by pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell (1857-1956) after the passing of her husband Edward, a composer. It is estimated that over 8,300 artists have been supported by the residency program. The list includes winners of 86 Pulitzer Prizes, 31 National Book Awards, 30 Tonys, 15 Grammys, and 8 Oscars. Works composed/written at the residency include Porgy and Bess, Our Town, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and The Lovely Bones.

Marian MacDowell, a classically trained pianist, bought Hillcrest Farm in the small, quiet town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1896 with the hopes that the rural atmosphere would be a pleasant change of pace for her and her husband, composer Edward McDowell. After staying there over the summer that year, both Marian and her husband found that their work benefited greatly from living at the farm. This experience, alongside their love for the arts, gave them the idea to form an interdisciplinary artists’ colony on the property.

MacDowell’s model for the artists’ colony became nationally known as the “Peterborough Idea." Original donors to the fledgling project included prominent citizens such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and even former president Grover Cleveland. According to Marian MacDowell, however, most financial support came from a plethora of women’s clubs and music sororities from across the United States.

Edward MacDowell was born in 1860, spending his teenage years and early 20s learning music. His education started in New York, soon moving to Paris to study at the Conservatoire National Suprieur de Musique et de Danse from 1876-78. In addition to playing music, he also studied composition in Frankfurt, Germany. After building his retinue over the years, including the creation of his most famous work "Second Piano Concerto in D Minor (1885)," Edward was invited to found a music department at Columbia University. Unfortunately, In 1904, he resigned from the college after becoming the center of local, negative publicity stemming from his mental state. Edward MacDowell soon began suffering from depression and serious undiagnosed health problems. It is suspected that the events causing his resignation may have been a factor. He died on January 23, 1908.

One year before her husband’s death, Marian MacDowell founded the MacDowell Colony on their farm estate in Peterborough and singlehandedly spearheaded the project in her husband’s honor since he was unable to do so due to his health issues. She oversaw the construction of 32 live-in artist studios on the 450 acre farm estate and frequently travelled the country raising funds and awareness for MacDowell until her death in 1956 at the age of 98.

During her time, Marian invited each resident to the Colony personally at first. The selection process was then eventually handed over to a committee in the 1920s. So far, MacDowell has supported an estimated 8,300 artists- some well-known, others not. The list includes names such as Thornton Wilder, James Baldwin, Leonard Bernstein, Michael Chabon, Willa Cather, Benny Andrews, and Audre Lorde. Notable works like Our Town, Porgy and Bess, and The Lovely Bones were created at MacDowell. Collectively, MacDowell’s former residents have won 86 Pulitzer Prizes, 31 National Book Awards, 30 Tonys, 15 Grammys, and 8 Oscars.

MacDowell is known for its long-observed traditions. Visitors are only allowed into MacDowell on the annual “Medal day,” during which tours are often given by resident artists and a ceremony is held where an artist (resident or non-resident) is awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal for a noteworthy artistic achievement. Another significant tradition at MacDowell is that of resident artists signing their names, occupations, and the date they attended on planks of wood that are preserved in specific buildings for future residents to read. Dating back to at least 1909, these wooden tablets, which adorn the walls of every building at MacDowell, have become known as “tombstones” both for their reminder of mortality and their simple resemblance to actual tombstones. Many of those who stay and work in some of the more historic studios comment on the intimidating, yet inspiring effect that the collected names have, especially regarding the award winning writers and musicians. After closing down due to COVID-19 in March 2020, MacDowell invited medical workers from the nearby community hospital to stay in the empty artists’ studios while they worked. For the first time in the residency’s history, non-Fellows stayed in the buildings and added their names to the tombstones.

Amidst the national debates about race following the Black Lives Matter protests of July 2020, MacDowell’s Board of Directors voted to remove the word “Colony” from the name of the organization in an effort to remove any “oppressive undertones." 

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Bradford, Sydney S. Rettig, Polly M. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: MacDowell Colony. Peterborough, New Hampshire. National Park Service. January 6th, 1976.

Library of Congress. Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860-1908), Library of Congress. Accessed October 4th 2020. https://loc.gov/item/ihas.200035715.

MacDowell. MacDowell Tombstones: They Were Here, MacDowell. December 10th 2016. Accessed September 25th 2020. https://www.macdowell.org/special-projects/macdowell-tombstones-proof-of-who-worked-where.

MacDowell. Mission & History, MacDowell. December 10th 2016. Accessed September 25th 2020. https://www.macdowell.org/about.

Parker, Gail Underwood. More than Petticoats: Remarkable New Hampshire Women. Edition 1st. Guilford, New Hampshire. Globe Pequot, 2009.

Rausch, Robin. The House That Marian Built: The MacDowell Colony of Peterborough, New Hampshire, Library of Congress. May 29th 2019. Accessed September 25th 2020. https://guides.loc.gov/american-women-essays/macdowell-colony.

Tikkanen, Amy. “Edward MacDowell.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 19 Jan. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Alexander-MacDowell.