The Deer Songs Residency Program
Located at The MERC in Huston, ID, The Deer Songs Residency is focused on making space and time for creative engagement with this place, history, agriculture, human culture and the natural world. Artists and creators are invited to be in residence atThe MERC for a period of time for research, making, and presentation. They are awarded a stipend for their time. Residents might make things like songs, tools, dances, sculptures, instruments, recipes, stories, weavings, books, or maps to crystallize their experiences. At the end, each resident shares what they’ve made, inviting others to learn, join in, and help the work grow. In 2026, the residency began a grounding year, where residents will be specifically invited to participate.
Even as we are figuring things out, we’d love to hear from you and dream together!
Email us at community(at)polumbolum.org
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Our purpose is to create potent seeds for an earthbound human culture. By initiating an eco-cultural creative residency program amid both eco and social emergencies, we mean to encourage creative connection that leads back to our essential relations with the land.
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The Deer Songs Residency Program is in its nascent phase, so much of our approach right now is in building an understanding of what work there is to do. In our first year of operating a residency program, we will invite artists to take up research strands that will ultimately build on themselves, over time: Nourishment; Living World; Story; Materiality; Music; Spirituality; Gathering.
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The MERC, or Mother Earth’s Researchers for Creativity (and Care), is a 100+ year old store located in Huston, ID. Please read more about the history here. If you’re interested in visiting The MERC, please get in touch! To set up a tour, email us at community(at)polumbolum.org
Where we are: