CREATIVE ARTS ECO-VILLAGE

"Whatever you dream you can do - begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Begin it now." (Goethe)

UPDATE: 10/12/11 I talked with various people and although we still dream of a Creative Arts EcoVillage here in Vermont, the way it may look eventually has changed.

Two Ideas:

#1 In talking to a few people who know more about how town and county and state ordinances work, it seems to have a "farm" is more doable. Because a farm has many buildings on the property so having many buildings on a property does not look questionable to others. The only problem with this idea is that I feel we can not openly have an "creative arts eco-village" because part of the plan was to pretty much promote it as that so we could have visitors who would come to buy our wares and participate in workshops, etc. This leads me to our 2nd idea.

#2 I cannot remember who it was who suggested this and it is a very good idea especially here in Vermont. The suggestion was to find a village that is kind of dying out with closed businesses and houses for sale. And then we could maybe try to start buying buildings including homes within this village. Over time, people could start moving in and we could create a creative arts ecovillage where a village already stands. Because Vermont is so rural there are many tiny villages all over the place. Of course, it takes money to purchase buildings just as it would to purchase land (obviously more so). Which brings us back to the need to set up a foundation and to write grants.

I personally do not have the time at this moment to do this. I should have time maybe within a year. If someone else who wants to be a part of this dream and who maybe already knows how to write grants or has time on their hands and wants to research how to set up a foundation and what kind of foundation would we need to set up for this kind of thing, then that would be fantastic. I can finalize any paperwork, once we know what to do and how to do it and then we could move forward. I think setting up a foundation is the #1 thing and then grant writing could come after the foundation is set up. I would love for it to be something similar to land trusts. I have read somewhere about a group that buys up homes and then sells them to people at a much lower cost than the going rate but the catch is when the person sells the home, they have to keep it in the system and not sell it for a profit. This is a way for people to own their own homes more affordably but also keep the home within foundation's system.

We can still have our dream of a creative arts eco-village ... just utilizing an existing village and existing buildings ... this is eco-friendly in and of itself! :-)

Thank you all for hanging in here with us as we go through our own personal life changes .... especially people like Di who continue to post off the grid and eco-friendly ideas for us in here. We appreciate you! Thank you to everyone else who posts in here with your ideas and thoughts and encouragement.

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Well! part of this dream has come true. I have moved to Vermont to be near my grandkids, my son, and my daughter-in-law. In fact, at this moment I live with them while I try to rebuild my life! My 2nd dream is to be a part of a creative arts eco-village. Friends of my son recently said they ae seriously considering selling their land there and that started my brain to churning about purchasing that land. We plan to purchase land in Vermont whether it is this initial land that stirred my vision or other land in Vermont if this is not available by the time we raise the funds.

My vision is to create a creative co-op of fellow creatives who are not only interested in living off the grid but also in creating cool events that are also off the grid. We will grow our own food and have a full off the grid self-sustaining community and also provide cool off the grid events (music, live theatre, film nights, etc.). I definitely want this village to be dedicated to the name, music, and legacy of my late husband, Sky Sunlight Saxon of The Seeds. Many creative events and activities can be planned but especially an annual music festival in my late husband's name. The "sky" is the limit really with amazing ideas and projects we could accomplish with the a group of loving creatives who are dedicated to trying to be as self-sustaining, off the grid, and eco-conscious as possible. I am ONE now but I hope to have more people who want to join and move there as well as funders who want to see something amazing like this materialize in Vermont. Join us!!!

We have so many ideas for the ecovillage and we are looking for people who would like to consider joining us and help us realize these ideas. The list is our dream list. As we get people with expertise in the various areas then we can realize more items on the list.

The Village Itself:
::: Off the Grid including Events
::: Village Community Center
::: Villager Living Quarters
::: Permaculture Gardens
::: Large Stage for Events
::: Market Area
::: Blacksmithing Area ::: Potters Area
::: Crafts Areas
::: Costume Area
::: Theatre Props Area

Village Events and Activities for the public:
::: Large stage
::: Off the Grid
::: Workshops on Sustainable Living
::: Theatrical Productions
::: Music Festival
::: Music Events
::: Arts Camp and Classes for Children

This is just a beginning list ... All ideas are welcome and will be heard.

I am working on a website and I have created a community on ning but it is not quite ready to launch yet. We will need donors and founding villagers. You do not have to be donor to be a founding villager nor do you have to be a founding villager to be a donor but you can be both if you like.

Founding villagers will be the people who truly are interested in moving to Vermont if we do raise the funds to purchase the property. They will be part of the brainstorming group to come up with ideas on how to build this village and will be part of the forming of the village. They will be willing to move to Vermont if we purchase this property and move on to the property. There are two living quarters now that could house founding villagers while they work on building their own living quarters eventually. Other villagers may join us later but if not part of the early design and creation they would not be founding villagers but still would be a part of the decision making process the founding villagers put together.

Donors are people who donate money to the fun to buy the land. Depending on the amount donated, they will get special privileges as non-villagers such as but not limited to: free access to events, free place to stay for limited amounts of time, etc. We'll figure all of that out as the founding villagers come up with how this would work.

People who join this group do not have to be founding villager nor a donor but just people interested in this concept and who would be willing to share information on their facebook walls.

Thanks so much!

Sabrina Smith Saxon