Fundraising originates there, said Cheryl Young, executive director. The Peterborough offices handle the daily operation of the colony, which is open year-round. Colony Hall, which houses offices, also houses the kitchen, dining room and Great Room, where a bronze relief of Edward MacDowell, sculpted by one of the first two colonists, rests on the fireplace mantel. Wherever you look there is art. The dining room is set up family style with six tables, bouquets on each.
Helmets fill a shelf for colonists who want to borrow a bike during their stay.
Bill Schuck, a visual artist from Brooklyn, arrived for the first dinner of his four-week stay feeling a bit intimidated meeting 25 or so strangers at once. Now he is regretting that his month is over, he said. Schuck's studio, Alexander, is modeled after a chapel in Switzerland that the MacDowells admired. Its one room has a vaulted ceiling and huge windows on two walls. On them Alexander alumni have left their names.