ENDOWMENT & RESIDENCY PROGRAM

A Master Blueprint for Sustainable Arts Infrastructure

The world’s artists are not trying to make the world go round, but forward. Mary Oliver

I. Executive Vision & Core Mission

Vision Statement

To deeply engage the EncaustiCastle Compound in the enculturation of Lexington as part of a richer arts backbone. By transitioning a lifetime of international teaching, authorship, and community-building into a permanent physical sanctuary, we provide an intimate, innovative, inspiring, and empowering environment where contemporary art—born from encaustic roots but reaching across mediums—can flourish in perpetuity.

Core Mission Statement

The mission of the EncaustiCastle Compound (The EC) Endowment is to cultivate a permanent sanctuary for artistic exploration by funding dedicated artist residencies and preserving inspiring creative spaces. Through sustainable financial stewardship and immersive, inspiring environment, we ensure that creators have the time, space, and resources to deeply engage with their craft, anchoring a vibrant, seasonal rhythm of creative production for generations to come.

II. The Proven Blueprint: Founder’s Legacy & Context

This initiative is not an experiment; it is the physical evolution of a proven, highly successful international movement.

From 2010 to 2022, Director Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch founded and operated EncaustiCamp, an internationally attended, all-inclusive, week-long immersive retreat that became the global benchmark for encaustic arts education and creative community. Having authored five definitive books on the medium and taught workshops worldwide, Baldwin Seggebruch is recognized as a foundational leader in the field (often referred to as the “queen bee” of this contemporary encaustic movement).

While EncaustiCamp successfully concluded its lifecycle in 2022, the core mission remains unchanged. The EC Residency Program is the direct, evolved successor to that decade-long effort. It shifts the model from a temporary annual retreat to a permanent, localized physical anchor—channeling decades of global creative network directly into the cultural fabric of Lexington.

III. The 5×5 Founders Circle & Financial Architecture

To secure this vision without systemic debt, we are launching The 5×5 Founders Circle. This capital campaign seeks 10 visionary investors to commit $5,000 per year for 5 years, yielding a total aggregate contribution of $250,000.

The Phased Financial & Labor Model

To show ultimate alignment with our stakeholders, the Director has personally invested $18,000 in upfront out-of-pocket capital and provided 100% pro-bono manual labor to build the first resident accommodation and studio facilities.

The onsite staff consists of the Director’s son, a professional organic farmer and artisan woodworker, who is hand-crafting the interior furniture and meticulously maintains the compound’s extensive perennial and cutting gardens.

Year 1: Groundwork, Infrastructure & Interim Revenue

  • Inflow: $50,000 (Founders Circle) + Local Artist Lease Revenue.
  • Allocation:
    • 50% ($25,000): Placed directly into a Restricted Legacy Endowment Fund to build the permanent principal (Working with BlueGrass Community Foundation to secure this investment profiling).
    • 50% ($25,000): Capital & Operational Pool. This funds post-rental room refreshes after three years of full-time Castle tenants, materials to finalize the first ADU studio, garden development, and small, part-time stipends for the Farmer/Groundskeeper and Director in order to maintain sustainability.
  • Interim Strategy: To optimize cash flow, the completed first ADU is leased to a local artist for Year 1.

Year 2: Twin Expansion & Program Launch

  • Inflow: $50,000 (Founders Circle) + Residency Application Fees ($30/applicant)+ Local Artist Lease Revenue.
  • Allocation:
    • 50% ($25,000): Contributed directly to the Endowment Fund.
    • 50% ($25,000): Capital & Operations. This funds raw materials for the second identical 12’x18′ ADU studio (leveraging pro-bono labor to completely eliminate construction overhead).
  • Program Launch: The Year 1 local lease concludes, and the compound officially activates its Juried Residency Program, hosting 4 artists per year across two peak botanical seasons (2 in May, 2 in October).

Years 3–5: Perpetuity & Scale

  • Allocation: 70% of funds pour directly into the endowment principal.
  • The Exit Plan: The principal is locked into a restricted account governed by an advisory board using a standard 4% to 5% rolling interest draw. This ensures the 4 (growth to 8) annual residencies remain fully funded in perpetuity, long after current leadership steps down.
  • The aims for long-term also include a second ADU build, carport, and woodshop outfitting, so these too will be taken into account as time progresses, with look at grants, local funding, and manufacturer supply, for support.

IV. Dynamic Revenue Model: The Interim Weeks

Outside of the core May and October juried residency blocks, the twin ADU studios operate as active, mission-aligned, earned-income engines to cover ongoing utility overhead, garden maintenance, and staff salaries without touching the endowment principal. This is being explored with the ideas below for execution via a flexible, hybrid approach:

  1. The Creative Respite Model: Offering 1-to-2-week self-funded “staycation” rentals at an accessible creator rate (e.g., $400–$600/week) specifically to regional writers, musicians, and visual artists needing focused project time.
  2. The Subsidized Local Fellowship: Utilizing small grassroots donations to “sponsor a week,” allowing the compound to gift interim studio time to local Lexington creators who lack funding.
  3. The Curated Sanctuary Airbnb: Leveraging peak Lexington travel seasons (equestrian events, university graduation) to rent the ADUs at premium hospitality rates to high-quality travelers, explicitly marketed as a quiet, respectful garden sanctuary.

The enormity of our task, to turn the world around. 

May Sarton