The 2026 Creative Residency Program at the TAOS distillery focuses on supporting educators, with a focus on those who are bridging science and art to engage communities in restorative practices.
Successful applicants are awarded a partially subsidized residency at the TAOS distillery.
Summer Session: July through September, 2026
We consider ‘educator’ to be broad in scope; institutional attachment is not required.
Partially Subsidized Residencies
SEED to table, hugelCULTURE, Acequias, plant mobilities, Sci/Art collaborations, open-source media & information access, the intertwining of human and natural ecologies and native plant restoration are all themes that have been explored here. We host practitioners from different creative backgrounds to encourage a multi-lateral approach towards land engagement for the purpose of conservation. Past activities have included pop-up dinners, writers retreats, conversations with local farmers, poetry readings, eco-arts & literary workshops and intimate performances. Team building for non-profits encourage discovery and relationship building opportunities across creative sectors. Taos is an inspiring place!
The TAOS Distillery is a restorative place that hosts encounters with the landscape in ways that amplify the myriad cultural influences that have helped shape it. We continue to pour love into this historic Adobe as four generations of our family renovated and expanded the home, and tended the surrounding gardens. It has been called a very healing place that we look forward to sharing in ways that offer connections with the inspiring Southwestern landscapes of the Upper Rio Grande valley. We hope to offer educators the time and space to rejuvenate in the ‘land of enchantment’ so to carry on their important work.
An Oasis in the Land of Enchantment
Four Bedrooms
Master suite with queen size bed
2 bedrooms with double beds
1 bedroom with a twin
Additionally, the red sofa in the great room pulls out as a double bed & the small sofa in the ‘winter studio’ pulls out to a single bed
Three Bathrooms
2 Full + 1 powder room & a shower room
**Indoor and outdoor dining areas
**Rooftop deck with spectacular sunset views
**Library – Sunroom – Den – Winter Studio
**15 Minute walk to the Taos Plaza
**Right around the corner from the Ashram
We designed this home for gathering and encourage collaborative sessions between creatives, team building as well as time and space for families to connect.
2026 discounted rates for educators:
$300/night
$1500/week
Located in the valley below historic Taos, NM, the TAOS Distillery is set under mature Cottonwood trees, surrounded by wild native gardens, with a view up the valley of the sacred Taos Mountain. The original house was built during prohibition and brewed bootleg liquor for the speakeasy at La Fonda Hotel on the Taos Plaza in town. Vincente Mares was an icon of the village a century ago, every day riding his black stallion from his home here on La Lomita into town. We use the house now as a platform for the distillation and exchange of ideas centered around restorative practices in arid mountain steppe ecologies.
Our home offers a quiet retreat in an area rich with history and arts. There is something very calming about staying in a house made of the earth. Adobe is a traditional style of architecture which suits the land here. We have added a new kitchen and master suite to the old house, maintaining the charm of houses from this area while providing a great room with updated amenities; designed to act as a space for family gatherings and shared tables between friends. There are grand spaces as well as cozy spaces. Warm fireplaces for winter and cool refuges for summer.
The house has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a library, office and drawing room as well as patios for al fresco dining. A roof top deck offers spectacular views and the opportunity to sleep out under the stars.
A 15 minute, meandering walk from the historic Taos plaza, we are conveniently located while maintaining the feel of a quiet retreat. The area is historically significant: The Taos Pueblo is a UNESCO site as the oldest continually inhabited structure in the country, and continues to engage the community with traditional dances and events. Before becoming a part of the United States, the area was settled by the Spanish and hosted a number of outlaws. In the early 20th century, Georgia O’Keefe and DH Lawrence helped to establish the area with the Taos Moderns as an art destination. The community continues to thrive with all of these historical influences.
Taos Mountain is renowned for outdoor enthusiasts and offers top notch skiing in the winter. The Rio Grande is well known in river running circles during spring run-off. Numerous trails offer outdoor opportunities in all seasons. There are interesting festivals and events throughout the calendar year, and the town of Taos is only an hour from one of the most creatively dense communities in the US, Santa Fe.
Visit taos.org for a full description of all this area has to offer.
WATER is LIFE
The TAOS Distillery is an active member of Los Lovatos ditch system, or Acequia, which was built by Spanish over three centuries ago. This community centered water sharing systems function in many parts of the world today, cultivating arid mountain steppes while supporting wildlife passages by broadening alluvial plains through deserts. Aquifers are replenished by this technique of flood irrigation, and the essential resource of water is held in the commons. Unfortunately, as with many traditional practices, these ancient systems are being challenged on a number of fronts.
Using the idea of community-centered practices expressed in Acequia communities as a starting point, we invite consideration for common access to essential resources like water and how the commons have shaped our landscapes and communities. The Distillery is used as a creative incubator and platform to promote traditional land-based practices that support desert Eco-systems. We help realize conservation oriented acts through creative land engagements. Sharing ways of restoring and cultivating arid lands, we utilize a combination of ancient practices and emergent technologies. Hosting storytellers who define our relationships with western landscapes opens paths to follow tendrils of cultural influences that helped refine it. Exchanges with practitioners from other steppe ecologies opens space for discourse on changing land & water relationships, and we hope to ensure a full range of perspectives are voiced.
Creatives from across disciplines are invited to apply for Art-Sci Residencies to learn from ancient ways of cultivating steppe ecologies and share ideas on how to reverse desertification, promote restoration and amplify efforts that have demonstrated success.
VOICES 