Artist Housing: The Mountainview Suite

first things first, Where are we going to put folks?

“Where I am from, these are the projects.” That actor is from Georgia. She was talking about the little houses that a theater uses to house its artists. If you were a “company member” for the year, you could stay there rent free. She had a little house one-bedroom house to herself, and I had the mirror image next door, but with 2 bedrooms because I had a kid with me.

For the actors with a full year contract, the theater also offered a stipend to rent a place in town. One married pair of actors rented a house in town with their 1 year old. This in-town couple made me and my 2 year old a lunch of tomato salad, goat cheese, fresh bread, artichoke dip and some bean crackers I had never seen before. They bought everything from the co-op down the street and the farmer’s market that was in permanent residence in the parking lot. They apologized profusely for all of the plastic, electronic toys that the neighbors had brought by. We ate outside on their little lawn and said hi to other actors …