The minimum is $2,000 if you want to source your own housing (and for example stay with a friend in the area).
The food cost is just fully straightforwardly passed on ($20 for a catered meal is not a lot!), and the rooming is also provided below cost (good luck finding a short term rental for less than $1,500/mo, or even $3000/mo in Berkeley). We are subsidizing this with our own money, this isn't going to make us anything.
Like, man, what are these expectations? Where can you get a month-long hotel experience in a major metropolitan area for less than $3,500 a month? And that is ignoring all of the costs associated with the rest of the program, which will involve a lot of volunteered time from staff with opportunity costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
$100/night in Berkeley is not going to get you something pretty, and definitely no food included.
You've said a few times in this discussion about how the room is provided at "cost" (or below cost here). But does "cost" really just mean your mortgage/debt on the property?
The expectations are that an "artist residency" is something you get paid to do, not the other way around. At a minimum, the tuition for pretty much every reputable artist residency is free even if you are asked to pay room and board.
Also, you keep saying that the housing is subsidized, but it doesn't really seem like it. If you split a studio two ways in Berkeley, that's easily under $1500 for a month. Sure, it's less than a hotel for a month and splitting a crappy studio is pretty uncomfortable, so your price might be good value. Maybe it's below your costs, but not necessarily below market for "shared bedroom in trendy suburb."
I think I personally have a problem with the way you labeled this more than anything else. This seems like a great program for someone who has made some money doing something else and wants to do a writing/blogging intensive course. It does not seem like something that would attract an upcoming professional writer.
Prices vary around the world but this seems pricey: they say it's at cost but it feels like a premium/markup on London prices, not a city known for being cheap!
Surely most people dropping work to focus on blogging would be looking for minimal costs (whilst they have limited income as they hone a skill) rather than maximal costs?!
If you rent sharing for maybe $1,500 pcm and then spend $50 a day you'd finish with $500 left vs Inkhaven.
> they say it's at cost but it feels like a premium/markup on London prices, not a city known for being cheap!
If you've ever looked at housing (or anything else) in the SFBA, yes, it's more expensive than even London. (Salaries are higher too).
> Surely most people dropping work to focus on blogging would be looking for minimal costs (whilst they have limited income as they hone a skill) rather than maximal costs?!
Maybe. In my experience when you're trying to switch careers, getting to the point where you can earn income (or discover that you can't) as quickly as possible is more effective than trying to extend your runway by cutting expenses. Others may make a different judgement call.
