Greetings from The MacDowell Colony Fellows Executive Committee, your — the Colony Fellows' — voice of grassroots opinion and expression.

The FEC is made up of a dozen volunteers, of all artistic stripes, who have been in residency at MacDowell. We exist to express the ideas, needs, opinions, and suggestions of MacDowell Fellows to the executive director and MacDowell board members. We're like elected representatives, except for the directly elected part. New committee members are chosen by us from a pool of willing volunteers — basically you or any Colony Fellow who expresses interest and enthusiasm — who then serve for two to three years. We aim to be a rotating, ever-refreshing pool of backgrounds and input.

The committee meets with the executive director four times a year. In addition to providing feedback and advice, our other task is planning and holding the Annual Fellows Party, the fantastic mid-October bash to which all Colony Fellows (and their partners, spouses, and friends) are invited. This event raises money in the form of door fees (which cover the cost of throwing the party) and something called “annual dues.” Dues are different from “gifts,” which go straight to the Colony for upkeep and operating expenses. Dues pass through the FEC, and after much discussion, we give this money back to the Colony with our recommendations on how to spend it for the betterment of Colony life.

Your dues have provided computers and e-mail service for Colony Hall, bicycles and their repairs, the video monitor, and a public address system. Some FEC gifts have later been adopted as regular fixtures in the MacDowell budget (most famously, the real maple syrup that greets breakfasters in Colony Hall). In addition to an annual physical gift, a portion of dues collected is also given to the Colony to spend at its discretion.

All this meeting and gifting really has one purpose: to provide the Colony's executive director and resident director with direct insight into what Colonists think, want, and need. For the course of her tenure, our committee president, currently Martha Southgate, also sits on the MacDowell board of directors, providing a further link between board activities and the day-to-day Colonist experience.

The Fellows Executive Committee is here for you. We are you. Any question you have, any idea, suggestion or (gasp!) complaint you have about Colony life or any Colony-related issue, please us and let us know. We're all ears.