Artist residency, 58 acre preserve
Live inside a working sculptor's collection, and make the thing you keep postponing.
Three to five nights in the 4,000 sq ft Art Lodge: original museum-scale work in every room, sculpting and painting instruction, and long uninterrupted studio hours.
- Whole days of unbroken working time
- Instruction from a sculptor with 25 years of large-scale commissions
- Forest sessions built in, so the work does not eat you
Feel it first
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Real photos and clips from the property, swipe or use arrow keys
Why most trips fail
The work never starts because the day never clears.
At home, studio time is whatever is left after everything else, which is nothing.
Residencies with real facilities have year-long waitlists and juried applications.
Even good creative retreats fill the calendar so tightly there is no room to actually make.
Immersion, not accommodation.
The Lodge is 4,000 square feet of original work by a sculptor whose commissions have appeared on Disney+, the History Channel and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. You sleep inside the collection and work with the person who made it.
What you leave with
Three results, in the order they happen.
1Output, not intentions
Long independent blocks, an open studio evening and a closing showcase so the trip ends with something finished.
2Craft you can take home
Sculpting and painting instruction, plus a live sculpture performance that shows the process at full scale.
3A head that stays clear all week
Forest bathing, meditation and trails between studio blocks, so day four is as sharp as day one.
What it feels like
The change happens in this order, almost every time.
Day one
You unpack materials instead of a laptop.
Day two
You work past dark and nobody interrupts.
Mid week
You are talking to a master sculptor about a problem in your own work.
Late
The building itself is full of finished work, which is contagious.
Departure
You leave with the thing, not the plan to make the thing.
What you hear
Wind in 58 acres of hardwood, and not one engine.
What you smell
Woodsmoke, wet leaf litter, and dinner being cooked for you.
What you touch
Hot water at dusk with cold air on your face.
What you see
Steel and stone sculpture standing where trees thin out.
Before and after
What you arrive with, and what replaces it.
Two hours of studio time on a good week
Five uninterrupted days with nothing else on them
A project that has been almost started for a year
A finished piece you drive home with
Working alone with nobody to ask
Access to a master sculptor mid process
A studio that fights you
A building made entirely of finished work
Straight from us
Most work does not fail from lack of talent
It fails from interruption. Ninety uninterrupted minutes is where the good decisions live, and almost nobody gets them at home.
So this residency is mostly an absence: no commute, no neighbours, no household, no reason to stop. What is added is a working collection you sleep inside and a sculptor you can talk to when you are stuck.
Guests do not describe the beds. They describe how much they got done.
How it unfolds
3–5 nights, told the way you will remember it.
01 / Day one
Guided tour, then claim your working space
Walk the collection with Dustin, set up indoors or on the forest platforms, opening dinner with the group.
- Arrival
- Guided art tour
- Opening dinner
02 / Days two and three
Studio hours, instruction, critique
Morning studio time, sculpting class, forest bathing to reset, evening critique. Painting in the trees on day three, live performance after.
- Morning studio time
- Sculpting class
- Forest bathing
- Evening critique
03 / Day four onward
Independent work and a closing showcase
No sessions unless you want them. Optional coaching, then a showcase of what the group made.
- Painting session in the forest
- Live sculpture performance
- Open studio evening
One day, hour by hour
So you can picture yourself in it before you book.
7:30
Early light and no meetings
The Lodge faces the preserve. Mornings here are the longest uninterrupted hours most makers get all year.
9:00
Studio block
Set up wherever the light is. 4,000 square feet, original sculpture in every room, and nobody moving through it.
12:30
Lunch, then the collection
A guided walk through 25 years of commissioned large-scale work, including pieces made for Disney+ and the History Channel.
15:00
Second block, or the trails
Marked trails and forest platforms when the work stalls. Walking is part of the method, not a break from it.
19:00
Dinner and critique
Optional. Talk through what you made with someone who has finished a thousand commissions.
22:00
Work late or stop
No cleaning crew, no quiet hours, no neighbour to consider. The property is yours.
Every session listed is optional. 13 are already shaped across your 3–5 nights, and you can add, swap or drop any of them while booking.
Dates and real numbers
See what your creative residency actually costs, before you talk to anyone.
Live calendar, live rates, live add-on pricing. Nothing here is a guess and nothing is hidden until checkout.
Open weekends by month
August
2 weekends open
September
2 weekends open
October
3 weekends open
November
2 weekends open
December
1 weekend open
January
2 weekends open
Aug 5–8
3 night minimum, live availability
3 nights
August 2026
September 2026
Adults in your group
Sculptor's Art Lodge takes up to 16
Add sessions, watch the total move
Your estimate
$4,349
3 nights, 2 adults, all in
Per night
$1,450
Per adult
$2,175
- $1,260 avg × 3 nightsIncludes weekend nights$3,780
- Cleaning & reset$275
- Ohio lodging tax$294
Free 24 hour hold, no card, no resort fees
Everything included
One property, one team, one invoice.
- Sculptor's Art Lodge, 6 bedrooms, 4,000 sq ft
- Guided art tour of the collection
- Working space indoors and on the forest platforms
- Preserve and trail access
- Sculpting class, painting class, live sculpture performance and forest sessions on request
- Sculptor's Art Lodge
- Working space indoors and on the platforms
Starting from
$1,200/ night
- Stay
- Sculptor's Art Lodge
- Length
- 3–5 nights
- Group
- 2–12 guests
- Sessions shaped
- 13 across the stay
- Add-ons available
- 5 on site
Free 24 hour hold on your dates. No platform or resort fees.
“This was a perfect location for our CEO forum group to retreat for a long weekend.”
Megan, Corporate offsite
Honest comparison
A hotel, a retreat centre, or 58 acres nobody else is on.
Who else is on site
A hotel floor, a lobby, other bookings, other groups
Nobody. 58 adults-only acres, one booking at a time
Sessions and practitioners
You source and coordinate four or five separate vendors
Breathwork, sound, forest bathing, massage, chef and coaching on site
Who runs the day
You do, on top of attending it
Owner-operated by an artist and a wellness practitioner
The building itself
Beige rental furniture and hotel art
Original museum-scale sculpture, handmade beds, a working collection
The invoice
Platform fees, cleaning fees, resort fees, vendor deposits
One itemised invoice, no platform or resort fees
The drive
A flight, a connection, a rental car, a lost day each way
One hour from Columbus, two from Cincinnati, two and a half from Cleveland
How booking works
Four steps, and only one of them needs you.
01
Hold your dates free
Pick your nights and we hold them for 24 hours at no cost, so you can check with the people coming before anything is committed.
02
Talk to Raven, not a call centre
A 30 minute consult with the owner. Group size, pace, dietary needs, what you want people to leave with. She shapes the plan around that.
03
Approve one itemised invoice
Stay, sessions, chef, everything on one page. No platform fees, no resort fees, no five vendors to chase and reconcile afterwards.
04
Arrive and hand it over
The property is set, the practitioners are booked, the schedule is printed. From the moment you park, someone else is carrying it.
Layer it up
Sessions you can add while booking, not chase afterwards.
Live Art & Creative
Live Sculpture Demonstration
60–90 minutes, Dustin Weatherby, master sculptor
Live Art & Creative
Painting Class
2 hours, On-site artist
Live Art & Creative
Sculpting Class
2–3 hours, Dustin Weatherby
Wellness
Forest Bathing
90 minutes, Guided on-property
Wellness
Meditation Classes
30–60 minutes, Guided on-property
Fit check
We would rather you knew now.
Book this if
- Artists, writers and makers with a project that needs unbroken days
- You want a working sculptor on site rather than a silent studio
- You want three to five nights, long enough to finish something
Look elsewhere if
- You need a kiln, foundry or specialised industrial equipment
- You want a cohort residency with peers and open studios
- You are looking for a one night stay
When to come
The preserve is a different place four times a year.
Spring
Trilliums on the trail floor, cold mornings, the preserve waking up loudly. Best light for the forest platform.
Summer
Long green evenings, fireflies over the meadow, hot tub after dark when the heat finally drops.
Autumn
The busiest and most photographed season in Hocking Hills. Book two to three months out for peak colour.
Winter
Bare ridgelines, sightlines through the trees, fireplaces going, and the deepest quiet of the year.
Proof, not promises
4.97 out of 5 across 400 guest reviews.
“This was a perfect location for our CEO forum group to retreat for a long weekend.”
Megan, Corporate offsite, Sculptor's Art Lodge
“It was the ultimate, rejuvenating getaway and silent retreat experience!”
Greg, Solo silent reset, Sculptor's Art Bungalow
“I would truly recommend booking this experience to any and everyone.”
AD, Couples retreat, Sculptor's Art Bungalow
Before you book
The questions everyone asks.
Do I need experience?
No. Instruction scales from first-time to working artist, and independent time is yours to use however you like.
Can a group of us come together?
Yes, 2 to 12 guests works well in the Lodge, with 16 beds if you want more.
Can I stay longer than five nights?
Longer residencies are arranged directly. Ask on the consult call and we will price the extra nights.
Can I make a mess?
Within reason, yes. Tell Raven what medium you work in on the consult call and we set you up in the right space with the right protection.
Will I get time with Dustin?
A guided collection tour is included, and studio conversation or a live sculpture demonstration can be added to any residency.
Is it cheaper for longer stays?
Yes, multi-night residencies get better nightly rates. Three nights is the minimum that actually works for finishing something.
Who hosts you
Owner-operated, which is the whole difference
Dustin is a master sculptor, 25 years of large-scale commissioned work, featured on Disney+, the History Channel and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Raven is a wellness practitioner who designs the sessions and hosts the consult call herself. The art you sleep beside and the breathwork you are guided through come from the same two people, on the same land, and they live here.
- Free 24 hour hold on your dates before you pay anything
- One itemised invoice, no platform fees, no resort fees
- A consult call with the owner before every booking, always included
- Adults only, never shared with another booking while you are here
- Every stay funds our on-site and off-site animal rescue
Where you are
58 private acres, with the best of Hocking Hills inside 16 miles.
17683 Thompson Ridge Road, Laurelville, OH 43135. Drive times: Columbus 1 hour, Cincinnati 2 hours, Cleveland 2.5 hours.
Claim the studio week you keep deferring
Pick a window, hold it free for 24 hours, and design the residency with Raven and Dustin on a call.
Free 24 hour date hold, one itemised invoice, adults only
Other ways to use the preserve
Solo travelers
Solo Silent Reset
From $400 / night, 2–4 nights
Couples
Couples Slow Weekend
From $400 / night, 2–3 nights
Facilitators & wellness groups
Wellness Cohort Retreat
From $1,600 / night, 3 nights
Prefer the booking-style page? See Creative Residency with full specs