"Yaddo: Making American Culture"

1881
A name is born
Financier and philanthropist Spencer Trask and wife Katrina purchase an estate in Saratoga Springs, complete with ramshackle mansion; their four-year-old daughter names the estate Yaddo.

1926
Doors open
Carrying out the late Trasks’ plans for an artsy-fartsy refuge, Yaddo’s director Elizabeth Ames oversees the first season, which includes Polish, French, English and American writers and artists.

1933
Milked dry
In the midst of the Depression, the dairy farm closes and the property is no longer self-sufficient. A farmhouse is renovated to hold more guests, and some artists are housed at another estate.

1941–42
Forward thinkin’
Before the start of the Civil Rights era, Yaddo’s board votes to admit African-American writers. Poet Langston Hughes and composer R. Nathaniel Dett are among guests.

1946
That’s room service
After a slight wartime hiatus, full operations resume at Yaddo. Truman Capote is among first-time guests; he meets mentor and lover Newton Arvin, who encourages Capote to complete what becomes his debut novel.

1949
Red scare
The FBI investigates Yaddo director Elizabeth Ames due to her many leftist guests. After a mock trial before the board and hundreds of letters in support, Ames is exonerated.

1967
Movie offers you can’t refuse
Mario Puzo attends Yaddo and begins writing The Godfather—one of the few lower-brow examples of work produced at the colony—before returning home to finish.

1980–2008
Going strong
Yaddo continues to host artists, writers, composers, choreographers, filmmakers and other creative types, chosen by panels of their peers, for sessions ranging from two weeks to two months.

READY TO GO? “Yaddo: Making American Culture” at The New York Public Library: Humanities and Social Sciences Library (Fifth Ave at 42nd St; 212-930-0830, nypl.org) Fri 24 through Feb 15, 2009.

Colony clones

Westbeth Artists Community
463 West St (212-691-1500, westbeth.org)
What: The 13-story building on Greenwich Village’s West Street offers 300 affordable living spaces for artists.
The pull: Residents can rent out the music, graphic, painting or sculpture studios. For special projects, five painting studios are available for free on a first-come, first-served basis for six months at a time.
No vacancy: With no incentive to leave, the artsy hangers-on have largely stayed put and the waiting list was stopped indefinitely last year.
Noteworthy residents: Photographer Diane Arbus, poet Muriel Rukeyser

Millay Colony for the Arts
454 East Hill Rd, Austerlitz, NY (518-392-3103, millaycolony.org)
What: The seven-acre retreat center has been hosting artists since 1973 in Austerlitz, New York (two and a half hours north by car). There’s a four- bedroom, four-studio barn, and the main building has two suites, each with its own studio.
The pull: From April through November, six guests each month receive a room, a studio and all meals for free.
How to get in: Fill out an application and send samples of your work. Good luck, though: They received 600 apps this year for only 48 spots.
Noteworthy residents: Ann Patchett (Bel Canto), Peter Hedges (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?)

PLUS! Breaking ground late in 2009, former P.S. 109 in East Harlem will be converted into 72 affordable living spaces for artists and their families.