Cultivating Creativity – Press & Media Kit
Everything you need to write about Cultivating Creativity by Shannon Amidon, published by Verdant Publishing. 

About the Book

Title: Cultivating Creativity: A Guide to Launching Your Artist Residency Program and Growing Creative Community
Author: Shannon Amidon
Publisher: Verdant Publishing
Publication Date: March 3, 2025
Format: Paperback / eBook
Pages: (add final count)
ISBN: (add when assigned)
Retail Price: (e.g., $22.95)

Short Description:
A practical and heartfelt guide for artists, creatives, and community-builders who want to create meaningful artist residencies and creative spaces rooted in connection, sustainability, and generosity.

Full Description:
Are you an artist, creative, or community-builder dreaming of starting your own artist residency or creative program? Cultivating Creativity is a practical and inspiring guidebook that helps you turn that dream into a sustainable reality.

Drawing from her real-world experience founding The Verdancy Project, a multidisciplinary, nature-based artist residency in the Pacific Northwest, artist and creative entrepreneur Shannon Amidon offers step-by-step guidance, heartfelt insights, and stories from the field.

This book covers everything you need to know about:

  • Developing your vision and mission

  • Creating sustainable and inclusive programs

  • Funding, budgeting, and structuring your residency

  • Building creative community and partnerships

  • Maintaining your own creative practice while leading others

Cultivating Creativity goes beyond logistics, it’s a book about connection, generosity, and the courage to create something bigger than yourself.

Perfect for readers interested in: artist residencies • creative entrepreneurship • community arts • DIY art spaces • creative leadership • and art business guides for artists.

Download Book Info Sheet (PDF)

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shannon Amidon | shannon@shannonamidon.com | www.shannonamidon.com

Cultivating Creativity: A Guide to Launching Your Artist Residency Program and Growing Creative Community
By Shannon Amidon

How one artist’s journey to build a creative community became a practical guide for others.

Troutdale, Oregon — Artist and creative entrepreneur Shannon Amidon has released Cultivating Creativity, a practical and inspiring guide for artists, creatives, and community-builders dreaming of starting their own artist residency or creative program.

Drawing from her experience founding The Verdancy Project, a multidisciplinary, nature-based artist residency in the Pacific Northwest, Amidon shares step-by-step guidance, heartfelt insights, and real-world lessons learned from building an arts program from the ground up.

The book covers everything from defining your mission and building community partnerships to structuring, funding, and sustaining your residency, all while maintaining your own creative practice.

“I wrote this book for the artists and dreamers who want to create something meaningful in their communities, not just programs, but places where creativity and generosity can thrive,” says Amidon.

Cultivating Creativity will be available March 3, 2025, through Verdant Publishing, online retailers, and select independent bookstores.

Download Full Press Release (PDF)

Talking Points

Use these as anchors for interviews, podcasts, and media features:

  • How to start an artist residency or creative program from scratch

  • Building sustainable creative communities without burnout

  • The difference between traditional residencies and artist-led, community-focused models

  • Funding and running arts programs on a shoestring budget

  • Balancing personal creativity with leadership and service

  • Why generosity and collaboration are vital for creative longevity

  • The rise of small, values-driven residencies across the U.S.

About the Author

Residing in the Pacific Northwest, Shannon Amidon is an artist, writer, and environmental steward whose creative work explores the intersections of nature, curiosity, and creative community. She is the author of Cycles of Creation: Five Years of The Verdancy Project and has been published in Where Women Create, Content Magazine, and Encaustic Arts Magazine.

As both a visual artist and writer, Shannon’s work reflects her lifelong fascination with the natural world and the creative process. Her art has been featured in exhibitions and residencies around the globe, earning multiple awards including the Regional Arts & Culture Council Make|Learn|Build Grant, International Encaustic Artists Project Grant, and the Silicon Valley Creates Artist Laureate. Her artwork has been collected by Google, Wells Fargo, Genetech, Imagery Estates Winery and Kaiser Permanente. 

Shannon is the founder and director of The Verdancy Project, a multidisciplinary artist residency and creative ecosystem in Oregon that cultivates connection between art, science, and the natural world. Through both her writing and visual practice, she invites others to slow down, pay attention, and rediscover wonder.

Download Bio (PDF)
Download Author Photos (High-Res)

Press Images

All images are approved for editorial use. Please credit Shannon Amidon and Verdant Publishing.

Download Full Image Folder (ZIP)

Available Images:

  • Book Cover – Cultivating Creativity

  • Author Headshot (Formal)

  • Author Portrait – In Studio / Nature

  • The Verdancy Project – Residency Grounds

Media Contact

Press & Publicity Contact:
Shannon Amidon
shannon@shannonamidon.com
www.shannonamidon.com
408-806-3900
Troutdale, Oregon

Follow along:
@shannonamidon | @verdancyproject

Download Everything

Download Complete Press Kit (ZIP)
(Includes press release, bios, book info sheet, talking points, and images)