This Utah ghost town doubles as an artist residency. Here's how it works

CISCO, Grand County — Welcome to Cisco, Utah; population of two and home of the Cisco artist residency. This small town is about four hours south of Salt Lake City and started in the 1880s as a saloon and water-refilling station for Rio Grande Western Railroad. Today, it's very much considered a ghost town. A ghost town that has been featured in a few movies including "Vanishing Point" and "Thelma & Louise." Now, half of the population that's left in Cisco owns and runs the Cisco artist residency. Owner Kara Bard wants to give Utah artists an opportunity to have intentional time to create their art. "Getting intentional time to yourself I think is something we don't get enough of these days," Bard said."So, having that solitude I think really just helps artist just connect to their process and their work, or they can take their entire process and throw it out a window and know there is no judgement in that space because there's literally no one there."

The Cisco artist residency

Just walking around Cisco, one can tell creativity is abundant there. Artist of all mediums are welcomed, and Bard said most recently they've had a whole folk album produced there.

And the applications keep rolling in, forcing Bard to make difficult decisions. "The quality of applications that have come through, I want to except everybody because everyone's ideas are just so novel and thoughtful and I really want to get them into that space to see the alchemy that happens once they get there."

Cisco has a few residencies available each year, the Fall residency which is 1-2 months with a goal stipend of $2,000 and shorter spring residencies that last 2-4 weeks to allow for more artists. For now, the spring stipends come out to $50 to $100 a week to help out with gas and food. Bard hopes to offer more one day but for now she wants to make sure that artist at least have a free place to stay. "I think that's really core to Cisco's mission, artists have never paid to spend time in Cisco," she said. "It's almost like an energy exchange. Sometimes they put a little bit of love back into the property."

What's its like to stay in Cisco

There are five beds available at Cisco between a renovated camper, a couple of trunk house and a renovated bus. But camping is always welcome. You're 16 miles from the closest town... and from running water. There is one outhouse, though it's a two seater of an outhouse, And any water used needs to be brought in or collected when in rains.Cisco fields its internet through Starlink and some electricity. In summer, the days can get pretty hot and the nights cold and windy, but there are miles of views and breathtaking night skies with very little light pollution. And it's quiet; with the wind and occasional train passing by. An artist can opt for a weekly check-in from Bard during their stay or choose to rely completely on themselves. But one thing Bard asks for artist to do is hold some kind of community event. "Otherwise what's the purpose? Why am I even doing this?" she questioned. "Otherwise it feels like Cisco is a waste of space if its just me out there by myself, when I could be sharing it with others and seeing the space be really alive with artists that for me is a lot more fulfilling."

Plans ahead

For now Bard uses her own money to finance the residency, but has recently become an official nonprofit and hopes to get grants and donations to help out. ''I started my own nonprofit organization in order to support this. And I've never started a business, let alone a nonprofit before. It's just been spending a lot of my own money to make the vision happen right now, and that's okay because it just seems like a good use of funds at this point."

To make things work, Bard currently is living and working in Millcreek during the week takes the train to Cisco on the weekend. Her goal right now is to pay off the seven year mortgage and maintaining Ciscos structures — then she can start focusing on scaling.

Bard bought the land from a previous owner who originally started the residency, but now that Bard has transformed it, she has big hopes and plans for Cisco. "I think it'd be really neat if we could do like an even just like a desert boogie fundraiser, like an onsite little... I think it would be really fun. I'm envisioning like screenings held on site. I'm envisioning a campground out there ... My goal for Cisco is to see it become a place for community again." That vision also includes more indoor spaces for people to drop in for the day or to hold wellness conferences and more co-working spaces for creatives. Learn more about the artist residency and how to support here.

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