on to another place, form a new colony. And that's what usually happens. Few art colonies last more than ten or twenty years from the time they are first founded.
Today a great many of our painters, writers and the others are streaming abroad to such art colonies as San Miguel Allende and Ajijic, in Mexico, Torremolinos in Spain, and Positano in Italy, although Italy is by no means inexpensive these days.
But in spite of this trend to move abroad, there are still a good many art colonies in the United States and in every section of the country from Cape Cod in New England to Sarasota in Florida and from Colorado Springs and Taos in the Rockies to Laguna Beach and Carmel on the Pacific. If not every State then certainly every section of the country has its art colony. Some of them will support literally hundreds of artists, genuine as well as the psuedo variety; some will have no more than a dozen or so.
What is the advantage in living in an art colony? Of retiring in such a place?
There are various advantages for some types of people.
If you are interested in the arts yourself and particularly if you have ambitions along this line, the advantages are obvious. You will find others to help you, give you pointers, instruct you. But even though you have no desire to practice any of the arts yourself, you might still find enjoyment in the atmosphere that prevails in an art colony.
A feature desirable to many is the complete informality. Usually, you'll find that denims are the standard dress and often for women as well as men. Clothing in general is not something you have to worry about. Your fellow man in an art colony is more interested in what you think and do than he is in how you look.
Nor are there pretentions about your house. If you have a little two or three room shack and do your own cooking on a two burner stove, and serve nothing better than dago-red in the way of refreshments to your guests, it's not going to keep even the most successful artist or writer in town from coming to your parties. The only thing that counts at a party in an art colony is the quality of the conversation because although conversation is an art rapidly disappearing in our country, it certainly is not in the art colony. Here it still reigns supreme.