SPACES: Facilities and Grounds=====================================> Additional PHOTOS Grin City is located on a 320-acre farm in beautiful (and hilly) east-central Iowa about a mile north of the town of Grinnell. The farm itself is privately owned, but two buildings are leased to Grin City, and the owners are kind enough to allow us access to a number of other structures and spaces on the complex such as two barns, a woodworking shop, a rudimentary metals shop, and a ceramics kiln. Up to eight people live at Grin City at any given point in time. Living Quarters Residents live in a 150-year-old farm house equipped with communal kitchen and bath. Bedrooms are typically shared with one other roommate. There are four bathrooms, three showers, and two kitchens available for use. Studio Space Main studio space is located in the building of a former tofu factory across the yard. The former factory floor is divided with 3/4 walls into large studio rooms which are shared with one or two people (NOTE: Residents in the Moderate Outreach Residency receive their own studio room). Grin City is a developing residency and together staff and residents are constantly working to improve it. Because of their age, facilities are in some ways rugged and often filled with their own eccentricities. We welcome residents to make their bedroom and studio space their own and decorate it as they see fit. Garden Our 2700-square-foot garden provides produce for resident meals June through October, with items we freeze and can taking us well into winter. The garden also functions as one of Grin City's major outreach projects, with an allocated portion of the produce grown supplying Grinnell's weekly free Community Meal. Without this produce, the Meal volunteers would rely on canned vegetables to feed the 100 community members who attend. During the Spring and Summer Sessions, residents spend two afternoons a week working in the garden. Commitment to Sustainability Grin City is also a green city. Like its commitment to community sustainability, it also has a commitment to environmental sustainability and simple living. We grow our own produce and buy our ingredients from local farms and mills. We use outdoor clothes lines, compost, and do many other small practices which reduce our environmental impact. Some of these practices come from our rural setting, some are from our mission, but all are smart systems of living that we ask every resident to commit to. Grin City is currently exploring solar and geothermal options for heating and cooling.