Internship/Apprenticeship in the Building Arts
(Putting this out front - we are an income sharing community so there are stipends/piechunks and housing options depending on commitments and inputs)
Are you interested in getting out of the trap? Is living collectively and collaboratively essential to your thinking and desires? Is working to create a freer, more equitable society essential to your mental health? We have new internship/apprenticeship opportunities that will help you develop your skills, contribute to meaningful work, and grow as part of a rural anarchist community in Vermont working on a range of issues in the built environment.
What We’re About:
We operate a small rural autonomous architecture collective that facilitates self-built/self-help housing. We are anti-capitalist, subsistence builders who make unique, high quality buildings from local and found materials as well as the detritus of industrial civilization. We have a nest of resources established on which to grow and are looking for new collaborators.
We work to provide practical solutions and creative, unique spaces to people who generally could never afford something crafted to their needs, vision and budget. We use architecture and the process of shaping the built environment to undermine notions of control, perfection, privilege, class, goodness, morality and false consciousness. We also are housing activists working to change the culture of building and the destructive social dynamics that define the housing system in N. America.
We’re dedicated to autonomy (but not individualism), mutual aid, and collective decision-making (most of the time..sometimes we are just too overwhelmed and tired). We work to create unique spaces that are low impact, resilient, and accessible to everyone. Together, we aim to help people redefine how they live, work, and can thrive outside dominant structures.
What You’ll Do:
As an intern or apprentice, you’ll be immersed in the world of sustainable and collaborative architecture/building. Your responsibilities can range from:
-Assisting with the design and construction of dwellings and other types of structures.
-Learning, practicing soft and hard skills like design and organizing, as well as carpentry, masonry, mechanics, or building techniques (e.g., plasters, timber framing, welding, stonework, 3D fab, etc).
-Dumpster diving and trash picking
-Help maintain workshops and develop tools and production methodologies.
-Participate in collective decision-making and planning processes.
-Contributing to the overall well-being and sustainability of everyday life for everyone around you.
What You’ll Learn:
-Technical Skills: Hands-on experience in sustainable building practices, alternative energy systems, and biophilic design.
-Community Living: Experience the dynamics of horizontal non-organization and self-governance.
-DIY Ethos: Enhance your ability to innovate, repair, and build with limited resources and work within a larger context of activists in housing, agriculture, social justice, art, etc.
What We’re Looking For:
If you are interested in applying, you need to be motivated and willing to learn, not just about how to hammer a nail or design a structure but why things are the way they are and how the built environment is one of fundamental building blocks of one’s social world. This is physical but mindful work.
At the core of our efforts is the radical impulse to help change that world. Every dwelling is an opportunity to achieve that by helping people foster new social ecologies that lower our environmental impact, decrease consumption, increase conviviality and emphasize a quality of life that we can gift to others.
This is also a way of life, not a job. This is a calling, not a career. Making the world is not only a way of life but a quiet spiritual path older than time. We are particularly interested in those with bad brains, who struggle with reality and find the world a suffocating dead end. We foster a constructive outlet for creativity, rage, angst and love.
-A willingness to learn and contribute to a collective effort.
-Respect for diverse perspectives and a collaborative spirit.
-Some building experience is a plus but not required—we’ll teach you what you need to know as we are all makers at heart.
-We are open to single persons, couples, single mothers or a small group of friends interested in relocating to Vermont and working on facilitating alternatives and autonomy.
Open to youthful energy and enthusiasm as well as older wisdom with resources
What we are not looking for is individuals who need to smoke weed or nip every hour of the day, who talk but can’t walk, who need to be on their phone every spare minute, who live in the industrially fabricated illusions of modern life and not the one they physically spend 99% of the time in. We assume that every soul comes with baggage because no one is undamaged from this shitty system but to build healthy relationships there needs to be a baseline acknowledgement that the ‘Individual’ is a problematic and troubled spirit and it takes others to help heal that rift.
What You’ll Get:
-A supportive, egalitarian community where your voice will be heard for the short and for the long term.
-Housing, a share of the wealth, the ability to contribute and a full stack of useful skills.
Location, Time-frame and Duration:
Vermont - Spring 2025 - short term/long term
How to Inquire:
Send us a short email at
hearthewood@proton.me:
Tell us a little about yourself and why you’re interested.
Any relevant skills or experiences.
Your availability and goals for this apprenticeship.
Questions, thoughts or issues you may have.
We will respond to that and we can take it from there with virtual meetups and discussions.
Thanks for your consideration and may you find what you are looking for.
the crew at
HearTheWood
