Editor’s note: Each week throughout the summer, Enterprise intern Kate McCarty has been writing about the artists and classes available at county non-profit arts organizations. This is her final installment.

NATALIE BAKOPOULOS and her husband, Jeremiah Chamberlin, are artists-in-residence at the Glen Arbor Art Association this summer.

Neither Jeremiah Chamberlin nor Natalie Bakopoulos is from Leelanau, but it hasn’t taken the couple long to find a comfort zone as artists-in-residence at the Glen Arbor Art Association.

Both are writers, and professors at the University of Michigan. Chamberlin grew up in Interlochen, where he went to school and where both his parents work. Bakopoulos is from downstate and didn’t know much about the Grand Traverse region until she married Chamberlin three years ago.

The couple has moved around quite a bit since they met 10 years ago, including stops in Madison, Wis., and Ann Arbor, where they now live. They also spent time in Interlochen while Chamberlin was a writer-in-residence at the arts center, and it was there they learned about the program for artists-in-residence that the GAAA offers.

“It was from the faculty at Interlochen,” Chamberlin recalled. “Ann Marie Oomen (of Empire) suggested that we apply for it.”

The couple applied for the program that spring of 2006 and spent time that June writing in the apartment above the GAAA.

“I think we got two months of work done in two weeks,” said Bakopoulos, who is writing a historical novel about Greece during the 1967-74 time period. The story focuses on a family living in Greece at the time.

“It’s so much easier to clear your head and work here,” she said, adding that was part of the reason they’ve returned for a second year.

Chamberlin also takes inspiration from this area. He is in the process of writing a novel that is centered in Leelanau County.

“The book is set in the late 1950s through the 90’s,” he said. “It focuses on the struggles of two brothers who grow up on a family farm and the struggles they face with the changing world with Vietnam, the changing face of agriculture, and their own family conflicts.”

Both writers say living in Leelanau has helped their focus.

“It’s hard not to draw inspiration here,” Chamberlin said. “When I walk on the beach and see the islands, I can imagine my characters walking on the beaches and wondering what they’d be thinking when they saw the same islands.”

He said “objectivity” is also improved.

“You are always writing about somewhere that you aren’t. It forces you to have objectivity. But when you’re there, you can verify details,” he said.

Bakopoulos, meanwhile, said she draws inspiration from the beauty, quiet and distraction-free atmosphere of the county.

“There’s something about being in a place like this, where it’s quiet and beautiful,” said Bakopoulos. “I know this is two weeks to only work. It’s simple. I don’t have to bring all my junk.”

Bakopoulos is also attracted to the water, something that she’s familiar with because of her travels to Greece, where her family is originally from.

“I’ve always been drawn to it,” she said. “This is so quiet and clean.”

She said being away from city life, and constantly ringing phones, help provide the escape she was looking for to help stimulate her creativity. Chamberlin agreed.

“It’s just this monastic retreat,” he said. “The only obligation is to devote your time and energy to being an artist. There are no tasks or chores, you can just retreat.”

Chamberlin and Bakopoulos will present their work at the GAAA on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. They will be reading and discussing their projects at the event, which is free and open to the public. For more information, call the GAAA at 334-6112.