When are applications open?
See here.
Are writers/filmmakers able to apply?
Yes! Our residency is not medium-specific.
I’m a mid-career or established artist, should I still apply?
Yes! Our applicant pool usually consists mostly of emerging artists, but we encourage everyone to apply.
Are applications open to international residents?
Yes.
I’ve been a resident before — can I reapply?
Yes. No waiting period.
Can I apply as an artist team?
Yes. Collaborative teams should submit a single application (as well as specify on their application if they will ideally need 1 bedroom or 2 bedrooms in our residency house).
Can I bring my spouse/partner?
Yes. Non-family residents are required to pay a $100 impact fee if their spouse/partner/collaborator will be joining for the duration of their residency, though. Guests are not allowed to use the residency studios or facilities unless they also apply and are accepted to the residency program.
What if my spouse/partner wants their own studio?
They’ll need to apply separately. Please note whether you’d be willing to come if they’re not accepted.
Can I bring my kids?
Yes! Check out our year-round Family Residency.
How does the review process work?
There are four steps to our review process:
What happens after I’m accepted?
We ask all accepted residents to confirm their spot within 10 days. Upon confirmation, we also ask that residents review and sign our Residency Agreement and submit a $100 security deposit.
What are the summer studios like?
Our summer studios are located in refurbished livestock pens in the Luther Barn. We provide two tables and two chairs. Each studio also has at least two working walls and some built-in storage.
What are the winter studios like?
Our winter studios are located in Maxon Mills in converted hotel rooms from the 1920s. Studios are heated and kept at a comfortable temperature. The studios are semi-private, with 8’ partition walls which are open on top. We provide a table, chair, and some small shelves.
Studio size?
Summer: 200–300 sq. ft.
Winter: 80–100 sq. ft.
When are the studios open?
24/7.
Can I ship art supplies ahead?
Yes. There’s no art supply store in town, so plan ahead. There’s an art supply store 40 minutes away in Poughkeepsie, if need be.
Can I put holes in the walls?
Yes, go bananas. Spackle over anything larger than a pushpin hole before you leave.
What’s available in the wood shop?
Inventory list here.
Note: We are currently renovating and winterizing our wood shop and print shop. As such, we will only have a very limited wood shop available during our 2024 Summer Residency — including a chop saw, panel saw, and limited hand tools. We will also not have a dedicated wood shop tech, so these tools will only be available to artists with substantial prior experience. We anticipate that both shops will reopen by January 2025.
What’s available in the print shop?
Inventory list here.
Note: We are currently renovating and winterizing our wood shop and print shop. As such, we will have no print facilities available during our 2024 Summer Residency. We anticipate that both shops will reopen by January 2025.
Are shop materials provided?
We have some scrap materials donated by previous residents and our print shop has a few common-use screens, but come prepared with your own wood, ink, etc.
Is there a slop sink?
Yes.
Any material restrictions?
Nothing flammable or hazardous! Our studios are old and made entirely of wood. And be careful with toxic fumes, especially in the winter studios. Please do not dispose of anything toxic in the sinks — we want to keep our river clean. If you’re unsure about something, ask.
WiFi?
Yes. In both your house and our summer/winter studios.
What is expected of me while I’m at the residency?
Residents aren’t required to produce anything while they’re here. If you just need to spend a month reading and hanging out with the horses, great. If you want to attempt your biggest painting yet, also great.
Each month, we also facilitate artist talks with your cohort, artist talks and studio visits with visiting artists and critics, and a public open studios day towards the end of each residency session. We highly encourage, but do not require, artists to participate in these programs.
Can I sell my work during the residency?
Of course. Open studios days, which occur towards the end of each month, are a great opportunity to make sales. We encourage you to donate 10% of the price of any works sold directly out of your studio to the Wassaic Project.
Where will I live?
Non-family residents get a private bedroom in either the Schoolhouse or the Lodge. Family residents get the whole HVA to themselves. All of the houses are walking distance from the studios and have plenty of parking. Photos here. ->
What are the houses like?
Each house has four or five bedrooms, one or two full bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a living room. Each bed has one set of sheets, two pillows and two blankets. The houses are kept at ~65 degrees, and we will do our best to accommodate your needs, but please keep in mind that you’ll be in a relatively old (and repurposed) house. Photos here. ->
How many artists are in residence each month?
7–10. Each artist (or artist team) gets their own bedroom.
Are meals provided?
No, apart from the welcome dinner on the first night of your residency. Bonds are formed in the kitchen!
Are there washers/dryers in the houses?
There is one washer and one dryer in the Lodge. We also provide wash-and-fold service at no extra cost.
Is the residency/housing accessible for people with disabilities?
Our residency is housed in historic spaces that are not accessible. Some of our summer studios have ramp access, but our residency housing and winter studios are all up at least a short set of stairs. Our bathrooms are not ADA-compliant. Artists who need to move around, twitch, pace, or not make eye contact are welcome. If you have access needs not addressed here, email us and we’ll work with you to support them. This access text was adapted from the text developed by the Canaries for Refuge in the Means at Recess Art.
Note: We are currently constructing a wheelchair lift in Maxon Mills that will allow access to our winter studios. We expect the lift to be completed in time for our 2024 Summer Residency.
What to bring for the house?
A bath towel, although we have extras if need be.
We cover just about everything else: our kitchens are stocked with standard kitchen stuff (pots, pans, plates, cups), we provide bedding (one set of sheets, two pillows, two blankets), and our residency staff stocks each bathroom with standard bathroom stuff (toilet paper, hand soap, trash bags).
Do you have extra blankets?
Yes. Talk to us.
What to bring in general?
What not to bring?
Cats, hot plates, toxic materials. Please ask if you’re unsure.
Visitors?
Yes. Any overnight visitors must sign a guest waiver before their arrival. Visitors can stay for up to three consecutive days. If you'd like to have a guest stay for the entire duration of your residency, please talk to us.
Composting?
In the summer.
What’s it like?
Our residency houses and studios are located throughout the hamlet. Local attractions include a post office, a small general store, Wassaic Park, TenMileTable Supply, Vitsky Bakery, and The Lantern Inn. All of these are within walking distance to each other. There is a shallow creek that flows alongside the road and a large field just outside the Luther Barn studios. It’s a quiet town, and we love it.
What's the first day like?
Check-in happens between 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on the first day of your residency. All incoming artists-in-residence must be in Wassaic by 5:00 PM for an orientation at 5:30 PM. If you are arriving by train, we can arrange for transportation to Wassaic from the station. After orientation, we facilitate — and take care of! — a big welcome dinner for new artists-in-residence (and their families/partners). The dinner is hosted at the Wassaic Project’s community partner, The Lantern: a local eatery known for its good vibes, great food, and shared love of Wassaic. The welcoming dinner provides a great opportunity for artists-in-residence to connect with one another, as well as meet Wassaic Project staff members and Wassaic Project family and friends, too.
Getting around?
We recommend bringing a car, but NYC is easily accessible by train via Wassaic’s Metro North stop (~$45 round trip). Depending on residents’ needs, a shuttle service will make weekly trips to the grocery store, hardware store, and other places in the area. Housing, studios, and Maxon Mills are all within walking distance of each other.
Daycare?
We don’t provide daycare, but we can recommend great local babysitters.
Mail?
We have a PO Box at the local post office across the street from Maxon Mills. USPS regulations bar visitors from picking up individual packages from a shared PO Box, however. Our programming staff regularly checks the mail Monday through Friday.
Pets?
We allow artists to bring their dog(s) as long as they are people-friendly and other-dog-friendly. We ask artists to contribute a $100 impact fee if they are bringing a dog with them. Unfortunately, we cannot allow cats due to allergies. Anything else, ask us.
Hiking?
Tons. Bring DEET bug spray, and check for ticks.
Can I visit before my residency?
Yes. Email will@wassaicproject.org to schedule a visit.
What are my studio visits like?
We facilitate 2–3 studio visits per month. Visitors include our embedded critics, our Co-Directors, our Director of Artistic Programming, and other visiting artists, critics, gallerists, artists, curators, writers, etc.
We poll incoming artists-in-residence about who they'd like to come make studio visits. Dream big!
What other programming is there?
Early each month, we host a monthly evening of artist presentations about their practices. Towards the end of each month, we host an open studios day, where we invite the public to explore residents’ studios. Participation in each program is optional, but highly encouraged. At the beginning of your residency, we will share a calendar with more information on these programs as well as local art openings and other events.
We also host a wide variety of non-residency public programming, including gallery hours in Maxon Mills, artist talks, summer camps, workshops, performances, block parties, screenings, and more. Residents are more than welcome at any and all of these events.
Fee?
We offer our residency on a sliding scale from $0–$900. It costs us $5,000 per person to host the residency. Most of this is covered by the generous support of donors and grants, but we recommend a contribution of $900 per month for our Summer Residency and $600 per month for our Winter Residency from artists who are able to contribute. We also offer 10+ fellowships per year, which include a no-fee residency plus an honorarium.
Payment schedule?
Your residency fee is due one month prior to your residency. All artists-in-residence are also asked to send over a $100 security deposit to confirm their participation in the residency program, due ~2 weeks after your residency invitation.
Your security deposit is returned within 30 days of the end of your stay. Need to work out a payment plan? Talk to us.
Financial support?
Based on need as self-reported in your application. Our intention is for financial assistance to be given to artists for whom it would be impossible to attend without financial support. If that is not the case for you, please do not apply for assistance. We are unlike other residency programs in that our residency is integrated into our exhibition program — your monthly fee helps us keep both of them running. That said, requesting financial assistance has no bearing on your application.
What fellowships are offered?
We offer the following fellowships:
To be considered for the Work and Family Fellowship and Sustainable Arts Fellowship, please take some time in your application to reflect on the ways in which care and caregiving, whatever those words mean to you, come through (or might come through) in your work. It’s okay if this isn’t something you’ve considered before. We think of these fellowships as a starting point towards building a future where artists shape the way society sees and values care.
All applicants are considered for the Mary Ann Unger Fellowship and the ArtForArtists Fellowship for Social Justice-Based Practice and do not have to complete any additional information on their application.
Are fellowships open to international applicants?
Yes.
I’m receiving funding from my school/state/country. Does that change things?
Yes — the individual artist fee is a subsidized rate. In these cases, you’ll be responsible (if possible) for covering the full value of the residency: $1,500 per month.
What if I need to leave early?
Artists-in-residence who plan to leave early are still responsible for the full fee of their residency.
For our 2023 summer residency:
Question not answered above? Consult our Residency Guidelines, our Code of Conduct, or email danielle@wassaicproject.org.