Wassaic Project: 2023 Summer Residency and Family Residency Program Open Call

Wassaic Project 2023 Summer Residency and Family Residency Program Open Call

https://wassaicproject.slideroom.com/#/permalink/program/67837

Application Opens: August 1, 2022

Deadline: September 26, 2022, midnight EST 

Application Fee (USD): $25.00 

The Wassaic Project accepts 1 – 4 month proposals for our 2023 Summer Residency program (June – September 2023) for artists and writers. This call is for individual artists, collaborative teams, and groups of 2 or more individual artists, and artists applying through our Family Residency program. The residency fee is $900 per ~4 weeks per artist/collab group/artist team/family, which includes: semi-private studio space(s), private room in a shared house (our Family program receives a private house), access to our Wood Shop and kiln, staff support, and programming such as our Visiting Artist program, Artist Talks and Studio Visits, Open Studios, Artist Presentations, etc.

Artists in Residence are selected by a review committee composed of the Wassaic Project Co-Directors, Residency Director, and professionals in the field. They will be selected based on the quality of their work, commitment to their practice, and ability to interact positively with the community at large. 

The Wassaic Project cultivates and supports community for emerging and professional contemporary artists, writers and other creatives. Housed in historic, landmark buildings, the residency program offers nine artists each month the opportunity to live and work in the heart of a rural community. The Wassaic Project seeks artists working in a diverse range of media who want to produce, explore, challenge, and expand on their current art-making practices, while participating in a community-based arts organization. For more info: https://www.wassaicproject.org/artists/summer-residency

FAMILY RESIDENCY PROGRAM:

The Wassaic Project broadly defines “family” as a group of more than one individual where there is an in-house dependent relationship as a necessary caregiver. The Wassaic Project recognizes that artists who have caregiving relationships, as providers or recipients, often opt-out of peer community building for practical reasons. The Wassaic Project aims to provide accommodations which increase access to our residency program. 

Examples of caregiving may include, but are not limited to: parent/child (parent is caregiver),

child/parent (child is caregiver), partner/partner (where one partner is a supportive caregiver of the other and cohabitation is required for caregiving), a recipient of caregiving, a self-selection into this application for separate and additional housing space by identifying as a family applicant.

2023 SUMMER RESIDENCY PROGRAM DATES:

• June 1 - 25, 2023
• June 29 - July 30, 2023
• August 3 - 29, 2023
• September 7  - October 1, 2023

STUDIOS + FACILITIES + ACCOMMODATIONS:

Artists-in-residence will receive an adaptable semi-private studio space in the historic Maxon Mills. All studios are ~100 square feet. Artists-in-residence will have 24-hour access to their studio and accommodations which include a private bedroom in a shared house (complete with common spaces, 1–2 full bathrooms, fully stocked kitchen, etc). Artists participating through the Family program will receive a private house. Artists-in-residence also have access to workshop facilities, including a wood shop and a ceramics studio. 

PROGRAMMING:

Two to three times a month, artists-in-residence are invited to sign up for one-on-one studio visits with Visiting Artists/Critics. Our embedded critics, Ghost of a Dream, also make group studio visits each month, along with our Director of Artistic Programming and additional WP staff. Artists-in-residence are invited to participate in a monthly evening of artist’s talks and presentations, as well as Open Studios towards the end of their residency.

FINANCIAL INFO:

The actual cost of each residency is $5,000 per month, which includes a semi-private studio, private bedroom, full use of our facilities, visiting artist program, studio visits, insurance, and staff support. In an effort to serve and support emerging artists, we attempt to subsidize residencies for all individual artists who do not have other forms of support. Thanks to the generous support of donors and grants, the artist’s contribution for the winter residency program is $600 per a 4-week period.

We also offer need-based financial assistance to artists-in-residence for whom it would be impossible to attend without financial support. Financial need is self-reported by artists in their applications. We ask that artists who are in a position to fully contribute towards the residency fee please do so.

FELLOWSHIPS:

The Wassaic Project offers the following Fellowships:

• The Work and Family Fellowship offers no-fee residencies and $500 honorariums to several artists-in-residence per year participating in the Family Residency program.
• The Sustainable Arts Fellowship offers no-fee residencies and $500 honorariums to several artists who identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color per year participating in the Family Residency program.
• The Mary Ann Unger Fellowship offers a no-fee residency to 1 female-identifying artist who identifies as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color per year who primarily works in sculpture.
• The ArtForArtists Fellowship for Social Justice Based Practice offers a no-fee residency and $500 honorarium to 1 artist who identifies as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color per year.

To be considered for the Work and Family Fellowship and Sustainable Arts Fellowship:

In your application, please take some time 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.

Mission

The Wassaic Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, uses art and arts education to foster positive social change. We nurture connections between our artists and our neighbors facilitating a mutual broadening of perspectives and respect across economic and cultural boundaries.

Vision

The Wassaic Project envisions a community in the Hamlet of Wassaic and its surrounding region that is socially inclusive, generous, cooperative, and economically vibrant.  

We engage in a collaborative effort with members of our community to develop programs that are creative, experimental, and accessible across the economic spectrum.

We strive to be actively anti-racist and to have diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as an integral part of our programs and initiatives. We will continually evaluate, solicit feedback, and evolve our efforts to ensure their effectiveness.

We build local pride and community vitality by an informed sense of the past and a clear, contemporary, innovative, and compassionate look toward the future.

We foster the youth in our community and help them realize their full potential.  

We aim to be financially stable with a creative staff and multiple partners — nonprofit, public, and private.

It is our hope that the work that we do in Wassaic will be shared nationwide and serve as a toolkit for community revitalization through the arts and the spirit of generosity. Above all else, we honor and respect our community.