The Watermill Center
The Watermill Center is a laboratory of inspiration and performance, founded by theatre and visual artist Robert Wilson, which provides a unique environment for a global community of emerging and established artists and thinkers to gather and explore new ideas together.
Watermill’s Artist Residency Program began in 2006 when The Center officially opened as a year-round facility. Each year collectives and individual artists take up residence at The Center to live and develop works that critically investigate, challenge and extend the existing norms of artistic practice. Artists-in-Residence share their creative process with the community through open rehearsals, workshops and artist talks. Artists-In-Residence receive access to an extensive collection of resources central to the Watermill experience: 20,000 square feet of rehearsal/design spaces and outdoor stages; a theatre production archive; The Watermill Center Study Library; The Watermill Center Collection; and The Center’s eight-and-a-half acre landscaped grounds and sculpture gardens.
Artists are expected to present their work to the community in some fashion, be it an open rehearsal, open studio, artist talk, lecture, etc. Artists are also asked to engage with their Education Programs for local children.
The Watermill Center combines performance and rehearsal sites with working and communal living spaces. Its flexible and multi-purpose interiors house formal and informal studio and performance spaces, The Watermill Collection, and The Watermill Library, kitchen facilities, and a Study Center with archives. The Center is situated on ten acres of wooded and landscaped grounds in a rural environment.
The Center does not provide a traditional theater studio or painting studio environment. They do not have a lighting grid or a technical staff to assist with rehearsals and construction.
Housing and bed arrangements vary based on the needs and number of the Artists-in-Residence. Most artists will be housed on-site in our Residence building, which includes double occupancy rooms with ensuite bathrooms and a communal kitchen and living space.
Library; printers; full kitchen; laundry washer & dryer; woodshop.