Wassaic Project Winter Residency Program Open Call

The Wassaic Project cultivates and supports community for emerging and professional contemporary artists, writers, curators, filmmakers and other creatives. Housed in historic, landmark buildings, the residency program offers ten 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 their current art-making practices while participating in a community-based arts organization.

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.

Studios, Facilities, Accomodation
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.

Financial Information
The actual cost of each residency is $5,000 per month, which includes a semi-private studio, private bedroom, full use of facilities, visiting artist program, studio visits, insurance, and staff support. In an effort to serve and support emerging artists, it is attempted 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.

There is also a need-based financial assistance available 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.

Application

• Contact information
• 1–10 work samples
• CV (3 pages max)
• 2 references
• $25 application fee
• Proposal: What makes you curious, what you are interested in investigating, and what your jumping off point would be. (200 words max)
• Optional question: Artists' own definition of success matters. Are there additional criteria that you would like the panel to consider when reviewing your work? For example: What do you consider to be a successful piece or process? If you work with a community, the artistic product may not be the sole or most important creation of the work. Are there other impacts and creations in your process that needs to be focused on? Please share any relevant documentation —interviews, testimony from participants, writing about the work, images from an event, etc.

Application deadline is 22 February 2022. Please check their website for the details of the programmes offered.