Danielle Klebes, 7th Floor Walk-up, 2023
Note: We will not be holding separate Summer and Winter Residency open calls this year. Instead, we will be holding one Artist Residency open call for the entirety of 2026. On our SlideRoom application, you will be able to specify which sessions you’re most interested in joining us for. Applications will be open from March 24 to June 2, 2025.
Each year, we hold open calls for our Summer Exhibition, Artist Residency, and Haunted Mill.
In an effort to simplify the application process, the details listed below are identical to those in our application portal, SlideRoom. If you're preparing an application early, please note that this page is updated with new information in the weeks before each open call goes out. That said, we try to keep the application process consistent each year, and only ask for information that we need for review.
If you still have questions, please email will@wassaicproject.org. We also hold info sessions and office hours for each program.
Applications are run through our SlideRoom portal. Notification of acceptance will occur within 60 days of the application due date. Accepted applicants will have 7 days to commit to the exhibition.
Applicants are evaluated by our Co-Directors — Eve, Bowie, and Jeff — and our Director of Artistic Programming, Will. Artists are selected based on the quality of the work and how well a given piece fits alongside other pieces selected for the show.
Don’t overthink this. There’s no one thing we’re looking for, and we’re always open to creative new uses of Maxon Mills as an exhibition space.
We accept four types of proposals for our summer programming: ready-to-hang work, site-specific installations, temporary installations/performances, and printed works. Your application can include multiple proposals.
For all proposals, include:
For ready-to-hang work proposals:
Please outline any special circumstances you anticipate around the installation of your work. We have limited equipment available, so we need to know in advance if you require anything specific.
For site-specific installation proposals:
Please include completed past works, drawings and/or style references, and explain how the piece will look or function.
Artists interested in creating a site-specific installation are also eligible for an Exhibitions Fellowship to help realize their work. No separate application is needed for the Exhibitions Fellowship, and acceptance of the fellowship — should it be offered — is entirely optional. Artists interested in making site-specific work for the exhibition should still apply regardless of whether or not they are interested in or able to be in residence in April or May.
For temporary installations or performances for the Summer Festival Program:
Please explain how the piece will look or function.
Provide 1 to 10 work samples, including title, year, medium, and dimensions, and anything else we should know.
Size requirements:
Please label each file as: LastName_FirstName_Title_Year.
Please include full information for each work as well: title, date, medium and dimensions, and any other pertinent information which will help us better understand your work.
If you have additional questions, see our Summer Exhibition FAQ. If you still have questions, email our Programming Coordinator, danielle@wassaicproject.org.
Note: We will not be holding separate Summer and Winter Residency open calls this year. Instead, we will be holding one Artist Residency open call for the entirety of 2026. On our SlideRoom application, you will be able to specify which sessions you’re most interested in joining us for.
Summer residents receive 24-hour access to an adaptable, semi-private, 200-300 square foot studios in the historic Luther Barn. Accommodations include a private bedroom in a shared house, complete with common spaces, 1–2 full bathrooms, and a kitchen (artists participating in our Family Residency will receive a private house). Artists-in-residence also have access to our print shop and wood shop. Monthly programming includes open studios, group studio visits with our embedded critics, Ghost of a Dream, and one-on-one studio visits and artist talks with 2–3 creative professionals, our Director of Artistic Programming, and WP staff.
This call is for individual artists, collaborative teams, and groups of two or more individual artists, and artists applying through our Family Residency program. Applications are run through our SlideRoom portal. Dates for the program are:
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 session to those who are able to contribute.
Fellowships
We offer the following fellowships:
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.
We also offer financial assistance to artists who self-report need in their applications, but ask that artists who are in a position to fully contribute towards the residency fee please do so. Our review process is need-blind: we do not consider financial circumstances when deciding whether to accept an artist into our programs.
Review
Artists-in-residence are selected by a review panel composed of the Wassaic Project Co-Directors, Director of Artistic Programming, and professionals in the field. Residents will be selected based on the quality of their work, commitment to their practice, and ability to interact positively with the community at large.
Notifications will be sent out in mid-September.
If you have additional questions, see our Residency FAQ. We will be hosting a office hours on 4/3, 4/10, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, and 5/29. A recording of our info session is available here. If you still have questions, email our Programming Coordinator, danielle@wassaicproject.org.
Note: We will not be holding separate Summer and Winter Residency open calls this year. Instead, we will be holding one Artist Residency open call for the entirety of 2026. On our SlideRoom application, you will be able to specify which sessions you’re most interested in joining us for.
Winter residents receive 24-hour access to an adaptable, semi-private, ~100 square-foot studio space in the historic Maxon Mills. Accommodations include a private bedroom in a shared house, complete with common spaces, 1–2 full bathrooms, and a kitchen (artists participating in our Family Residency will receive a private house). Artists-in-residence also have access to our wood shop. Monthly programming includes open studios, group studio visits with our embedded critics, Ghost of a Dream, and one-on-one studio visits and artist talks with 2–3 creative professionals, our Director of Artistic Programming, and WP staff. Dates for the program are:
This call is for individual artists, collaborative teams, and groups of two or more individual artists, and artists applying through our Family Residency program. Applications are run through our SlideRoom portal.
We offer our Winter Residency on a sliding scale, from $0–600. 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 $600 per month per person from artists who are able to contribute.
We offer the following fellowships:
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.
We also offer financial assistance to artists who self-report need in their applications, but ask that artists who are in a position to fully contribute towards the residency fee please do so. Our review process is need-blind: we do not consider financial circumstances when deciding whether to accept an artist into our programs.
Artists-in-residence are selected by a review panel composed of the Wassaic Project Co-Directors, Director of Artistic Programming, and professionals in the field. Residents will be selected based on the quality of their work, commitment to their practice, and ability to interact positively with the community at large.
Notifications will be sent out in mid-September.
If you have additional questions, see our Residency FAQ. We will be hosting a Zoom info session on 5/6 and office hours on 4/3, 4/10, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, and 5/29. If you still have questions, email our Programming Coordinator, danielle@wassaicproject.org.
The Haunted Mill is our annual Halloween event in the hamlet of Wassaic.
This year we are accepting a few types of proposals: site-specific installations for the first floor of Maxon Mills, outdoor installations, and performances. We will prioritize interactive and immersive proposals. We want to see your haunted games, your creepy trick or treat stations, and all of the spooky experiences you dream up.
Artists will have complete creative control over their installation, as long as they keep their work PG-13. We’re looking for artists who are excited to participate and get weird, and who are self-directed and independent with their projects. For installation artists, we offer housing in one of our residency houses (for 1–3 weeks between October 6 and October 29, 2025) alongside private studio space in Maxon Mills, additional studio space in Luther Barn, and full access to our wood shop and print shop. We offer all participating artists and artistic teams a modest honorarium.
We accept three types of proposals: site-specific installation in Maxon Mills, outdoor installations, and performances. Applications are run through our SlideRoom portal.
For all applications:
For performances:
Please explain how the piece will look or function. If your work is time-based or has video documentation, you may also link to media from YouTube, Vimeo, or SoundCloud.
June 2 at midnight ET.
Notifications will be sent out on or before July 15th.
If you have additional questions, we will be hosting office hours on 5/20, 5/21, and 5/22. A recording of our info session is available here. If you still have questions or if you cannot afford to pay the application fee, email our Programming Coordinator, danielle@wassaicproject.org.
Note: Our print and wood shops are closed for renovations, so we are not accepting applications for our Print Fellowship in 2024.
Our part-time Print Fellow lives and works in Wassaic for 6 months, managing our print shop, providing support on projects by artists-in-residence, and producing prints with 10 artists in our Print Editions program throughout the summer. The Print Fellow will have an opportunity to work closely with a community of artists and have full access to a 24-hour print shop in Wassaic, NY.
The Wassaic Project is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage candidates from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds to apply.
May through October
If you have any additional questions, please email our Programming Coordinator, danielle@wassaicproject.org, for more information.
