CRAIGARDAN 2024 Residencies
A rocky garden
Who we are, what we do
Founded in 2016 by ceramic artists, Craigardan is a nonprofit arts organization and educational working farm that leverages collective creativity for social good. We bring people together for place-based and interdisciplinary learning, providing creative residencies, courses, and events that span diverse artistic and knowledge disciplines in order to foster curiosity, inquiry, and collaboration.
Craigardan supports ceramic, literary, visual, and performance artists, as well as farmers, chefs, activists, scholars, and researchers from the Adirondack region and around the world. We cultivate a dynamic that amplifies each individual’s work and activates collective creativity within the community. We believe that fostering the interaction between artists and the local public is as important as providing sheltered time to artists to further their creative practices.
As an organization deeply rooted in this region’s unique history, Craigardan exists at the nexus of processes (re)making this region’s present and future: environmental conservation, the resurgence of small farms, rural economic revitalization, and cultural/social activism.
By developing interdependent connections within our local Adirondack community, we nurture a deep sense of place through people, culture, food, stories, and the exchange of ideas and skills. With a built-in focus on equitable exchange across a wide range of disciplines, Craigardan offers an experience that ties the creative process to larger contexts. This experience leads to new questions and new initiatives; and it generates positive social change through collective creativity.
Ceramic artist-in-residence Renqian Yang, 2018
Understanding place
Cultivating new soil
When we relocated Craigardan from Keene to Elizabethtown in 2019, we imagined the possibilities for expanding our international, interdisciplinary arts program and amplifying its positive exchange well beyond the borders of the Adirondacks. We are rooted in place and thinking globally.
Craigardan now stewards 320+ acres of field and forest off the flanks of Hurricane Mountain in various stages of regrowth and regeneration. In the early 1800s, Manoah Miller set out to create a homestead including a forge, sawmill, and kiln on these lands taken from the Kanienʼkehá:ka people. Not much of the Miller settlement remains, but the land continues to hold the full history of this beautiful location important to First Peoples. We strive to develop a deepened understanding of place, and to allow this understanding to inform our collective work and to guide our path forward.
Since 2019 we have been working with a team of architects, designers, historians, conservation specialists, engineers, builders, forestry experts, and artists to plan a new campus, raise funds, secure permits, and build anew.
In 2020 we opened the original farmhouse as Craigardan’s new farm store, returning all profits to regional farmers. We began to farm the land again, and gave the food to families in need. In 2021 we built the summer studio barn, launched our Community Farm Program, and began working on the new campus site. In 2022 we re-opened the residency program with off-site housing as we continued to farm, turn skidder tracks into trails, rebuild soil, recover pastures, and construct the new campus. In 2023 we opened the new main campus, and welcomed artists-in-residence to the first of many buildings to be built in phases — designed by Adirondack architect Nils Luderowski.
The old chicken coop on the farm
Creative beginning 2024 Residency Program
After welcoming our first summer of residents to the new campus in 2023, Craigardan will support a longer season of artists and scholars living and working on-campus in 2024. This year’s program will support more than 70 individuals working in different media, at different stages of their careers, but all with the desire and creative ability to see possibility and build community.
The beautiful, but in-process campus requires residents to be flexible, adaptive, and comfortable in a luxury-camping setting. Our smart, supportive staff is often problem-solving - and thoughtful, honest communication is the key to a successful residency at Craigardan.
In this wild, raw, quiet, and extremely rural location we see and hear wildlife, experience dark skies, embrace summer insects, and live with the ever-changing patterns of mountain weather. The Adirondacks is a place of untamed beauty and provides full immersion in nature in all her glory.
And, although full construction will not be taking place during the residency season, you may occasionally see and/or hear work being done on-campus to maintain, improve, or finish spaces.
If this sounds like an exciting experience to you, we encourage you to apply!
The 2024 Residency Program At-A-Glance
• A self-directed residency program with organizational and community support
• Apply for two or more weeks in May, June, July, August, September, or October
• Individual live/work artist cabins in a rustic, yet comfortable and safe wilderness setting
• This is luxury camping at its finest while the new campus is being built
• Scholarships are awarded to all accepted applicants, and Work Exchange or Fellowship opportunities are also available
Culinary Fellow Raenel Stelly, 2021the details
A CRAIGARDAN RESIDENCY. The program is designed to allow plenty of time for independent, yet supported work within an individual’s respective area of focus, while encouraging cross- and interdisciplinary exploration and creative dialogue.
A small amount of programmatic structure provides the framework around which residents may utilize large amounts of free time to work. Residents have the option to share knowledge and learn new skills such as cooking, pottery, farming or writing; participate in community events such as the summer Applebarn series; and engage in thoughtful discussions with staff, local experts, and program ambassadors.
In addition, opportunities for hiking, biking, local exploration, and swimming provide fresh inspiration (and sometimes necessary distraction). With two mountain streams, many miles of trails to explore, and close proximity to the heart of the Adirondack Park’s High Peaks, the Craigardan campus is an ideal location for artists and thinkers to stretch the legs and the mind in the largest state park in America. Although we are in a very remote setting, Craigardan is only 4 miles from the county seat of Elizabethtown, 6 miles from Keene and Keene Valley, and 30 minutes from Lake Placid.
This experience will provide residents with the time, support, and space to make work, collaborate, share, and grow while affording the rare opportunity to participate in a new beginning for Craigardan.
THE 2024 PROGRAM. This program is a short-term, partially-funded residency for visual artists, ceramic artists, chefs, writers, scholars, and other place-based thinkers and creatives. Individuals may apply for two or
more weeks in-residence from May through October. We will not be supporting winter residencies until the main campus construction is complete. Only 6-7 artists will be in-residence at a time for a close-knit community experience.
ACCOMMODATIONS. Residents sleep in their own tiny Artist Cabins, designed as a very modern take on the Adirondack Lean-to. Each beautiful cabin has a bed, writing table, good lighting, outlets, heat, closet space, and a small entry porch. The cabins are located on the main campus site, 1/3 mile drive or walk into the property from the farm + farmhouse. They are situated at the top of the campus clearing next to a Bath House which has four individual full bathrooms. Residents have access to shared living spaces in the beautiful new
Applebarn and a professional summer kitchen in the Kiln House open-air pavilion.
For artists working in the ceramic or visual arts, studio space will be assigned in one of our new studio barns. Writers and scholars work out of the artist cabins. It is important to discuss individual studio requirements with staff in advance. Wifi does not reach the studios.
The farm and Farmhouse is located 1/3 mile downhill from the main campus and houses the farm store, offices, and laundry facilities. There is an office phone available to residents at all times. A printer is also available in the office for printing up to 20 pages.
Internet is available in the Farmhouse (at the farm) and in the Applebarn (on campus). Cell phone service is
The individual artist cabins on the main campus.A residency in 2024 will be a very comfortable yet rustic Adirondack experience that will not appeal to everyone. We will schedule a call with all applicants to be sure the program and accommodations are a good fit, and that we can meet your personal and professional needs.
SCHOLARSHIP AND COSTS. All accepted applicants receive a Craigardan scholarship of $700 per week, which reduces the $1200 residency fee to $500 per week.
Individuals may apply for Work Exchange residencies or one of our fellowships to cover part or all of the remaining fee.
2pm and 4pm to a full orientation and community agreement with staff followed by Monday Night Dinner with delicious local food and inspired conversation.
Residents may participate in variety of hour-long program options each week. Monday Night Dinner brings staff and special local guests together with residents. Short courses generally take place on Tuesdays + Thursdays. Each Wednesday we facilitate a group crit session (critical thinking) which brings multiple perspectives together in dialogue. On Thursdays residents have the option to meet with staff — providing support while helping artists achieve individual goals. On Friday nights we open our doors to the public for our Applebarn Series where artists-inresidence showcase their work to each other and to
extreme wealth. Elizabethtown is the county seat, with many public services including an excellent mental health clinic. We also have a full hospital, dentist offices, churches, pharmacy, grocery store, hardware store, and dollar store. There are a few restaurants and car mechanics. We are also in the middle of excellent multi-use recreational trail networks. We are 1.5-2 hours from multiple airports, and 15 minutes to a train station and bus stop.
COLLECTIVE CREATIVITY. We are here to support you and your work, but also to respond to and grow from all that you bring to Craigardan. Each resident’s time, knowledge, and insight will help to inform this place and the future of Craigardan; planting the seeds for change and growth.
TOP L: Our herd of Tunis sheep RIGHT: The new Kiln House + Wood Kiln under construction in 2023, BOTTOM L: the Farmhouse Farm Store
the experience
2023 ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE. Feedback from some of our 2023 artists and scholars-in residence, our first residents on the new campus:
“I’ve never gotten to the end of time away from my home and NOT been homesick…. But this was the case at Craigarden. I genuinely wanted to just stay and keep experiencing the artist-in-residence life. It is such an incredible gift that I will be unpacking for years to come.” -
Marlena“Craigardan is everything I was looking for in a writing residency. A key moment which might encapsulate my entire experience was simply the short walk back to my cabin after preparing and sharing a delicious, locally sourced meal with all the other artists-in-residents. The brightness of the moon was obstructed by the most enticing clouds hanging over the mountaintops and the treeline - and four of us were captured by it, waiting, watching, willing the clouds to pass while hoping the moment would never pass. We stood there on the hill together, silent, after having laughed together for hours, until the moon was exposed in all its glory. And, naturally, a few moments after we were rewarded for our wait, we retreated to our cabins to reflect, and in my case, write away. A Craigardan residency is one of the best things I have done in my life.” - Mia Vodanovich
Come here to “see, share, summit, and create.” - Dr. Loren Michael
Mortimer“The environment at Craigardan allowed me the clarity to see even old work anew--poems from as many as fifteen years ago were given a little more space to breathe and roam, and I could understand them in a new and different fashion.” -
William Camponovo“There were so many positives to this residency, it's hard to pick one. I'm especially grateful for the time and space to have full and complex conversations, ongoing over days, looping in new folks, new perspectives and new ideas.” -
Margaret Boozer“Craigardan allows you to be your authentic self and create (or not). No pressure. You can be as solitary or sociable as you choose. So much open time. The shared meals/conversations and swim breaks were memorable.”
“Craigardan provides space and time to connect with your creativity and to connect with community.”
“The word that encompasses my time at Craigardan is freedom. Freedom to focus on my craft, to engage in
community, to learn, move my body in nature, and to sit in silence. The freedom allowed me to make every day its own type of adventure, whether in solitude or with others.” - Victoria
BuitronIt was “a transformative opportunity to creative and connect while immersed in an idyllic location.”
Craigardan is “a down-to-earth residency that is all about supporting its artists, celebrating the land, sharing with fellow artists, and getting some serious work done."
- Evan Shopper
“Craigardan is a place that challenges you to work more intensively and more deeply. Its beauty inspires you; its community encourages you.” -
Brad Shingleton An impromptu dinner out on the farm with workshop participantsInterdisciplinary residencies bring together the ceramic arts, culinary arts, performing arts, literary arts, scholarship, and agriculture.
come be you
Mission. Craigardan is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to encourage the human imagination to interpret the world with philosophical, ecological, and artistic perspective.
We envision an Adirondack region defined by its makers who are committed to the development of sustainable systems that integrate the needs of human communities with the integrity of the natural world.
Equity Vision. We create space, hold space, and build space to benefit all.
We believe in providing equitable opportunities for all people. We are intentionally focused on the support and implementation of inclusivity, with the goal of eliminating barriers to participation by Indigenous Peoples, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities, as well as all who are historically underserved, under-resourced, and underrepresented.
Craigardan is antiracist. We reject racial hatred, bias, systemic racism, and the oppression of marginalized groups. We are actively raising our own awareness of and unconscious complicity in systemic racism through trainings, dialogue, accountability, and truth and reconciliation processes.
TOP L: A food + pottery collaboration, 2019
TOP R: Resident Chloe Wingerter in the clay studio, 2021
BOTTOM: The new Main Campus and Farm clearings in a sea of springtime green, 2023
