Strategic Statement 2026-2030

CRAIGARDAN

20262030 STRA TEGIC PLAN 1

“In the space between chaos and shape there is another chance.”

— Jeanette Winterson, The World and Other Places: Stories

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CRAIGARDAN 2026-2030 MISSION + VISION Craigardan is a 501(c)3 nonpro t organization with a mission to encourage the human imagination to interpret the world with philosophical, ecological, and artistic perspective.

We envision an Adirondack region de ned 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 bene t 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.

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WHAT WE DO Craigardan is a non-pro t arts organization that nurtures interdisciplinary creative practice through an international residency program, community education, and the farming and stewarding of 320 acres of mountainside elds and forests in the Adirondack Park of New York State.

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 ampli es each individual’s work and activates collective creativity within the community.

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We believe that fostering interaction between artists-in-residence and the local public is as important as providing sheltered time to artists to further their creative practices.

Rooted in the Adirondack’s unique history, Craigardan exists at the nexus of efforts shaping this region’s future: ne arts and traditional crafts; environmental conservation; the resurgence of small farms; rural economic revitalization; and cultural/social activism.

Here, we can nurture a deep sense of place through people, culture, food, stories, and the exchange of ideas and skills. This experience ties the creative process to larger contexts, leading to new questions and new initiatives.

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GLOSSARY COLLECTIVE CREATIVITY Collective creativity harnesses the diverse experiences, skills, and insights of individuals in the service of collaboration, learning, and open-minded engagement with materials, projects, and issues.

CREATIVE KNOWLEDGE Creative Knowledge is a concept that describes how innovation arises from combining existing knowledge in novel and valuable ways, leading to new ideas, insights, and products.

INTERDISCIPLINARITY Interdisciplinarity involves thinking across boundaries, drawing on/from two or more disciplines in one activity or investigation. It often draws knowledge from several elds such as sociology, anthropology, architecture, economics, or art.

PLACE-BASED EDUCATION Place-based education promotes learning that is rooted in what is local — the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a particular place.

It includes the natural and social communities and the interplay/ relationship between them.

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OUR VALUES We inhabit a space of process.

We design for movement and change.

We support and respect diversity in all forms.

We are responsive as much as generative.

We are present in heart, mind, and body.

We take risks.

We think forever.

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PURPOSE + GOALS Bring people together to experience, create, and preserve place.

Bring people together to learn from each other and share creative knowledge.

Build and sustain the organization and its physical home in the Adirondacks through a deep understanding and stewardship of place.

Support the creative process and build community through placebased, experiential, and crosspollinating programming.

// Invest in our New Home // Invest in Fiscal Resources // Invest in our Vision

// Grow our International, Interdisciplinary Residency Program // Grow our Innovative Public Programs and Convene Conversations // Grow the Community Farm

Bring people together to explore relationships and gain new perspectives.

Bring people together to steward and nurture a better world.

Call upon our places, people, relationships, and knowledge to leverage the power of collective creativity for good.

Explore connections and possibilities introduced by the alchemy of our place, programs, and people. // Expand our Approach to Interdisciplinarity // Expand our Approach to Understanding Place // Expand our Approach to Fostering Relationships

// Care for the Land // Care for the People // Care for the Future

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PRES ERVE PLAC E 10

bring people together to experience, create, and preserve PLACE

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In 2019 Craigardan purchased 320+ acres in Elizabethtown, New York to build a new campus as a forever-home. The historic, mountain-side homestead was a mixture of eld and logged forest in need of stewardship. De ned by its river and streams, mountain views, and rocky outcroppings, the property borders Hurricane Mountain wilderness and sits between the fertile Champlain Valley and the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. The existing farmhouse was part of an early settlement that included a mill, forge, kiln, and cattle. We have repurposed the roadside house into our Farm Store, reintroduced animals and vegetables to the land, renovated our riverside cottage, built new barns and artist cabins, and completed the rst phase of campus construction. We are now charged with building the remaining structures of our new campus and doing the work necessary to ground our organization, stabilize our nances, and invest in our vision.

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Bring people together to experience, create, and preserve place. Establish and sustain the organization and its new physical home through a deep understanding of and investment in people and place.

// Invest in our New Home Complete the Campus Build

Focus on the design and construction phases of our three nal main campus buildings: Main, Studio, and Home. Restate the artist cabin studios along the trails, and complete nal improvements to the Cottage, Farmhouse and Farm Barn.

Actively Steward the Land

Finalize whole-farm master planning and implementation in order to develop a fully diversi ed working farm in harmony with our conserved wilderness landscape using agroecological principles. (Agroecology is the study of the relation of agricultural crops and the environment.) This includes nishing repairs on damage done by careless logging practices and completing the trail network, and continuing to steward the campus landscape, harvest rewood, utilize the ponds, and plan for a future in uenced by climate change.

Ensure Universal Accessibility

Ensure that all buildings are open to people of all backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. Think beyond ADA for the campus and the land and create spaces that support diverse, international participants. Part of this process includes auditing materials, signs, physical spaces, and communications for accessibility.

// Invest in Fiscal Resources Complete the Capital Campaign

Raise the remaining funds for campus construction by seeking out and applying to new grantors and foundations who support capital work and the arts. Better engage and recognize the generosity of donors and acknowledge contributions throughout the new buildings in creative and meaningful ways.

Invest in Long-term Resiliency

Establish a reserve fund to plan for long-term organizational resiliency. Re-invest in our staff through bene ts, raises, promotions, and other quality-of-life solutions to prevent burn-out and encourage retention and growth.

Ensure Diverse Revenue

Diversify and expand revenue from the gallery, farm, store, program, international, grants, foundations, individual giving, and more. Invest our time, energy, and funds wisely to help buffer against a changing political and economic climate. This includes a focus on growing Craigardan’s constituency, improving donor engagement, and increasing annual giving through multiple opportunities to support — and be supported by — Craigardan’s work year-round.

// Invest in Our Vision Grow Staff and Expand New Leadership

Attract, train, and support a diverse, inclusive, and talented staff and board of directors, while maintaining focus on our dedication to advancing the mission of Craigardan through progressive thinking, heartfelt engagement, and strategic risk-taking. Using our values and community agreement as a guide, we will increase the staff size and add capacity; expand our leadership model and hire a new CoExecutive Director; and strengthen and grow the board of directors.

Celebrate + Communicate the Vision Effectively

Craigardan turns 10 in 2017! We will celebrate our anniversary throughout the year through our courses, events, and communications and acknowledge our good work by sharing our collective story. Deepen our connection to place and history through storytelling. More effectively promote Craigardan’s mission, innovative programs, and social leadership, while expanding its reach through well-designed and thoughtful forms of communication that inspire diverse and inclusive participation.

Maintain our Values as a Through-Line

Ensure that Craigardan’s founding vision and values guide present and future staff, board, policy, and program participant selection.

Continue to revisit, re ne and create anti-racist policies, plans, and procedures across branches of the organization in order to ensure ef cacy, transparency, inclusivity, and accountability across all of our systems. Continue to re ne and develop systems to evaluate the people and policies against our values and adjust as necessary to maintain the spirit and integrity of Craigardan as it grows.

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SHARE KNOW LEDGE 14

bring people together to learn from each other and share creative KNOWLEDGE

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Craigardan’s creative residencies and public programs bring diverse perspectives together, enabling participants to build skills, develop ideas, and help inform and grow a sense of place and purpose within a safe, supportive environment. Craigardan expands on the concept of a traditional arts residency to include ceramic artists, visual artists, writers, performing artists, farmers, chefs, scholars, activists, and a multitude of other disciplines. Craigardan was one of the very rst artist residency programs in the world to include agriculture and the culinary arts and to be set within an educational working farm. We developed programs that actively fostered cross-disciplinary creative exchange between visiting artists and scholars and the local community. And, we inspired other organizations to look beyond the traditional and the expected in their own programs.

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Bring people together to learn from each other and share knowledge. Support the creative process and build community through place-based, experiential, crosspollinating programming.

// Grow our International, Interdisciplinary Residency Program Expand the Program Along with the Campus

Develop new winter residencies and expand our seasonal, public programming. Continue to identify and remove barriers to attendance and increase safety and support for creative individuals from different cultural backgrounds in order to attract, select, and support residents who accurately re ect the diversity of our global population. Proactively seek to support the creative work of people who are underrepresented and undervalued.

Explore International and Domestic Partnerships

Conduct outreach to schools and universities to develop partnerships with a focus on creating a world-class culinary residency program.

Think globally in welcoming new program participants for residencies, retreats, and workshops.

Normalize the Non-Traditional

Increase support for creative practice which includes non-traditional art, cooking, and farming. Continue to encourage individuals to give themselves the permission to identify as an artist. Better articulate that the value of participation is in the people we meet. Move artists outside of their comfort zone, and create and support collaborative opportunities. Explore ideas around interdisciplinary-themed culinary residencies, agricultural residencies, research, scholarship, and more.

// Grow our Innovative Public Programs and Convene Conversations Engage the Public with Outstanding Teachers and Courses

Design courses that creatively respond to community and cultural needs and also span concepts and cross disciplines. Create space for learning that surprises and delights, challenges norms, and inspires new ways of thinking. Utilize new facilities as they develop to provide year-round classes. Continue to attract top teaching fellows and engage with local educators.

Host Meaningful and Dif cult Conversations

Design annual, monthly, weekly, and singular events that highlight a broad range of voices and expertise while responding to current cultural and social topics (i.e. Bridging divides, Applebarn Series). Be the safe space that takes risks and opens dialogue. Welcome all voices.

Provide Support and Convene Others

Design collaborative programs and provide resources such as the Gardan Journal, Uncertainty Academy, and Bookgardan. Continue to share our space and convene others to exchange creative knowledge around topics, issues, or complex problems, in the form of events, meetings, and summits.

// Grow our Community Farm Increase Food Production and Access

Re ne and grow our food access programs and forefront the Farm Store as a community resource. Increase revenue from the farm and store as we respond to community needs for healthy, local, fresh, and culturally appropriate food. Increase farm production and develop more on-farm products.

Rede ne Land-Based Learning

Grow the diversi ed farm and develop more land-based learning. Convey ideas through farming and eating, and inspire dialogue on diverse and complex topics such as food justice, environmental conservation, agroecological principles, cultural appropriation, Indigenous land rights, structural racism, and food sovereignty. Use our classes, workshops, and events to bring multiple communities of people together around experiences that merge art, craft, food, and agriculture.

Improve Land Access

Focus on animal, creative, and Indigenous land access. Improve trails to encourage movement and discovery. Continue to develop and strengthen our relationship with First Peoples to support and protect Indigenous land access at Craigardan and elsewhere. Steward and respect the areas of the property identi ed as special or sacred to the Kanienʼkehá:ka people.

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EXPL O R E RELAT IONSH IPS 18

bring people together to gain new perspectives and explore RELATIONSHIPS

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With the help of architects, engineers, historians, conservationists, preservationists, and artists — we are carefully designing Craigardan’s new buildings, farm, studios, ex spaces, ancillary spaces, and off-campus access in order to encourage and inspire exploration outside of a participant’s current way of thinking, doing, and making. Building bonds between visiting artists and the local public is a cornerstone of this exploration. We constantly strive to facilitate dialogue and respectful exchange among and between all communities: visiting, regional, Indigenous, international, disadvantaged, privileged, scienti c, and artistic. We can expand on this approach with intentional outreach and greater inclusion beyond our existing relationships.

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// Expand Our Approach to Interdisciplinarity Food + Farm as the Starting Point

Establish the farm, food, and forest as active participants in visual and tactile creative exploration. Integrate the land as provider of food, ber, inspiration, and well-being, and the farm as the starting line for interdisciplinarity. Explore the concept of food as connected to everything: culture, politics, social justice, economics, immigration, and art.

Clay at the Center

Bring clay back to the core of Craigardan and weave clay and food as a through-line. Become a leader in clay in the northeast and make ceramics classes available for the local community year-round as the facilities expand. Host workshops and summits, year-round courses and studio spaces.

Process, not Product

Understand, learn, and share more about the creative process itself. Articulate why it is important to Craigardan, how we use it, how it can improve the world, and how it helps individual practice. Develop exible pathways for individuals and groups to work within and across multiple disciplines. Provide opportunities for individuals in different disciplines to engage with one another, share experience and knowledge, and generate or collaborate on new processes and ideas.

// Expand our Approach to Understanding and Sharing Place Through History, Art; Buildings

Deepen and share our understanding of this place’s history throughout the property and buildings, tell and activate our own story, convene other storytellers, make creative use of built spaces, and add signs and utilize communication tools. Re ne our de nition of “place” (land+history+culture) and incorporate into the design and use of our campus structures.

Through Agriculture, Ecology; Land

Tell the story of our reciprocal responsibility as visitors and care-takers to the land. Use farming, land stewardship, outdoor recreation, and food to explore the relationship between place and people. Make creative use of trails and signs.

Through Adirondacks, Diversity; Region

Hold space for program participants to nd inspiration in nature, ferment new ideas, and advance self-discovery through exploring the Adirondacks. Learn, record, and acknowledge the history of our property and the surrounding region through Indigenous and non-Native documents, land-use studies, and story sharing. Understand how Craigardan’s distinctive place-based identity has evolved over time.

Develop a multidimensional conception of place through our organizational impacts, and within our organization and the people it serves.

// Expand Our Approach To Fostering Relationships With our Immediate Community

Improve our ongoing relationship between staff, board, volunteers, alumni, teachers, ambassadors, partners, and donors. Bring the Craigardan community together whenever possible through multiple avenues in multiple locations. Develop and provide increased support for alumni both on- and off-site.

With our National Community

Grow our participation within the national community of arts organizations. Lead conversations and collaborate with others to bring important dialogue to the North Country.

With our International Community

Continue to develop our international community and invite our international partners to Craigardan. Travel elsewhere to test how our model translates, how our message resonates, and to stay informed with new perspectives as an international arts and agriculture organization.

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Bring people together to gain new perspectives and explore relationships. Hold space for the opportunity to say “yes, and...” Explore connections and possibilities introduced by the alchemy of our place, programs, and people.

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STEW A R D A N D NURT URE 22

bring people together to STEWARD AND NURTURE a better world.

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Over the course of these next ve years, we can continue to ask the question: What is Craigardan-ness?

This is a question without end. Asking this question re ects Craigardan’s process: bringing people together to understand and experience place, to learn and gain new perspectives through interdisciplinary learning, and to use creativity to change the world for the better.

Craigardan’s greatest asset is the number and range of people in our community. Our responsibility as an organization is to steward and nurture this asset to make our region and the world a better place.

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Bring people together for positive change. Steward and nurture our places, people, relationships, and knowledge to leverage the power of collective creativity for good.

// Care for the Land Be the Example

Use the Community Farm and campus as a whole to set an example as an alternative, holistic, ecological system for food, farming, eating, and creating.

Support Partner Initiatives

Organize, support, and/or convene conference panels, community talks, and public presentations to present and share our work and to highlight the work of others. Participate in regional food justice initiatives such as the Adirondack Food Policy Council.

Find the Balance

Find the balance between people, agriculture, and programs to support our stewardship goals on this land. Carefully consider public and private access, multi-use trail policies, and agricultural impacts on the land.

// Care for the People Provide Radical Hospitality

Provide radical care for artists and an encouraging space for creative exploration. De ne radical hospitality with the understanding that it does not mean luxury. Be proactive and creative in providing what artists need to be their best, creative selves.

Share Healthy, Nutritious Food

Feed people healthy, nutritious food to support overall health and well-being. Support culturally-appropriate food needs. Understand that providing physical and mental health support for artists and scholars is just as important as providing time and space to work.

Balance Safety with Challenge

Identify the balance point between safety and positive discomfort. Allow shared challenges to bring people together in positive ways.

Adhere to the Community Agreement and continue to re ne its use as a tool for supporting community and protecting individuals.

// Care for the Future Preserve Diversity

Regularly revisit and re ne organizational systems, policies, and processes to ensure inclusivity and diversity. Openly identify and explore biases in decision-making. Maintain an organizational culture of listening, representation, and remuneration without tokenization.

Design for Resiliency

Re ne organizational systems and policies to ensure resiliency in the face of change or challenge. Select staff and board members who are adaptable, resilient, and responsive. Join the advisory councils, boards, and grants panels of complementary organizations and initiatives in order to remain informed and engaged in local and national issues.

Offer Mentorship

Be a positive force in the Adirondacks and beyond. Offer leadership and mentorship and think ahead to the next generation. Uphold the values of Craigardan as respected leaders in our communities, and exemplify its ethos in our personal and professional lives. Continually reach outward beyond self-interest to participate in timely conversations and serve our communities.

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Craigardan occupies the Indigenous lands and waters of the Kanienʼkehá:ka people, keepers of the Eastern Door of the Six Nations Rotinoshoni.

We acknowledge that Kanienʼkehá:ka people still safeguard the mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes of Kohserà:ke, as their ancestors had done for millennia.

We bring our minds together as one as we give our greetings and our thanks to the Kanienʼkehá:ka people and their relatives among the Six Nations for being on their land today.

We af rm our obligations to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things.

We honor the Great Law of Peace and Indigenous treaties that made these lifegiving spaces a shared “dish with one spoon” with Wabanaki and Anishinaabe peoples who have held these lands as sacred since time immemorial.

We recognize our Indigenous neighbors at Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, Ganienkeh Territory, Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Mohawks of Kanesatake, Oneida Indian Nation, Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi, the Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation, Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, and the Abenakis at Odanak as the original stewards of the land and their past, present, and future connections to their sacred spaces within the Adirondack Park.

We accept responsibility for deceptive land sales and broken treaties that enabled non-Native settlers to establish a farm now called Craigardan on Indigenous land more than two centuries ago.

We commit ourselves to healing the intergenerational traumas of colonization, racial discrimination, and environmental degredation through mutually bene cial alliances with our Indigenous neighbors to build sustainable systems that integrate the needs of human communities with the integrity of the natural world.

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CONTACT CRAIGARDAN www.craigardan.org info@craigardan.org 518.242.6535 9216 NYS Route 9N, Elizabethtown, NY 12932 All photography is by Jeff Mertz

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