Catwalk Art Residency
Yi Xin Tong, To Die For, Installation in the Tower, Catwalk, September 2014
The Art Residency Summer Program at CATWALK, a historic estate in Catskill, NY.
About the Catwalk Art Residency Program
Catwalk Art Residency is an artist residency program established in 2004 by James and Purcell Scheu Palmer ’62 at their historic residence, which was originally the home of Hudson River School painter, Charles Herbert Moore.
Catwalk Institute welcomes proposals from artists and collaborative teams for 2–4 week residencies. Participation is exclusively for faculty and alums from Columbia University, New York University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Vassar College. Applications are by recommendation through each institution.
Situated on a magnificent historic site of 70 acres on the Hudson River, Catwalk sits across from Olana, the home of Frederic Edwin Church, America's first environmentalist, and just north of Thomas Cole's home, Cedar Grove. Residencies are space/time grants designed for reflection and personal artistic growth. Spaces include a fully outfitted kitchen and individual studio spaces, the quiet solitude and surrounding nature create an idyllic atmosphere for visual artists, performance artists, writers, and scholars to rejuvenate and recreate their own personal vision.
The Palmers were drawn to the Hudson Valley by the rich arts legacy of the area and the collaboration that the proximity to New York could provide. After spending over 30 years in Chicago pursuing careers in finance and sales, a three-year search led them to CATWALK, an estate that they found too wonderful not to share with others. They have long supported artists and arts organizations and found the perfect balance in the world they are now developing.
The mission of the Catwalk Arts Residency is to establish Catwalk as a special retreat for art-making, collaborative projects and scholarly discourse in a visually stimulating part of the country that has historically provided and continues today to provide significant inspiration to artists, cultural historians, writers, and scholars.
The Palmers envision this as a developing concept and intend for participating institutions (Vassar College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, NYU and Columbia University) to have wide latitude in developing the program in a manner that is meaningful for the participants and enhances the recognition of the excellence of the institutions involved.
Purcell Scheu Palmer ’62: Making Room for the Arts
The Opportunity
Vassar alums with an MFA, or equivalent level of professional experience, will be granted residencies to pursue art-making, collaborative projects, and scholarly pursuits focusing on art including (but not limited to) sculpture, installation, video, poetry, performance, film, opera, drawing, and painting. Ideally, residents’ projects should be ones that expand and enrich their current artistic perspectives and endeavors. Residencies will be granted for a minimum of two weeks to a maximum of four weeks depending on the time required for the project being explored, and the availability of space. Residencies typically begin on Tuesday and end on Sunday. Residents will live in private residences attached to the main house on the CATWALK property with separate studio spaces. There will be opportunities to interact and collaborate with the other artists who are also in residence at the same time.
While in residence, the Catwalk Fellows will be encouraged to take advantage of the rich resources of the Hudson Valley. Residents will receive accommodations but must provide their own food, transportation, and supplies during the residency.
Please note project stipends are not available. Full use of the grounds is encouraged along with the exploration of the Catskill and Hudson area, which is not served by public transportation. Residents are encouraged to bring/rent a car during their stay. Projects that connect to this region specifically are especially appropriate for selection.
Health and Safety: 2021 Season
Residencies will run from April 5th–October 16th, 2022
Deadline to apply is February 12th
Application Instructions (91KB)
Vassar’s Previous Artists in Residence (203KB)
Catwalk Institute welcomes proposals from artists and collaborative teams for 2-4 week residencies April-October at Catslair. This newly acquired 1980 residential complex is situated on a magnificent historic site of 70 acres on the Hudson River across from Olana, the home of Frederic Edwin Church, America's first environmentalist, and just north of Thomas Cole's home, Cedar Grove. Catslair residencies are available to artists, writers, and scholars in all media exploring subjects related to place, landscape, and environment investigating universal aspects of nature embedded in the Hudson Valley landscape and ecology. Residencies are space/time grants including a fully outfitted kitchen, individual and group studio spaces with three bedrooms. Please note project stipends are not available and residents must have access to a car during their stay.
Photos by Philip Loheed and Earthos Institute, summer 2014 residents.