The Watermill Center Announces 2021 Artists-In-Residence

Each year, The Watermill Center, the interdisciplinary laboratory for the arts and humanities based in Water Mill, hosts a process-based artist residency program that provides artists with the time, space and freedom to develop work in a communal environment that encourages experimentation. Artists-in-residence receive exclusive access to The Watermill Center’s art collection, research library, theatrical archives, curated facilities and grounds as tools in the creation of new work.

The artists-in-residence selected for 2021 are: Benjamin Bennet and Michael Foster (USA), Brian Block (USA), Matthew Craven (USA), Rachel Dickstein & Ripe Time (USA), Robert Fieseler (USA), Kyoko Hamaguchi (Japan, USA), Candace Hill (USA), Martha Hincapie Charry (Colombia), Zoe Hitzig (USA), Nene Humphrey (USA), Gozde Ilkin (Turkey), Nicole Pasulka (USA), Paula Aros Gho and Projecto Cosmos (Chile), Helen Rubinstein (USA), Yusha-Marie Sorzano (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, USA), Matthew Thurber & Brian Belott (USA), James Ulmer (USA), and Lucie Vitkova (Czech Republic).

Between February and December, each artist will spend up to four weeks at The Watermill Center creating works that critically investigate, challenge and extend the existing norms of artistic practice.

In addition, Pawel Althamer (Poland), Ville Andersson (Finland), Tomashi Jackson (USA, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (Guatemala) and Duke RIley (USA) have been awarded The Watermill Center’s prestigious Inga Maren Otto Fellowship. Created with a gift from philanthropist Inga Maren Otto, the fellowship provides support for outstanding artists who have demonstrated exceptional creative ability in the arts. Through a residency at The Watermill Center, each fellow is provided with the time and space in which they can exercise total creative freedom in the development of new work.

The 2021 Fellowship is curated by Micah Bozeman and Noah Khoshbin. During each residency, artists will present their work to the public as part of In Process @ The Watermill Center. In Process is an ongoing series of open rehearsals, workshops, artist talks and studio visits. The center invites audiences of all ages and backgrounds to gain insight into the creative process of artists, cultivating an understanding of how artists from across the globe develop new work.

Last year, due to COVID-19, the center was forced to reschedule many of its artists into 2021, a decision that Watermill Center Director Elka Rifkin says did not come lightly.

“It was difficult not to have The Center open to artists last year,” Rifkin said. “Our mission is to provide artists with the time and space to actively explore their practice while engaging with our building and grounds; so for us to be closed from March to October last year was devastating. But we have since welcomed artists back onsite this past October and November, and are looking forward to a robust year ahead.”

For more information about The Watermill Center, its artists-in-residence and its upcoming public programs, visit watermillcenter.org.