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By Robert Brune
WOODSTOCK — On the final Sunday of their five-week stay, the artists-in-residence at the Byrdcliffe Guild in Woodstock opened their studios to the public, inviting visitors into the intimate spaces where creativity had taken root and flourished. The event marked the culmination of a deeply personal and professionally generative time for nearly two dozen artists across disciplines, in what is now the longest-running artist residency in New York State.
Founded in 1902, Byrdcliffe has served as a cradle for American artists for over a century, with its current residency model taking shape in the early 1990s. Today, the program continues to attract an international roster of painters, writers, composers, ceramicists, and multidisciplinary artists, all drawn to the historic colony's blend of solitude, inspiration, and community.
Among this summer's standout participants was Clark Stoeckley, a professor of art at American University in Kuwait. Stoeckley’s vibrant, abstract geometric paintings are directly influenced by the architecture of Middle Eastern mosques, a motif that came alive in his Woodstock studio in luminous color and pattern. A well-traveled muralist known internationally, especially in Taos, New Mexico, Stoeckley is also recognized for his global photography project documenting feral cats, which was recently exhibited in New York City (@feral_feline_photography).
“My studio overflowed with vibrant energy, color, and connection,” he shared, calling the Byrdcliffe experience a “sanctuary to explore, reflect, and dive deep.” He expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation and to his fellow residents, whose camaraderie added profound dimension to his time in the woods of Woodstock.
Three-time Byrdcliffe resident Freda Shapiro returned this summer for a more extended stay, over three months, residing in a cottage and working in one of the historic studios on the property. A Boston-based painter working in acrylic and gouache, Shapiro reflects nature through a deeply personal lens, emphasizing themes of resilience, decay, and memory. “The trees here feel like sentient beings,” she said. “They’re history’s witnesses.”
Her process balances direct observation from hikes around the Hudson Valley with memory and photographic references, resulting in rich, evocative canvases that honor nature’s overlooked details, the fallen branch, the tenacious sprout. “Each residency has its own flavor,” she added. “They are all delicious.”
Ceramicist Erika NJ Allen used her time at Byrdcliffe to experiment with immersive installations. Her work explores form, texture, and space, challenging the boundaries between object and environment. With support from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Byrdcliffe Ceramics Fellowship, Allen pushed her practice forward by considering how audiences navigate the gallery experience. “The installation I created for Open Studios allowed me to reimagine how I can build immersive experiences. This experimentation became the ‘homework’ I’m taking with me.”
Byrdcliffe, she emphasized, not only provided time and resources, but a deep connection to artistic lineage. “My mark now lives inside the ceramic studio, a place rich with history.”
For Becky Yazdan, the monthlong residency became an incubator for clarity and growth. Known for deeply psychological, layered paintings that draw from memories, media, and everyday color associations, Yazdan found herself rising before dawn to paint, returning to a life rhythm where art was front and center.
“Color, form, and pattern combine to become conversations, expressions, and events,” she explained, likening her paintings to dreams—unpredictable rearrangements of memory, emotion, and daily experience. Her recent works, such as Shrinking Violet and Exit Strategy, merge abstraction with narrative intimacy, providing windows into subconscious storytelling. “By the end of the month, the residents were thick as thieves,” she said, “and I left with a solid body of work and a deeper understanding of my practice.”
The open studios buzzed with visitors engaging thoughtfully with the work, surrounded by tall trees, wraparound porches, and the echoes of a storied legacy. For many of the residents, Byrdcliffe offered not just a place to work, but a place to listen, reflect, and evolve.
As artist Freda Shapiro put it, “Without a doubt, the original intent of this colony lives on.”
And on this summer afternoon, with studios brimming with paintings, ceramics, installations, and conversation, the proof was in every brushstroke, every shared meal, every footstep taken in quiet forest paths toward inspiration.
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