Dear Friends,
We are grateful for your support. Charitable gifts to Saltonstall underwrite every aspect of what we do to provide time and space all year long for New York State artists and writers.
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As we continue to address issues of access and equity, we will look for more ways to take down barriers and increase support so we can serve the widest possible community of artists and writers in New York State — especially those from underrepresented communities and for those with less access to resources and opportunities.
We hope you’ll join us on this path. We are so grateful for your support and encouragement. Thank you!
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In their words
“Fresh air, free time, and great conversations with fellow writers and artists have been nourishing for the soul. I am reminded of the joy of being an artist – bathed in the company of dreamers that put feelings of pain and injustices into words, paintings, and moving images that uplifts and expands on possibilities. I relished the space to paint, the scenery that surrounded me, and the prepared meals that made me feel at home every night. I will miss Saltonstall for the pause it provided to ponder about my new body of work and where I am in life. Thank you to Constance Saltonstall for creating this space and for all the donors who support artists.”
—Siyan Wong (’24)
“During my two weeks at Saltonstall, I’ve been able to take a deep breath and a sober look at the hundreds of pages of writing, research, maps, and doodles that I’ve generated over the last four years. In a society that encourages rabid production above all else, Saltonstall provided me and the other residents with space, time, food, community, and the encouragement to pause and reflect on the work we want to create and the worlds we want to build.”
—Daniel Sitts (’24)
“Saltonstall gave me a protected space that pushed me to explore challenging concepts. I began to prod at questions of legacy and appropriation, the morality and ethics of invoking the dead through art. The season changed. I watched the goldenrod brown, fog settled on the hills. I held my ghosts close, and fell in love repeatedly with the living and dead voices speaking through my pages. I’m so grateful for my time here, and for the opportunity to add my voice to this chorus of artists.”
—Rhoni Blankenhorn (’24)
“My work is currently exploring form, logic, play, and compression,” he says, “and to be a part of the succinct community of artists here in Saltonstall has fed my method(s), teaching me as much as I’m willing to observe. Everything from the woods and animals to the incredible food gives me easy, healthy access to my literary curiosities. I am discovering more ways of being a writer, and I will definitely carry this experience everywhere I go.”
—Nkosi Nkululeko (’19)
Nkosi Nkululeko
Phyllis Bryce Ely
“Saltonstall’s promise of ‘time and space’ has been fulfilled. Both are abundant with this residency, and it took me a few days to give in to a new rhythm for art-making. At home my ‘space’ is set with a dedicated studio and a family that supports my work. It’s ‘time’ that’s fickle when threatened by life’s distractions… I arrived with a van-load of supplies and set up workstations in the spacious studio for painting, encaustic wax, and drawing. I also brought plein air gear and have been out and about with my red wagon exploring the property. The days flow from the studio to the outdoors and end with incredible meals and conversation.”
Phyllis Bryce Ely (’23)
“I would say that I arrived at Saltonstall as a filmmaker and am leaving as an multidisciplinary artist. The Saltonstall residency really came to me at an important crux in my career, as I’m trying to answer questions about what kind of a creative I am and the kind of work I want to be making. Saying that I’ve had the time to reflect on these questions is a given, but what I didn’t expect here was the immense support and fellowship of the other artists in residence. I was so surprised at how supportive, encouraging, and open-hearted the other artists were about my desire to venture into other mediums. I didn’t realize how much I needed that affirmation, just one person to say ‘yes, you can do this’, to feel like I could fully plunge myself into this uncharted territory of a ‘multidisciplinary artist.’”
– GRACE KIM (’21)
Grace Kim
“The word that comes to mind in describing my time at Saltonstall is ‘open’ – open spaces, open doors and windows, open mind and heart and senses…Days spent reading and writing to the soundtrack of birdsong, rain on the roof, wind in the trees; spreading out the pages of my book in progress; communing with nature; lively engagement with my “fellow fellows” – these experiences will stay with me long after I leave.”
—Amy Lemmon (’22)
“I had such a lovely weekend at the residency–thank you so much. It’s such a gift to have that privacy and stillness but also enough faint buzzing of other bodies to keep one oriented to the world. I loved it.”
—ELEANOR HENDERSON, WRITER (ITHACA)
—SUSAN MOREHOUSE, WRITER (ALFRED)
“The parent residencies are fantastic and essential. I haven’t written as much without interruption in years. And in the most beautiful, tranquil setting. It was an incredibly productive, creative, emotional six days, and I wanted to thank you and the Board again for making it possible. I had three more poems accepted for publication while I was at Saltonstall, which seems to confirm how magic the place is.”
—REBECCA FAULKNER (’21)
“I can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to be a resident at Saltonstall during ICSD’s spring break this year. It is not often that my lives as a school-based OT and as a fiction writer can come together, and my job and role as a mother leave very little time and peace for writing. Thank you for giving me both.”
—ANGELINA MIRABELLA, TEACHER/WRITER (ITHACA)
“Gratitude is the main word that comes to mind! This week at Saltonstall freed me in so many ways — time to read, time to be in nature, time to just be quiet, and, of course, time to write… Thank you to the chefs, Rose, Lesley, IPEI, and the whole Saltonstall team for nourishing and honoring teachers.”