Art Omi: An International Residency in New York's Hudson Valley

Art Omi is a prestigious international artist residency program located on a 300-acre campus in Ghent, New York, in the scenic Hudson Valley approximately two and a half hours north of New York City. Each year, Art Omi brings together 25-30 artists from around the world for month-long residency sessions that provide free housing, studio space, meals, and a vibrant international community—creating one of the most culturally diverse and financially accessible residency experiences available to visual artists.

What distinguishes Art Omi from other residency programs is its deliberate emphasis on international exchange and cross-cultural dialogue. While many American residencies draw primarily from domestic applicants, Art Omi actively recruits artists from every continent, assembling cohorts that represent a remarkable diversity of cultural backgrounds, artistic traditions, and creative approaches. A typical session might include artists from Nigeria, Japan, Germany, Brazil, India, Mexico, and the United States working side by side, sharing meals, visiting each other's studios, and engaging in the kind of sustained cross-cultural conversation that is rare in the art world.

The residency is completely free—there is no application fee, no residency fee, and no hidden costs. Housing, studio space, and meals are provided at no charge. This commitment to financial accessibility ensures that the program's international diversity is genuine rather than limited to artists who can afford to pay for the experience.

The Campus and Facilities

Art Omi's 300-acre campus in the Hudson Valley provides a setting that balances natural beauty with proximity to one of the world's most important art centers. The property features rolling hills, meadows, and woodlands that provide visual inspiration and space for outdoor work, including a renowned sculpture park that displays large-scale works by former residents and invited artists in the landscape.

Artist studios are housed in converted barns and purpose-built structures that provide generous workspace with natural light and 24-hour access. The studios are large enough to accommodate ambitious work—painting, sculpture, installation, and mixed-media projects can all be developed at scale. Each artist receives a private studio, ensuring the uninterrupted focus that productive residency work requires.

Living accommodations are in shared renovated residences on the campus. The shared living arrangement is intentional—it creates the daily proximity and informal interaction that foster the cross-cultural relationships that are central to the Art Omi experience. Meals are provided daily in communal dining spaces, which function as the primary social gathering points where conversations, collaborations, and friendships develop naturally.

The campus's proximity to New York City (approximately 2.5 hours by car or train) provides access to the galleries, museums, and professional networks of the world's largest art market. Several residency sessions include organized trips to New York for gallery visits, museum tours, and meetings with curators and dealers. This combination of rural creative retreat and urban art world access is a significant advantage over more remote residency locations.

The International Community

The international composition of each Art Omi cohort is the program's most distinctive and valuable feature. Being immersed for a month in a community of artists from 15-20 different countries creates an experience of cultural exchange that is profoundly different from working within a single national art context.

Artists encounter creative approaches, aesthetic values, and conceptual frameworks that they might never have been exposed to in their home communities. A painter trained in the European academic tradition might discover new possibilities through conversation with an artist working in African textile traditions. A sculptor familiar with Western gallery conventions might find their assumptions challenged by an artist whose practice is rooted in site-specific public art in Southeast Asia. These encounters do not just broaden perspective—they can fundamentally reshape how an artist thinks about their own work and its place in the global art conversation.

The international network that Art Omi creates also has lasting professional value. Former residents maintain connections across borders, leading to international exhibition opportunities, collaborative projects, and mutual support that extends far beyond the residency period. For artists from countries with limited domestic art infrastructure, the international connections formed at Art Omi can be particularly transformative, opening doors to exhibition venues, funding sources, and professional relationships that would be difficult to access otherwise.

Curatorial Engagement and Professional Development

Art Omi supplements the studio-focused residency experience with structured opportunities for professional engagement. Studio visits by prominent critics, curators, and gallery directors provide external feedback on work in progress and connect residents to the professional art world. These visits are carefully curated to ensure that the visitors bring relevant expertise and genuine interest in the residents' work.

Artist talks and group discussions create regular opportunities for residents to present their work and ideas to the cohort, practicing the kind of public articulation of artistic practice that is essential for professional development. These presentations also deepen the cross-cultural dialogue by giving each artist a structured opportunity to share the context—cultural, historical, personal—that informs their work.

Exhibition opportunities are sometimes available at the conclusion of residency sessions, allowing residents to present work developed during their time at Art Omi to the local community and visiting art professionals. The Art Omi sculpture park also provides opportunities for sculptors and installation artists to create site-specific works that remain on the campus as part of the permanent collection.

The Sculpture Park

Art Omi's Fields Sculpture Park is a significant cultural attraction in its own right, featuring large-scale outdoor sculptures by internationally recognized artists displayed across the campus landscape. The park is open to the public and attracts visitors from throughout the Hudson Valley and New York City.

For resident artists working in sculpture and installation, the sculpture park provides both inspiration and context. Seeing how large-scale works interact with the landscape informs site-specific thinking, and the park's collection represents a range of approaches to outdoor sculpture that can expand residents' understanding of the possibilities of the medium.

The Application Process

Art Omi accepts applications for its monthly residency sessions throughout the year. The application requires a portfolio of 15-20 images of recent work, an artist statement and CV, a project proposal describing the work the applicant intends to develop during the residency, and two letters of recommendation from art professionals who can speak to the applicant's work and professional commitment.

The selection committee evaluates applications based on artistic excellence, the quality and feasibility of the proposed project, the applicant's interest in community engagement and cross-cultural dialogue, and the contribution the applicant would make to the diversity of the cohort. Both emerging and established artists are welcome, and the committee actively seeks geographic, cultural, and disciplinary diversity.

There is no application fee, which removes a barrier that prevents many international artists from applying to residency programs that charge application fees in US dollars.

Who Should Apply

International artists seeking exposure to the American art world and cross-cultural creative exchange will find Art Omi uniquely valuable. The program's deliberate international focus and proximity to New York City create opportunities for professional connection that few other residencies can match.

Artists interested in community and dialogue rather than solitary retreat will thrive in Art Omi's communal environment. The program is designed for artists who want to engage with peers, share ideas, and be challenged by perspectives different from their own.

Artists at any career stage are eligible. The program values diversity of experience as well as diversity of background, and cohorts typically include both emerging artists early in their careers and established artists with extensive exhibition histories.

The Bottom Line

Art Omi offers one of the most internationally diverse, financially accessible, and community-oriented residency experiences available to visual artists. Its combination of a beautiful Hudson Valley campus, completely free participation, deliberately international cohorts, curatorial engagement, and proximity to New York City creates a residency experience that is both creatively nourishing and professionally valuable. For artists who want to expand their practice through cross-cultural exchange and international connection, Art Omi is an exceptional opportunity.