Wave Hill Winter Workspace: A Free Studio Residency in the Bronx's Most Beautiful Setting

The Wave Hill Winter Workspace is one of the most distinctive and sought-after artist residency programs in New York City, offering visual artists a free studio residency at Wave Hill, a remarkable public garden and cultural centre situated on 28 acres overlooking the Hudson River and the Palisades in the Riverdale neighbourhood of the Bronx. The residency runs from January through March, providing approximately twelve weeks of studio space, a $3,500 stipend, and the extraordinary experience of working in one of New York City's most beautiful natural settings during the quiet winter months when the garden takes on a particular contemplative quality.

Wave Hill has been offering the Winter Workspace residency since 1981, making it one of the longest-running artist residency programs in New York City. Over more than four decades, the program has supported hundreds of New York City visual artists, providing time, space, and financial support at a moment in the year when the city's cultural pace slows and artists have the opportunity to develop new work without the distractions and pressures of the busier seasons.

The Setting

The setting of the Wave Hill Winter Workspace is one of its most distinctive features and one of the primary reasons that artists apply. Wave Hill is not a typical urban arts centre. It is a genuine garden, with formal and informal planting areas, woodland paths, a greenhouse, and sweeping views of the Hudson River and the Palisades cliffs of New Jersey. In winter, the garden takes on a particular quality: the bare trees reveal the structure of the landscape, the light is clear and low, and the absence of summer crowds creates a quietness that is rare in New York City.

For artists whose work engages with landscape, nature, or the relationship between the built and natural environments, the Wave Hill setting provides a direct and immediate source of inspiration and reference. But the setting is valuable even for artists whose work does not directly engage with nature, providing a restorative environment that supports focused creative work in ways that urban studio spaces often cannot.

The studio spaces are located in the Glyndor Gallery building, a historic structure that provides comfortable working space with good natural light. The studios are private and dedicated to individual residents, providing the kind of uninterrupted working time that serious creative development requires.

The Stipend and Support

The $3,500 stipend provides meaningful financial support for the residency period, helping artists cover living expenses and materials costs during the twelve weeks of the program. The stipend reflects Wave Hill's commitment to supporting artists in a way that allows them to focus on their work rather than on financial pressures, and it makes the residency accessible to artists who might not be able to afford to take twelve weeks away from paid work without financial support.

Beyond the stipend and studio space, the residency provides access to Wave Hill's grounds and facilities, including the greenhouse and horticultural collections, which can serve as direct sources of reference and inspiration for artists whose work engages with botanical or natural subjects.

The Public Component

The Wave Hill Winter Workspace includes a public component that connects the residency to Wave Hill's broader mission as a public cultural institution. Residents are expected to participate in a public open studio event near the end of the residency, sharing their work and their process with the public in a way that reflects the institution's commitment to connecting art and nature with the broader community.

This public component is an important aspect of the residency experience, providing artists with the opportunity to share work that is still in development and to engage with a public audience that may be different from the gallery and museum audiences that artists typically encounter. The Wave Hill audience includes garden visitors, local community members, and arts enthusiasts, and the open studio format creates an informal, accessible context for sharing work in progress.

Eligibility and Application

The Winter Workspace is open to New York City residents who are working visual artists with a demonstrated professional practice. The residency is specifically designed for artists who can benefit from the natural setting and the extended period of focused studio time, and the application asks artists to describe how the Wave Hill environment would inform or support their work during the residency period.

The application requires a portfolio of recent work, an artist statement, a resume, and a project proposal describing the work the artist intends to develop during the residency. The project proposal is an important component of the application, as it demonstrates that the artist has thought specifically about how the Wave Hill setting and the twelve-week residency period would contribute to their creative development.

The selection process involves jury review by arts professionals who evaluate applications on the basis of artistic excellence and the potential fit between the artist's practice and the Wave Hill environment. The jury looks for artists whose work demonstrates genuine engagement with the natural world, with observation, or with the kind of contemplative practice that the Wave Hill setting supports.

The Broader Wave Hill Arts Program

The Winter Workspace is part of Wave Hill's broader arts program, which includes exhibitions, performances, and educational events that connect art and nature throughout the year. The institution's commitment to the intersection of art and the natural environment gives the Winter Workspace a distinctive character that reflects the institution's identity and mission.

Artists who participate in the Winter Workspace become part of the Wave Hill arts community, with connections to the institution's ongoing programming and to the community of artists who have participated in the residency over its more than four decades of operation. This community connection can be sustaining and professionally valuable, particularly for artists who are building their professional networks in New York City.

The Bottom Line

The Wave Hill Winter Workspace is one of the most distinctive and valuable artist residency programs available to New York City visual artists, combining a remarkable natural setting, free studio space, a meaningful stipend, and twelve weeks of focused creative time in one of the city's most beautiful locations. For New York City visual artists whose work can benefit from extended engagement with a natural environment and uninterrupted studio time, the Wave Hill Winter Workspace is one of the most important opportunities to pursue.