Oh, to be six again! This was my wish and granted dream when I attended a Family Day at The Watermill Center, in eastern Long Island, New York.
Traveling on a single-lane road, I nearly missed the discreet white sign for The Watermill Center, across the street from an old barn. The driveway wound towards the center’s modern building, set among 10 acres of partially wooded land near the Hamptons hamlet of Watermill. In the parking area, which looked like a stark gravel carpet next to spiraling trees, a large Indonesian stone statue over 5-feet high greeted me like a totem. The circular shapes on the stone eluded to a head and eyes: a human form, but without limbs.
Founded in 1992, The Watermill Center provides a sanctuary for selected artists and individuals working in the humanities, giving them time and space to explore their creative pursuits. This cocoon of creativity only becomes public on select days throughout the year including on Family Days. At the entrance, Watermill Center Staff welcomed eight or so youngsters in attendance with their family members. Resident artist Cleek Schrey and his Daxophone Consort started the session with a musical presentation using the Daxophone: an oblong wooden instrument that attaches to a block. Families were then ushered downs stairs from the Main Studio, past the community kitchen to a large dining room with a 20-foot circular table. Once seated, we were given the chance to experiment with the assorted instruments and fiddler’s bow.
Though the hum- strumming sound of the bow on the simple wood slates was not perfectly melodic (think of a squeaky or dull saw), the group of children and families seemed to gain a sense of sonic unity and accomplishment.
This was followed by a poetic presentation of Ghanaian-born poet Afua Ansong. At each seat, a carved block of an African Adinkra symbol was placed with an associated phrase. With block in hand, we were led back through the building past the Study Library (with over 8,000 titles) to the Summer Office, a large space with open worktables. A glass wall faced an open lawn of cut grass, giving the participants a view to contemplate. With tubes of paint, rollers and a paint plate we replicated Adinkra stamp print-making on fabric and wrote accompanying poems.
Family days are a great way to experience the ‘universe’ that is The Watermill Center. Or, if you are part of the lucky few, you can buy tickets for the sensational summer fundraising gala dinner when a spotlight is thrown on this nook of woods, drawing artists and patrons from around the world to appreciate outdoor exhibitions and performances (tickets for the annual summer fundraising gala dinner are in the thousands).
Before all the pomp and ceremony, the property was once a defunct Western Union site (where the fax’s first stylus was created). The Watermill Center and surrounding acres were purchased by the avant-garde director Robert Wilson in the late 1980s. The industrial building was remodeled and the grounds tidied. The Watermill Center now serves as a year-round artist residency, as well as a summer home for Mr. Wilson.
To be clear, this is not a museum. It is not a gallery trying to sell art. No, this is an art incubator, a sort of camp where artists gather to support each other’s exploration and individual artistic creations. "The Watermill Center is not just another non-profit foundation,” says world-renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic in a 2018 Forbes article. “Watermill is a universe of its own. Artists have a possibility here to create and show their work.”
Writers, directors, visual artists and performing artists can partake as residents, in three categories. There is the most prestigious category, the Inga Maren Otto Fellowship: fellows need not apply but are chosen by the Watermill Center to participate and all expenses are covered. The second category is The International Summer Program which takes 60 to 100 participants. As Watermill Center Director Elka Rifkin describes, “this summer group is a communal and working environment. All participants and staff contribute to maintenance and housekeeping of the grounds as well as contributing to Wilson’s productions”. During the rest of the year, the Artist Residency Program accepts around 20 artists. The center provides housing, space to work, access to their archives and some production expenses. In all cases, the expectation is to allow artists to “critically investigate.” Participants are required to share their work with the public community in workshops, lectures and open rehearsals at the center.
“I was moved by the monoliths on the grounds,” comments Brazilian artist Lillian Colosso, upon reflection of her 2017 stay at the center. Throughout the building, rustic stone statues greet visitors, wooden bowls are on display on shelves and pottery is visible in open cupboards. These items are part of the Watermill Center Collection, collected by Robert Wilson over the past 40 years. Rifkin comments “… in general the philosophy here is to live and work around the art as an influence for the work the artists are doing while in residence.”
Other former residents gushed with equal enthusiasm about their time at the center. Mexican artist Lua Rivera valued the daily exposure to the library and architecture during her 2017 residency. From her studio in Taiwan, she reflects that at The Watermill Center, “every day in every corner you can find something amazing that helps you understand the evolution of art. The team has lots of experience and encourages artists to stretch their boundaries, but at the same time they make you feel at home and part of the artistic family.”
After the musical session, I asked Cleek Schrey how he experienced the Center. “The performers are thrilled to be surrounded by the Bob Wilson legacy. The center’s physical space allows the musicians to explore non-sonic realms of musical performance and gives us the ability to explore lighting design.” Fellow ensemble member Ron Shalom added: “This is an exceptional residency where one can be immersed in the archive and library.”
To me, the community Family Day mimicked, on a much smaller scale, the imaginative experience of the resident artists. Families left the event with wooden pieces, musicals bows and block prints. After playing a new instrument, writing a poem and rolling and printing a new fabric in a pristine setting, my creative urges were comfortably met. What a pleasure to participate in this cultural gem nestled in this corner of the woods.
For Watermill Center residency, click here
For Watermill Center events, click here
Tanya Rulon-Miller is a freelance writer
@ttrex
All photographs are the writer’s own