THE SWIMMING HOLE
F O U N D A T I O N
It's time to reinvent
how we work together.
What happens when you bring together a sculptor, an environmentalist and a computer scientist with a designer, a film-maker and a community activist, immerse them in a spectacular natural environment and give them room to play within the intersection of their ideas?
The Swimming Hole Foundation invites interdisciplinary groups to collaborate on transformative projects. Our "Collaboratory" model squarely places an emphasis on process vs. outcomes. It supports exploration, knowledge sharing and hands-on prototyping that allows emergent concepts to surface and during the co-creation of experimental work.
How it works...
​The Swimming Hole invites one or two "Collcats" to pull together a diverse, interdisciplinary group of collaborators. The groups are usually 6 to 8 people who haven't worked together before. The group meets up over zoom to get to know one another, develop a general theme and ideas for the materials, processes and workflow during their collaboratory. Then the cohort finds its way to the Swimming Hole. Workspace in the barn, great meals on the screened porch, beautiful views, and open space within which to play. Artifacts emerge along the way and range from multi-modal site-specific installations to cross-disciplinary experiments that produce a series of visual and ephemeral artifacts. The Swimming Hole also hosts groups for strategic "exploratories" for planning and developing existing and emerging projects.
Trust uncertainty
Prioritize play
Residencies range from three days to two weeks and include room, meals and workspace. We do not cover travel costs, but we're happy to pick you up at the bus station in Kingston, NY. Plan on eating out every third night.
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Facilities include an open barn, a large garden with an outdoor stage, a ceramics studio, and many secluded, magical places in the woods, including the swimming hole, to set up and create work.
Situated on the side of a private mountain near historic Woodstock, NY, the Swimming Hole sits within 3500-acres of preserved land with direct access to hiking trails, mountain tops, cascading streams and expansive views of the northern Catskills. A rigorous hike up to the Lookout Tower offers 360 degree views of the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. The crystal clear swimming hole is a three-minute walk from the house.
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While we aren't currently accepting applications, we would love to meet you and start a conversation. Reach out to deb@theswimminghole.org and learn more about events and opportunities by joining our mailing list and receiving our quarterly newsletter. You can find the link is at the bottom of the page.
As a social impact organization we have a responsibility to consider what it means to acknowledge the history and legacy of colonialism in our history as a nation, community, and organization.
The Swimming Hole Foundation acknowledges that Ulster County is the traditional territory of the Esopus (es-SOAP-us), a tribe of the Lenape (Delaware) Native Americans who were native to the Catskill Mountains. Their lands included modern day Ulster and Sullivan counties. We acknowledge the devastating history of genocide and forced removal from this territory, and we honor them and the many diverse Indigenous people still connected to this land on which we gather.
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Ulster County was one of the largest slave-holding counties in the state. Sojourner Truth, was born a slave in Ulster County in the 1790s and was raised near Rosendale, 10 miles to our south. The phrase, “Where slavery died hard,” was bestowed upon Ulster County as a result of the Dutch resistance to abolition during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The Swimming Hole Foundation acknowledges these painful chapters in our local history and we hope that the humble recognition of those who suffered can inspire all of us to work together towards obliterating all forms of racism that exist in our country today.
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We cherish all people.
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