Workshops-in-Residence

If you’re looking for a week-long residency-like experience at MASS MoCA with a great instructor to help you reach new heights and without the angst of a highly competitive application process for a self-directed residency, check out our workshop-in-residence opportunities. They come with all of the benefits of a private 24/7 studio space, private bedroom, and open access to MASS MoCA's galleries, with the added benefit of a workshop-style framework and guidance from a professional in the field.

We also welcome to the Studios, on a very limited basis, self-directed artist groups (must be 10 members) looking for a week-long artist retreat. These have similar perks, just without the instructor.

Read below for upcoming Workshop descriptions, and email studios@massmoca.org to inquire about workshop or retreat opportunities. 

2024 SEASON

Wood Carving & Puppet Design
June 6 - June 10, 2024
Space is available
Details below

Boiler House Poets
October 7 - October 13, 2024
Open by invitation only
Details below

Creating Time & Space: A week of mindful making with Joanne Dugan
October 15th - October 21st, 2024
Class is full: Waitlist only
Details below

Abstraction Master-Class with Judith Kruger
October 23rd - October 29th, 2024
Space is available
Details below

Writing through Art: Poetry Retreat with Jan Freeman
October 31st - November 6th, 2024
Space is available
Details below

Visual Artist Independent Study & Critique: with Debi Pendell
Session 1: November 8th - November 14th, 2024
Session 2: November 16th - November 22nd, 2024
Space is available. Participants may sign up for one or two weeks.
Details below


Email studios@massmoca.org to inquire about attending any of our workshops.

Wood Carving & Puppet Design

with David Lane

June 6 - June 10, 2024

The wood carving puppet laboratory returns for another edition in residence at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. This edition, we’ll dig deep into traditional European style carving techniques and create beautiful, inspired puppets together. 

Formal instruction and demonstrations will begin each day at 9 am and run until dinner. The evenings will include open studio and specialized programming such as a show-and-tell and puppet-film night. Field trips to the Clark Art Museum, forest hikes, and impromptu picnics can be organized as the spirit moves. 

We will take advantage of the collaborative nature of this workshop to share ideas, and create an environment which fosters colloquy, experimentation, and a supportive creative atmosphere. 

Curriculum Overview:

Residency — When we’re not engaged in studio time, we will have unlimited access to wonder the halls of MASS MoCA and find inspiration in the work of Sol LeWitt, Anselm Kiefer, Franz West, Laurie Anderson, Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, James Turrell and many other world class artists. 

Design —  The abstract/realism continuum; emotion and tone; conceptual approaches; the interplay between design and performance; technical drawings.

Carving — Instruction in traditional wood carving technique using gouges, detail knives, and parting tools.

Controls — Discussion of effective control mechanisms for different situations.

Joints — Leather, fabric, interlocking, ball and socket, shock cord, and various marionette style joints will be discussed and demonstrated so they may be worked into your designs.

Hansjürgen Fettig — Discussion of designs and mechanisms imagined by the ingenious German puppet maker.

Painting — Planning, mixing, washes, scumbling, dry-brush, mix-media technique. 

Costuming — Simple patterning and sewing.

Nitty-gritty

Tuition: $950 (includes materials, shared studio space, shared tools, single room with shared bath, access to kitchen, lunches, and dinner on the first night)

To register, please fill out this short form by May 1, 2024.

About the Instructor

Dave Lane is a painter, performer, puppet & mask maker, and one of the original members of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop in Calgary, Alberta. He is the Co-director of the New England Puppet Intensive, a 15-day residential workshop, and Co-producer of the annual Berkshire Lantern Walk in collaboration with the Clark Art Museum.

Dave is a two-time, Jim Henson Foundation grant recipient for his original play “The Chronicles of Rose”, and his silent-clown play “The Painting” was a regional selection at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He is the co-creator of Iinisikimm, a puppet-lantern play celebrating the return of Plains Buffalo to Banff Nation Park in Alberta. The project was supported by a Canada Council New Chapter Grant.

The Boiler House Poets Collective:

October 7 - October 13, 2024

By invitation only

In November, 2015, The Studios hosted their first workshop-in-residence for poets in conjunction with Jeffrey Levine of Tupelo Press. Those poets bonded so strongly that they formed the Boiler House Poets Collective, returning annually for reunion residencies as a circle of women supporting each other in artistic growth. As vacancies arise, they welcome new members by invitation only.

The members in attendance in 2023 were Jessica Bane Robert, Joanne Corey, Merrill Douglas, Jessica Dubey, Nancy Edelstein, Mary Beth Hines, Hope Jordan, Eva Schegulla, and Wendy Stewart.

Previous attendees include Erica Bodwell, Ann Dernier, Gail DiMaggio, Donna Fleischer, Kyle Laws, Marilyn McCabe, Katherine Morgan, Yvonne Murphy, Catherine O’Brian, James Sneed, and Victoria G. Smith.

Visit their website learn more about the Boiler House Poets or to contact the group.

Creating Time and Space:

A Week of Mindful Making with Joanne Dugan

October 15 - October 21st, 2024

Workshop description:

Join visual artist, author and creative mentor Joanne Dugan for an artist retreat held directly on the grounds of MASS MoCA. The full-immersion residency format is suitable for visual artists, photographers and writers with an existing practice to restart, reinvent or expand. Utilizing Joanne’s signature prompt-activation style, participants will create intuitive responses to the museum’s expansive collections and inspire new work quickly, in unexpected ways. 

A thoughtful framework of both scheduled and free time activities will encourage purposeful, dedicated time and space for artistic experimentation and mindful focus, away from the distractions of daily life and the need to project expectations on outcomes.

The flexible curriculum of guided daily prompts and mindfulness practices will allow artists to further an existing project and/or create spontaneously on site. Each group member will have 24-hour access to a dedicated private studio within the museum complex and will reside together in housing nearby. The cohort will also have free entry to MASS MoCA’s 250,000 square foot complex throughout the week, and instructor creative prompts will be inspired by exhibiting artists including James Turrell, Sol LeWitt, Taryn Simon, and Louise Bourgeois. There will be a field trip to the nearby Clark Art Institute for additional inspiration and research as well as free admission to the nearby Williams College Museum of Art. 

Risk taking and multidisciplinary work is highly encouraged and there will be private scheduled feedback from the instructor, as well as ongoing cohort interactions in a safe, productive environment. An instructor questionnaire and suggested checklist sent prior will help participants create a realistic and clear vision for what they want to accomplish while in residency.

Cost:

$1650

Included in fee:
Private, lockable artist studio on museum grounds with 24 hour access. And 24 hour access to printmaking studio and color laser printer. Private bedroom (queen-sized bed) with shared bathroom and kitchen in walk-up apartments across the street from MASS MoCA. Welcome dinner on arrival day. Boxed lunches on museum grounds every day except for departure day. MASS MoCA membership benefits (including free gallery access) for the duration of the workshop.

The workshop is full, but you can join a waitlist in case a space opens up by emailing studios@massmoca.org.

Instructor bio:

Joanne Dugan is based in New York City and is a widely-published and exhibited visual artist, photographer, editor, and author. Her work has been shown in galleries in the US, UK, Poland, the Netherlands and Japan, and published in The New York Times T Magazine, the Harvard Review, Unseen and Photograph magazines, among others. She was recently awarded residencies at Mass MoCA, the Peaked Hill Trust and the Abbott Watts Residency for Photography and was a finalist for the Meijberg Art Prize at Unseen Amsterdam. Her work is widely collected and she is represented by Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles and Black Box Projects Gallery in London . 

Joanne’s visual work and writing is published in seven best-selling books, including Summertime (Chronicle), and ABC NYC: A Book About Seeing New York City (Abrams). Her limited-edition monograph, Mostly True, is in the permanent library collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the New York Public Library and the George Eastman House. She has been editor and creative director for many artists’ published works, including the recent ‘Dune Shacks of Provincetown’ by Jane Paradise (Schiffer). She is an active mentor for artists and writers around the world and recently founded The Creative Current, a private monthly lecture series about artistic mindfulness and activating authentic voice. She teaches at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA, the Los Angeles Center of Photography and the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Abstraction Master-Class

with Judith Kruger

October 23 - October 29, 2024

Judith Kruger — who exhibits widely in the United States, Japan and elsewhere, and teaches sought-after workshops throughout the country, now brings her masterful methods for abstraction to the Studios at MASS MoCA. Her paintings, prints, and mixed-media works address human-environment connectivity and their shared vulnerabilities. She is recognized internationally for her advocacy of natural painting materials and historic, ecological processes based on years of research and alchemic experimentation.

Judith has an impressive following of serious, practicing artists, working in all mediums, who cite her intensive, direct teaching approach as an authentic, life-changing catalyst for both technical and conceptual growth. This Master Abstraction workshop is not medium specific, thus focusing on many of the formal concerns that Judith addresses in her own work, including depth of space, destruction, luminosity, ambiguity, perceptual shifting, and material presence. This includes both idea-driven and non-objective work. Concepts will be addressed on an individual basis as a benefit to the entire group. Private and open critiques, discussions, film showings and relevant demos are included.

This is an opportunity for each participant to delve more deeply into their own work and medium in an immersive setting with Judith’s and the group’s input.

(Please note that this master-class is not intended to provide novice-level instruction in abstraction or Nihonga painting. It is for experienced abstract artists. Those seeking to learn the basics of Nihonga or mineral pigment painting should consider Judith’s introductory workshops.

Cost: 

$1,700

Included in fee:
Private, lockable artist studio on museum grounds with 24 hour access. Private bedroom (queen-sized bed) with shared bathroom and kitchen in walk-up apartments across the street from MASS MoCA. Welcome dinner on arrival day. Boxed lunches on museum grounds every day except for departure day. MASS MoCA membership benefits during the duration of the workshop.

Space is limited. Email studios@massmoca.org if interested in signing-up.

Writing through Art:

Poetry Workshop with Jan Freeman

October 31 - november 6, 2024

Join Jan Freeman, acclaimed poet and Paris Press founding Director (1995 - 2018) for The MASS MoCA Writing Through Art Poetry Retreat, a generative writing experience. Explore the many ways that visual art can open your poems and perception in this expansive 6-day writing retreat. Through daily prompts, exercises, discussions, and readings, you will experience how paintings, prints, sculpture, and installations can open memories, emotion, and the imagination and help you explore new ways of expressing yourself. The week will include morning workshops and afternoon sessions writing in your private studio, the MASS MoCA galleries, and the Clark Art Institute.

Poets and writers of all levels of experience are welcome.

Each participant receives a private 60-minute conference focusing on your writing goals, 4 poems of your choice, or an overview of a manuscript. A more in-depth manuscript consultation is available for an additional fee.

Contact Jan Freeman for additional information.

Cost:

$1,600 (limited financial assistance available)

Payable by check to Jan Freeman, 1117 West Rd., Ashfield, MA 01330, or via Venmo @ Jan-Freeman-7.

Included:

Private writing studio at the museum, with 24/7 access. Private bedroom (queen-sized bed) with shared bathroom and kitchen in walk-up apartments across the street from MASS MoCA. Learn more about our facilities. Free admission to MASS MoCA, the Clark Art Institute and the Williams College Museum of Art throughout the week. Free parking. Welcome dinner on arrival. Boxed lunches provided every day except for departure day.

Extras: The Berkshires in the fall are a haven for cultural and outdoor activities. Walks along the paths on the grounds of the Clark Art Institute, and hiking the trails in North Adams and Williamstown, offer the beauty of New England in full autumn. In addition, all MASS MoCA performances are available at the members’ discount.

To reserve your space, contact: Jan Freeman

Instructor bio:

Jan Freeman is the author of Blue Structure, Simon Says, Hyena, and Autumn Sequence, and the co-editor of Sisters: An Anthology. Her poems are forthcoming in Plume and Barrow Street, and have been widely published in anthologies and literary journals, including The Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, American Poetry Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Ekphrastic Review, North American Review, Plume,  Poetry Magazine, and Salamander. She is a 2023 MacDowell fellow, a 2022 Spiral Shell Fellow at Moulin a Nef/VCCA, and a 2020–2022 associate at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center.

Jan founded Paris Press in 1995 to publish The Life of Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser, which addresses the importance of living with the arts, especially poetry, in our daily lives to help us be more sensate and compassionate human beings. Other groundbreaking yet overlooked works of literature that she published include Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson’s Intimate Correspondence with Susan Dickinson, On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf, and National Book Critics Award winning Ordinary Words by Ruth Stone. Paris Press books have achieved national and international acclaim. In 2018, the Press moved to Wesleyan University Press, and the Paris Press archives were acquired by the Amherst College Frost Library.

She is a Poet Educator with Mass Poetry. Jan teaches weekly Zoom Writing Through Nature and Art poetry workshops and provides manuscript consultations, editorial services, and coaching to poets and writers. Jan is completing a new collection of poetry, Mobius, which addresses grief, trauma, identity, and family. Many of the poems in Mobius are in conversation with the work of contemporary women painters.

Visual Artist Independent Study & Critique

With Debi Pendell

Session 1: November 8 - November 14, 2024

Session 2: November 16 - November 22, 2024

For many artists, the word ‘critique’ immediately brings to mind (and to heart) these dictionary synonyms: censure; find fault with; slam; slap; takedown; put down. Many artists avidly avoid critiques, having painfully experienced critique as disapproval. In the method taught and practiced in this workshop, critique means: to discuss the merits of; to analyze. We even employ what the dictionary considers antonyms for critique: compliment; praise. Critique is a necessary and valuable tool in the making of art, but it only functions when the goal is education and encouragement: everyone walks out of these critiques excited to get to work, to experiment, to play, to create.

By analyzing and speaking about the work of other artists, you learn tools and techniques that you can employ in your own work. By hearing educated and perceptive responses to your own work, you discover whether or not your work is being read in the way you intend. This is a unique opportunity to be that ‘fly on the wall’ and hear what is honestly said about the work you present.

In addition to critiquing the work of the other artists attending the residency, we will also go into museum exhibitions and explore some of those works. The intent is to analyze, understand, and clearly state one’s response in a way that enhances everyone’s experience – even when you don’t ‘like’ the work at all. You may very well discover just how useless the terms like and dislike are when it comes to engaging art and making art.

Each participating artist in this workshop-in-residence will develop their own project. The instructor is available for consultation in planning the project prior to the workshop. The instructor will provide targeted assistance to each and every artist tailored to the individual needs of their project. This includes one-on-one critiques, as well as technical assistance. 

Cost:

$1,400 per week (artists can sign up for one or two weeks)

Included in fee:
Private, lockable artist studio on museum grounds with 24 hour access. Private bedroom (queen-sized bed) with shared bathroom and kitchen in walk-up apartments across the street from MASS MoCA. Welcome dinner on arrival day. Boxed lunches on museum grounds every day except for departure day. MASS MoCA membership benefits (including free gallery access) for the duration of the workshop.

Space is limited. Contact studios@massmoca.org if interested in signing up.