For more than a century, the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency in Saugatuck, Michigan, has operated a unique program that blends the elements of an educational institution, a retreat, and an artist-built community. Designed to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and critical rigor, its Longform, Hold Space, Summer, Culinary, and Process/Process residencies provide artists with the time and space to engage with a wide range of practices in a serene environment where the Tallmadge Woods Nature Preserve meets the Kalamazoo River. Ox-Bow is dedicated to the preservation of time and space for arts education, research, practice, and community building for artists at all stages of their artistic journey.
Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency
An Artist-in-Residence at work in the Ox-Bow metals studio.
Summer Residency, 2025.
Photo by Nolan Zunk.
An artist explains their work to a residency facilitator. Longform Residency, Fall 2023.
Photo by Natia Ser.
Participants from Catalyze gather for a group photo in the
Ox-Bow papermaking studio.
Hold Space Retreat Fall 2024.
Photo by Natia Ser.
An Artist-in-Residence takes a multidisciplinary approach in the
Ox-Bow ceramics studio. Longform Residency, Fall 2023
Photo by Natia Ser.
Artists-in-Residence wave from the Ox-Bow dock. Longform Residency Fall 2024. Photo by Natia Ser.
See Also
1964
Philip Johnson commissioned Warhol to make a large-scale work for the exterior for his pavilion for the New York World’s Fair, along with other artists. Warhol’s provocative response, a multiple portrait of ‘Most Wanted Men’ was installed a few days before the opening but was deemed too inflammatory and contrary to the upbeat image of the World’s Fair and the work was taken down.