Watershed’s summer residency sessions offer artists uninterrupted time to focus on their practices in our state-of-the-art ceramics studio. During a session, up to eighteen artists form a creative community while living and working on campus. Participants enjoy 24-hour studio access, comfortable accommodations, and delicious meals.
Organizing artists develop the themes for each session and invite a small group of artists to anchor the session with them. Additional artists with an interest in the session theme then apply to join them for two weeks at Watershed.
Find the 2026 summer session descriptions and the list of artists anchoring each session below. Access additional details on the summer residency, application process, scholarships, housing, food, and campus life via the sidebar links.
Applications for 2026 are open November 15 – February 1, 2026.
APPLY FOR 2026Session I: Drawing it Out, Jun 1-12
Celia Feldberg
Organized by: Celia Feldberg & Grace Tessein
With: Jessica Brandl, Jihye Han, Dominique Ostuni, Arista Wilson, Ian Petrie & Sasha Barrett
How do illustrations on clay surfaces create community & collective messaging? Making images on ceramic objects is a practice that spans centuries and cultures. Historically, these images were a means of communication, visualizing the evolution of societies, providing a window into everyday life, and revealing ritual practices. The strength of the drawn image remains fundamental to the field of contemporary art. Drawing it Out brings together artists who utilize a diverse array of surfacing techniques, providing space for residents to investigate new ideas, processes, and ways to embed narrative and identity within their drawn ceramic surfaces.
Session II: Digital Clay 2.0, Jun 15-26
Tasha Lewis
Organized by: Tasha Lewis
With: Wade MacDonald, Jackie Brown, Stacy Jo Scott, Jennifer Masley, Nik Putnam, Mark Meier
How can ceramicists move between ancient and novel technologies? The second residency of its kind at Watershed, Digital Clay 2.0, welcomes digital fabrication into the studio while embracing the spontaneity inherent in the ceramics process. Structured around mini-tutorials and communal projects, residents will work to generate, gather, and document new applications of technologically-informed production, resulting in a dynamic open-source database with images, links, recipes, and tutorials.
Session III: Making the Thing to Make the Thing, Jun 29-Jul 10
Chris Pickett
Organized by: Chris Pickett
With: Jeff Campana, Marty Fielding, Austin Riddle, & Sarah Pike
Drawing inspiration from personal lives and cultural heritages, Session III will focus on the use of playful illustration and vibrant color to bring rich histories to the surface. This session provides space for studio artists to engage with surface design techniques while exploring and discussing work evolution, symbolism through patterns and personal narrative. Playful yet symbolic, Guest Artist Didem Mert’s highly sought after functional ware sets the tone for this imaginative and visually expansive residency.
Session IV: Thinking Through The Body, Jul 20-31
Christina West
Organized by: Christina West & Qwist Joseph
With: Lauren Kalman, Kevin Kao, Nicole Woodard & Samuel Jernigan
How does physical existence inform interaction with clay? Thinking Through the Body begins with the understanding that all people navigate their internal lives through a vulnerable, imperfect, ever-changing, beautiful, and mortal corporeality. Whether implied or represented directly, the body will be the core focus in the studio, and residents will be encouraged to consider the ways in which the body impacts their relationships with material and form.
Session V: Navigating Change in Creative Practice, Aug 3-14
Josephine Burr
Organized by: Meredith Brickell & Josephine Burr
With: Jonathan Christensen Caballero, Annie Clark, Betsy Redelman Díaz & Miguel Lastra
How do artists negotiate change and disruption? While its forms vary—grief, caregiving, relocation, shifts in health or identity, political or environmental instability, or creative burnout—nearly all artists encounter moments when their ability to make work is interrupted or altered. Residents will reflect on the relationship between disruption and artistic evolution, questioning how art-making can serve as both response and resistance to these challenges. Collaborative experimentation, generative prompts, discussion, and grounding practices will support individual work while fostering community and collective reflection.
Session VI: Restoring the Balance Between Teacher & Maker, Aug 17-28
Stephanie Martin
Organized by: Stephanie Martin & Sara Fine-Wilson
With: Suanne Peterson, Elizabeth Wells, Jessica Broad & Eva Conrad
This session is designed to give dedicated artist-educators—those who teach in community arts centers, colleges, public schools, and private institutions—the time and space to focus on their own creative work. Both a celebration and a much-needed restoration, Watershed will be a place for artist-educators to rest, reflect, experiment, and re-engage with their work on their own terms. The Artist-Educator Retreat is a celebration, a much-needed restoration, and a recognition of the unique balance artist-educators strike between teaching and making.