Committee formed for Watermill Center residencies

Watermill Fall ‘08 and Spring ‘09 Residences to Be Selected by Committee from the Humanities and Sciences, Plus Founder Robert Wilson and Watermill Center Creative Director

Proposals due May 31

Located in a secluded, natural setting in Southampton, Long Island, New York, the Watermill Center is a one-of-a-kind laboratory for artists, students and individuals of all ages and backgrounds to explore the creative process. Through cross-disciplinary exploration, apprenticeship-style training with master artists, and creative exchange, the Center supports new work in all artistic disciplines, with a primary focus on inspiring a new generation of performers, artists and global citizens. This July, for the first time, a committee of eminent individuals from a diversity of fields will come together to select artists for the Center's prestigious residency program for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009.

The New York Times has called Robert Wilson “a towering figure in the world of experimental theater” and the Watermill Center “Wilson’s 21st Century Academy.” Wilson founded Watermill in 1992 and designed the building and grounds. The six-acre site also houses Wilson’s archives and his extensive art collection. Over the first 15 years of Watermill's existence, Wilson has developed most of his own work there, in addition to collaborating directly with other artists as host of Watermill's residencies. Many of the world’s most celebrated artists have participated in Watermill's programs, including Wilson peers and collaborators Trisha Brown, David Byrne, Lucinda Childs, Philip Glass, Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Moreau, Lou Reed, Miranda Richardson, Dominique Sanda and Susan Sontag, to name a few.

Yet, the Watermill Center was always meant to exist apart from Wilson, to retain the spirit and methodology of his work well beyond his own career and lifetime by offering other, younger artists a place and resources to practice the essentials of Wilson’s approach for years to come. By furnishing emerging artists with the Center's unique environment for creation and exploration--including a network of peers, mentors and like-minded institutions--Watermill serves as a springboard for the future of the avant-garde. Since Watermill’s new facilities were inaugurated in July 2006, the Center’s Fall and Spring residency programs have hosted young artists of numerous cultural, social and religious backgrounds.

The appointment of a committee to select residencies for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 is another move toward the future of Watermill. It will involve a highly talented group of people in curating Watermill programs. Their background in disciplines such as visual arts, performing arts, education/social sciences/sciences/politics, business/administration, journalism/literature, music/opera, film and entertainment will provide expertise in view of the widest possible range of applicants. The committee will consist of 16 members, eight of whom will be required to join Wilson and Watermill Creative Director Jörn Weisbrodt for the selection proceedings each July.

To date, the following individuals have agreed to be part of this inaugural committee: Marina Abramovic, Performance Artist, Serbia; Marie Claude Beaud, curator and Director of the Musee d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; Jonathan Safran Foer, Writer, USA; Alanna Heiss, Director PS1, USA; Dr. Jürgen Kluge, Director, McKinsey and Company, Inc., Germany; Xavier Le Roy, Choreographer and Performer, France; Albert Maysles, filmmaker, USA; Michael Morris, Co-Director, Artangel and Director, Cultural Industry UK; Gerard Mortier, General Manager of the Opera de Paris and General Manager elect of the New York City Opera, Belgium; Ida Nicolaisen, Anthropologist and President of the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues, Denmark; John Rockwell, Journalist, USA; Christoph Schlingensief, Film Maker, Visual Artist and Theater and Opera Director, Germany; Richard Sennett, Sociologist and Cultural Critic, New York University and London School of Economics, USA; Nike Wagner, Artistic Director, Kunstfest Weimar, Germany.

The committee’s selections will be based on artistic quality, originality and
collaborative/interdisciplinary nature. Committee members will look for diverse projects that fit within the facilities that the Center has to offer, and to applicants who demonstrate that the time at Watermill will be of significant benefit to the processes of their projects. The committee will also look for proposals that question, define and redefine the mission of the Watermill Center and centers for the arts and humanities in general. The Center is founded upon the conviction that the arts of the stage need to draw inspiration from all arts as well as from social, human and natural sciences; Watermill therefore embraces anyone from those fields with a strong interest in dialogue with the theater.

As part of the experience, all Watermill artists-in-residence are required to lead at least one lecture, master class, workshop, open rehearsal or other public event for local community members (adults and/or children) to provide insight into the creative process.

The residencies will take place in various durations between September 8 and December 12, 2008 (Fall), and between March 16 and June 12, 2009 (Spring). Proposals are due May 31; selected projects will be announced at the end of July 2008.

For information and an application, click here for Watermill Center.