Women’s Studio Workshop’s campus in Rosendale, NY

Women’s Studio Workshop (WSW) was founded in 1974 by Ann Kalmbach, Tatana Kellner, Anita Wetzel, and Barbara Leoff Burge in the foothills of the Hudson Valley’s Shawangunk Mountains. Their goals were to develop a studio workspace for artists to create new work and collaborate, and they envisioned a society where women’s art was integral to the cultural mainstream and permanently recorded in history. The first studios were in a two-story single-family home. Etching was in the living room, paper making was in the attic, and screen printing was in the basement.

In the almost 50 years since, WSW has undergone many changes: They moved and expanded their facilities, and the founders retired, leaving the organization in the capable hands of directors Lauren Walling and Erin Zona. The mission, however, remains the same: to operate and maintain an artists’ workspace that encourages the voice and vision of individual women and trans, intersex, non-binary and gender-fluid artists. They provide professional opportunities for artists at various stages of their careers and promote programs designed to stimulate public involvement, awareness, and support for the visual arts. On their historic campus in Rosendale, NY, they maintain facilities for etching, letterpress, papermaking, book arts, silkscreen, 3D work, ceramics, and photography. The studios are extensively equipped and well-maintained. Artists can take workshops, rent the studios, apply for a residency, or schedule private instruction.

Although their programmatic scope is broad, Women’s Studio Workshop is known for artists’ books. An early proponent of the medium, they have produced over 230 limited edition artists’ books since the publishing imprint began in 1979. WSW’s publishing schedule includes 4-6 artist’s publications annually across three genres of focus, including handmade artists’ books, zines and print multiples, and their latest addition: research publications.These books can have a traditional book structure with a cover and sequential pages; they can be sculptural objects; or elaborately folded constructions. Hand printed and bound in the studios with the artist as the leading visionary for the project, the books are created onsite during the artist’s residency with artistic director Erin Zona and studio manager Chris Petrone overseeing the production process. The studio staff including interns work in support of all projects, as needed.

The artists’ publications are chosen through an open application and panel selection process. All selection panels at WSW include individuals from a diverse range of identity, experience, professional trajectory, and aesthetic perspective, and selection panels change annually. The open selection process is a vital element of WSW’s mission, and has led to a publishing catalog that is innovative and dynamic.

The inspiration for this project grew from IBe’ Crawley’s research into the untold stories of women and girls impacted by oppressive Virginia laws and continued enslavement. Unlike most black women and girls, Mary Morst’s story is recorded because of her relationship to the penal system. IBe’ Crawley conducted research at Virginia State Library, where all the prison records for Morst are publically available.

11033 is constructed using handmade flax and abaca paper, with deckle-shaped pages that present the silhouette of a pregnant body. The text block incorporates a central clay figure (handmade and fired in WSW’s ceramics studios) providing structural support for the book to stand upright, mirroring the enclosure of a prison cell.

Detail, IBe’ Bulinda Crawley’s artist’s book 11033

The organization’s books are in collections world-wide, including ten institutions that are repositories for all WSW’s publications: Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Indiana University (Bloomington), Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Delaware, Vassar College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Yale University, University of Michigan, The Library of Congress, and Bucknell University.

Artists are welcome to visit and tour before arranging work time or signing up for workshops. Please call ahead if you would like to do so.

WSW co-founders Barbara Leoff Burge, Ann Kalmbach, Tatana Kellner, and Anita Wetzel in 1975