Image courtesy of Lovis Dengler

International Summer Program

Applications for Summer 2013 are no longer being accepted.  Applications for the 2014 Summer Program will be available online in December 2013.  Check back here for updates. 

For the past 20 years, The Watermill Center has hosted an International Summer Program led by Artistic Director, Robert Wilson. Each summer, approximately 65 artists from almost 30 countries gather at Watermill’s Long Island, NY six-acre campus. Participants spend two - five weeks in intense creative exploration which provides a unique opportunity to learn from established professionals, particularly the development and performance methodologies of Robert Wilson and his peers; forge lasting relationships with other artists from a broad range of experience levels and disciplinary specificity; develop networks of US and international professional contacts; focus on new work, and embody what it means to be a “global artist.”

Participants receive access to an extensive collection of resources central to the Watermill experience: ongoing apprenticeships and daily workshops with Robert Wilson and his collaborators; lectures on various subjects from theatre and opera innovation, installation, design, and science led by international cultural luminaries, established artists, and scientists; opportunities to develop new work for public presentation during the annual Watermill Summer Benefit and Discover Watermill Day; access to 20,000 square feet of rehearsal/performance/design spaces; a theater production archive; a 6,000 volume library; outdoor stages; the Watermill Art Collection; and the Center’s landscaped grounds.

In addition to workshops, all participants share in the responsibilities of daily life: housekeeping, cooking, cleaning, and maintaining the Watermill grounds and gardens. Daily physical labor, including landscaping and the construction of site-specific installations is an integral part of the Summer Program. This live/work environment reflects the Watermill idea that an artist works differently in an en