The Watermill Grimoire

The Watermill Center presents the work of the Spring season’s first artist-in-residence, the American writer Judah Mahay. Over the course of two weeks, with support from the East End Arts Council, Mahay is creating The Watermill Grimoire, a short fairy tale about artifacts from the Watermill Center. For the public showing of his work, Mahay will lead a tour of the Center, reading from his story and discussing the Watermill Collection’s objects that have inspired it.

Each day during his Watermill residency, Mahay is writing a vignette; towards the end of his time at Watermill, he will thread the writings together into a larger, approximately 50,000-word narrative. The final work will be published at a later date.

The vignettes focus on artifacts from the unique Watermill Collection, a highly personal and eclectic set of fine art and artifacts that span continents and periods from the Stone Age to the present. The Collection is the core of the Center, providing inspiration for resident artists’ new work. Mahay’s Grimoire epitomizes this aspect of the Watermill experience, as the Collection is the subject of his project.

Judah Mahay was born and raised in the rustic backwoods village of Talkeetna, Alaska, and currently lives on Long Island. His writings have been published in numerous journals. In 2008, he won the North Shoreian Yearly Writing Contest and had his story “Lord of the Dome” made into a short film after winning a contest by WeMakeYourMovie.com. He is also the founder of the business community and resource BeYourArt.com. The website has grown to include almost seven hundred artists and has published eleven video/audio podcasts, co-published ten articles with North Shoreian Magazine, and hosted the annual Be Your Art Writing Contest.

This free workshop/work-in-progress presentation is part of the Watermill Center’s Fall 2009 Artists-in-Residence program.