Open Calls 2026
Framing Air
“What is a window other than air framed by a molding?” asks Clarice Lispector, describing a freedom defined by its borders. The word window comes from the Old Norse vindauga, meaning “wind-eye.” A window allows us to see air in motion—movement made visible through its frame. Lispector’s question lingers between openness and enclosure, possibility and limit.
This year, as we reconstruct a ruined house with and for our community, we approach the site as an architecture undone. The house becomes a kind of window: open-ended, unsealed, neither interior nor exterior, and full of potential—air held temporarily by its broken frames. We invite artists to respond to Framing Air through gestures that work with air, freedom, and reframing in their expanded meanings. We are interested in actions that mark, release, or gently redraw boundaries between inside and outside, private and collective space, permission and transgression.
Here, building becomes a performative act—an ongoing negotiation of free will within constraint. We consider the sociological and ecological implications of constructing a house for ephemerality: a structure that embraces incompleteness, adaptability, and continual reimagining. Ephemeral practices thrive where forms remain modest and mutable, recalling Yona Friedman’s “realizable utopias”—democratic, ecological frameworks designed to remain open to change, reuse, and participation over time.
We invite artists to engage with air as material and metaphor: as movement, as time, as visibility. Framing Air welcomes works that resonate with Lispector’s minor freedoms, Friedman’s visionary infrastructures, or other ways of imagining how freedom takes shape by its framing.
With this theme in mind, we are offering three types of open calls, crafted to serve artists locally and beyond:
Call to participate in our annual 24h performance festival (June 27-28)
Call to organize a durational event in August
Call to join a five-month discourse-based fellowship for established artists in upstate New York.
S.O.U.P
Event Program Open Calls
-
On June 27- 28, 2026, Glasshouse will be hosting an outdoor 24-hour performance art program titled ‘Framing Air’. The event features live durational works by contemporary artists working in the expanded field of visual performance art. Artists are invited to submit proposals for outdoor works 3-24h long. There is a modest honorarium of $100 for participating artists as well as some materials, communal food and local travel expenses. There is no application fee.
Submit project proposals by March 12, 2026. To apply, please send an email to contact@glasshouseproject.org and attach a single PDF with a short project description, artist statement, resume, link to online portfolio, and 5 images. Title your pdf <Last Name> 24h Festival 25
-
An open call for emerging artists/curators in the field of performance art, to conceptualize and organize a durational performance event on August 8, 2026, responding to the theme ‘Framing Air’ and the vacant site of Glasshouse’s 257 Springtown Rd location. This opportunity is designed for artists/curators to deeply experiment in realizing a layered site-specific performance event with 3 to 5 participating artists, which is open to the public. Glasshouse Project will be providing guidance in all production phases. Open to New York State artists who are full-time residents of the State or Indian Nations therein, and must be at least 21 years old. Students are not currently eligible to apply for this opportunity.
Submit project proposals by March 12, 2026. To apply please send an email to contact@glasshouseproject.org and attach a single pdf with short project description, artist statement, resume, link to online portfolio and 5 images of proposed artist participants. Title your pdf <Last Name> Organizer S.O.U.P 26
What we offer:
Production, administrative & logistic assistance in organizing a group performance event
Access to Glasshouse Project’s studio, archive and site for up to four weeks
Online promotion of event
A modest stipend of $500 that includes an organizer honorarium ($250), artist honorarium ($100/artist, two artists maximum), and some material or transportation expenses.
Documentation of the event
What artist organizer contributes
Time and creativity organizing a 3h durational performance event (groups of up to 3 artists are welcome), responding to the theme ‘Framing Air’ and the site of 257 Springtown Rd
Care for all aspects of the performance event production, with the assistance of Glasshouse
Apply to S.O.U.P programs by March 12, 2026
CONVERSATION LAB
-
Conversation Lab was born out of a need for in-person connection, communion, and discourse in reaction to the isolation of the pandemic and the disembodiment of the internet. In exploring programming ideas, we interviewed local artists about what was needed in the Hudson Valley – the word on everyone’s lips was “conversation.” We are interested in the various artistic, personal, pedagogical, legal, and civic performances of conversation and how the vibrational space between is a seed for belief, movement, delineation, compromise, and invention. From these initial interviews and conversations, we co-developed a program for artists and academics who utilize textual research in their practice. Each year, Glasshouse chooses a theme to unify its programming and guide the cohort of interdisciplinary artists in Conversation Lab. This year explores the idea of ‘Framing Air’ as drafted above. In the spirit of generosity and expanding the conversation, we will be archiving the titles of the texts read and key aspects of each conversation for an online database accessible to the public.
Who: Hudson Valley artists and academics who utilize textual research in their creative pursuits
What: A six-month immersive monthly conversation fellowship for four interdisciplinary artists/academics with a culminating event at 257 Springtown Rd. After an introductory session to set ground rules and a learning contract, each member is responsible for one 2-hour session, choosing a theme-oriented text, tending a close reading, and holding space for that week’s in-depth conversation. The program culminates in an experimental exhibition/performance/reading/screening at the abandoned house next door.
When: May through October 2026. Fourth Saturdays from 4-6 pm.
Where: Glasshouse, 251 Springtown Rd.
How: Please send an artist statement (no longer than 300 words), statement of interest (no longer than 200 words), resume, and 10 jpg images (1200 dpi longest side) or links of up to 3 video clips (no longer than 3 minutes) if applicable to contact(at)glasshouseproject.org
Apply to Conversation Lab by March 5, 2026
A.I.R
FOR PERFORMANCE ARTISTS
-
Our A.I.R program will resume in 2027
The Artist In Residence program at Glasshouse was launched in 2009 and is designed for professionals in the performance field to develop their practice while engaging with the various communities in/around Glasshouse. In 2026, renovations are underway for our A.I.R facilities. We will not be offering the two sessions of a week-long artist residency. Our A.I.R program is scheduled to resume in 2027.
What the residency program provides
Access to Glasshouse Project’s studio and vacancy site
Accommodation for the artist on premises (unfortunately, we can’t accommodate pets)
Engaging in deep dialogue around performance art and your practice
A modest $250 Artist honorarium to help cover material/transportation/food costs
Studio visit with a professional in the field
What the artist contributes
Time and commitment for developing your project in a site-specific setting
Facilitating a residency-related event/workshop
Images from 2025 programs:
Frequently Asked Questions:
-
This opportunity is intended for artists with a mature practice and at least 3 years of experience presenting performance artworks. Students who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program during 2026 are not eligible to apply.
-
At this point Glasshouse Project cannot offer honorariums to international applicants. However, some travel reimbursement within New York State might be available as an alternative.
-
Glasshouse Project is located in New Paltz, a college town in New York’s Hudson Valley, vibrant with alternative cultural initiatives. We are located just outside the town, which is commutable by car/bike/long walks. When at Glasshouse you will be surrounded with scenic landscape. Your working spaces include the 2 acres outdoors, the studio shed and the site of 257 Springtown
-
Since the launch of our residency program in 2009, A.I.R guests are invited to stay at the private residence of Glasshouse’s founders, Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry, immersed in an ever-changing art installation and archive. This setup enables ongoing, non-formal exchange during project development and often results in long-lasting relationships, which we cherish. Guest artists get a private floor, so you can navigate your interactions as you see fit.
Keep in mind that at this point, we are unable to provide space for spouses/family members or pets
-
The term ‘performance art’ has become a broad term to describe an ever-expanding form that originates in various performative disciplines such as dance, theater, music, sound, spoken word, etc. While we are not attempting definitions, the Glasshouse Project, at its core, is dedicated to performance in a visual art context. If you are not sure your practice fits our mission, we are happy to communicate. It is always helpful to look at works of past guests and recent events to get a better understanding of what it is we do.
Our programming is made possible by the generous support of New York State Council on the Arts
Questions can be addressed to contact (at) glasshouseproject.org