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Dear Joan of Art, Where can I find out about art colony development in this country? I am particularly interested in the Woodstock Artist Colony.

Dear Visitor,

The following information on the Woodstock Art Colony is excerpted from AMERICAN ART COLONIES, 1850–1930: A HISTORICAL GUIDE TO AMERICA'S ORIGINAL ART COLONIES AND THEIR ARTISTS by Steve Shipp (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996).

"The art colony at Woodstock, New York, began in 1902 with the establishment of Byrdcliffe, designed by its founders to bring together and encourage development of an artistic community 'nestled in a Catskill valley lying between Overlook and Ohayo mountains some eleven miles to the northwest of Kingston [New York]. Early funding for Byrdcliffe was derived from a large inheritance received by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, an English-born visionary who felt he could realize his dream at Woodstock, a town with a year-round population of less than 1,000 people nearly one hundred miles north of New York City in the Catskill Mountains.…

"In 1902, Whitehead purchased more than 1,200 acres of land on Overlook Mountain, which commanded an overwhelming view of the little village of Woodstock and the Hudson River.… The Whiteheads moved there in 1903. The Art Students League of New York also realized the artistic surroundings of Woodstock, establishing summer art classes there in 1906 under the directorship of landscape specialist Birge Harrison and attracting dozens of students each year from around the country. By the 1920s, visiting artists swelled Woodstock's summer population considerably, leading to the 1930 founding of the Woodstock Historical Society with its purpose of preserving the history of the artistic community. An influx of artists after World War II added to Woodstock's distinguished history as one of America's prominent art colonies."

I hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,

Joan of Art

Pictured: Art Students League instructor John Carroll (1892–1959), at far right, and unidentified companions at Woodstock, NY,Smithsonian American Art Museum, Peter A. Juley & Son Collection.