UPSTATE ARTIST CAMP
Where Camping + Art Making meet in Upstate, NY.
Upstate Artist Camp is an informal residency on Heather Palecek’s private 50 acre property in the Eastern Adirondacks (Washington County, NY on the VT border). Started in 2022, this residency was created from a desire to give back to the artist community - a free week long stay in a beautiful, peaceful space to make artwork and connect with nature.
This residency is perfect for an artist/writer/musician who is:
Proficient at camping + loves the outdoors
Self-motivated and can manage their own time
Works in a medium that can be done outdoors and without electricity
Is interested in a week long vacation to make artwork outdoors
What to expect:
50 acres of beautiful woodlands and wetlands, river and meadows on the property. Clear view of the milky way each night. No neighbors in sight.
You’re welcome to leave the property to visit nearby waterfalls, lakes, and rivers to swim and canoe in, or go for a hike.
There is rare cell service, no wifi, and no electricity on the property. (5 minute drive to really good cell service + wifi.)
There is a hand pump well for drinking water, hand pump spray shower, and a clean outhouse for the shared bathroom.
There will be 4-5 artists (including the 2 hosts) sharing the property during the residency, leaving enough space to spread out and choose to work independently or nearby one another.
Everyone will be pitching their own tent and making their own food. (You can set up a camper/RV in the field if you have one!)
Everyone will need to bring their own art supplies + equipment to create artwork during their stay.
*There is an expectation that your art making process will not harm the environment in any way. (No dumping of materials, chemistry, etc.)
Heather will be there for most/all of the week making her own artwork, but will not be chaperoning or planning everyone elses days.
Campfires at night to share work and thoughts about our day, inspire one another, and form friendships.
An Example Day at Upstate Artist Camp Residency
Wake up at 7:00am with the sun, make coffee, and sip it by the stream.
Make and eat breakfast.
Sketch in your sketchbook.
9:30-10:00am: Practice yoga, walk in the labyrinth, or meditate under the pines.
10:00-12:00: Gather your paints and do some plein air painting in the wildflower meadow.
Make lunch + eat with others while talking about your morning and your art practice.
1:00-1:30: Nap in the hammock.
1:30-5:00: Continue Painting.
Make and eat dinner.
Build a campfire, talk about art, pull tarot cards, drink wine, play games, read stories, listen to music, build friendships.
Lay in the field and look at the Milkyway. Count how many shooting stars you see.
Sleep.
Who can apply:
Artists of any medium can apply. (Writers, Painters, Illustrators, Photographers, Musicians, Spoon Carvers, Textile Artists: literally ANY artist!)
Artists of all genders, backgrounds, abilities, races, and sexualities are welcomed with love and acceptance.
Artists at any point in their career.
2025 Dates are July 13-19.
Address will be provided to accepted artists only, but if you’re curious about where it is located: I am on the VT border in Washington County, NY (1.25 hours north of Albany)
2024 Recap
In 2024, four artists came together at Upstate Artist Camp. Throughout the week we spent time together and individually to make artwork, have meaningful conversations, connect with the land, swim, teach each other new techniques, and mostly enjoy each others company with tons of full belly laughter at our nightly fires. A highlight of our week was our midnight rendezvous into the marsh to experiment with a new photographic technique!
Amber Palecek worked with textiles this year; creating weavings on a loom with natural fibers and yarns and making a ton of progress on an embroidered artwork.
Gavin Austin is a sculptor working mostly with stone. I felt that he would really connect with the history of this space as it’s known around the world for its slate quarries and was thrilled to invite him to my property to see what he would think about working in a new stone medium. It was so impressive to watch him chip away at the slate and create a few beautiful pieces. He was obviously inspired by the space though, because he made many wooden sculptures and spoons from ethically harvested wood on site. He taught me how to carve, too, and it was a pleasure to learn a new skill from him. Jeannine and I paid him back by inspiring him with pinhole photography throughout the week. https://www.gavinaustin.net/
Jeannine Swallow is an innovative photographic artist working primarily in tintype and experimental video. We had crossed paths briefly at the Experimental Photo Festival in Barcelona, Spain a few years ago which made me excited to connect with her during the week. At the residency she was prolific - making work non-stop with a variety of mediums ranging from lumen, anthotype, pinhole photography, cyanotype, photogram, video, film, and paint! She taught us all how to make anthotypes and it was a pleasure to learn this process from her. Jeannine was inspiring and engaging, making the week a ton of fun for everyone. https://www.jeannineswallow.com/
Heather Palecek (me! - the residency host) spent the week working on a new project about Hemlock trees; photographing them with FP100C film on a medium format camera, creating plant-based photo chemistry out of their needles, and making a multitude of chemigram drawings with their branhces. This requires lots of time laying on the forest floor, sketching and thinking too.
2023 Recap
In 2023, five artists came together at Upstate Artist Camp. Throughout the week we spent time together and individually exploring the land, making artwork, walking barefoot, practicing yoga by the river, engaging in thoughtful conversations, eating meals together, sharing books and ideas, enjoying nightly campfires, and visited the Southern VT Arts Center on a rainy afternoon. Halfway through the week we were joined by Dale Rio for two nights, and it was wonderful to have her there.
Amber Palecek is known for her mixed media drawings. Her current focus explores our perception of “weeds” and celebrates their incredible ability to adapt to any location, focusing on the relationship between native and “invasive species” in the environment. During her stay, she practiced a more loose and playful style of drawing and painting, pushing herself in a new direction to discover how it might affect her future artwork. She set up a plein air painting easel in a different location on the property every day to draw the landscape with a variety of mediums.
Isabella Dorvillier recently graduated from MICA with a BFA in Fiber Arts. She came to Upstate Artist Camp to explore and connect with the land, forage for fauna that could be used as natural dyes and eco-dye muslin fabrics to later be turned into wearable garments and artworks. It was marvelous to watch her meticulously plan her compositions, fold her fabrics, and experiment with boiling, steaming, and natural ways to bring the natural dye out of the foraged materials. She made 5 beautiful fabrics throughout the week and we’re all looking forward to seeing what she creates with them! https://www.isadorvillier.com/
Diane Deery is a multi-disciplinary land artist and arts educator. Her works are process based and site-specific; influenced by the environment around her. At this residency she explored a variety of mediums, making cyanotypes from foraged flowers and baskets from foraged cattail reeds and mosses. It was inspiring to see the depth and breadth of her work. https://www.dianedeery.com/
Dale Rio is an analog photographer, community builder, and champion of all female identifying artists in the alternative photographic process sphere. During her visit to the residency she photographed Heather as a model for two of her personal projects; one of which celebrates female-identifying persons that have a profound connection to nature. https://www.dalerio.com/
Heather Palecek (the residency host) spent the week working with pinhole photography. First, making a pinhole camera that shoots instant film and then photographing symbolic spaces in the environment.
2022 Recap
In 2022, Alia Bensliman was chosen as the artist in residence. She is a fabulous multi-disciplinary artist who cares deeply about animals, the environment, sustainability, feminism + equality. She applied with a project to ethically forage for and create handmade watercolors, which was a perfect fit for this residency in August when the wildflower meadow was in full bloom.
https://www.aliabenslimanart.com/
During her residence she had time to make natural watercolor from foraged pigments, collect materials to make more pigments at a later date, create cyanotypes from foraged plants and experiment with adding pigment to the exposure process, drew and painted illustrations, and embroidered clothing.
