Why the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program Is More Relevant Than Ever
The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program (SWSP) is among New York’s most respected and sought-after artist residencies. Each year, it offers a cohort of seventeen artists rent-free studio space in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and opportunities for those artists to cultivate deeper ties with the international art community. The newly announced 2025-2026 cohort, which spans a wide range of mediums, narratives and cultural backgrounds, includes Amy Cutler, Andrew Brischler, Bianca Fields, Celeste Falzone, Dakota Gearhart, Deborah Bright, Donald Perlis, Eva Davidova, Ivana Dama, Jake Troyli, Jason Karolak, Jennifer Sirey, Linn Meyers, Miguel Payano, Natalie Wood, Ohan Breiding and Tracy Miller.
Observer recently spoke with Ariel Willmott, director of cultural affairs for the Walentas Family Foundation, about how the Sharpe-Walentas residency has evolved over nearly three decades to meet the shifting needs of contemporary artists while staying grounded in its founding values. What distinguishes the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program from other residencies is its artist-led model that ensures each cohort is selected with care and an understanding of how participation will serve artists at any stage in their careers. “It’s a highly competitive program, yet it maintains a deeply intimate approach, working closely with each artist to support their residency experience,” Willmott told Observer.
The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program’s roots stretch back to the SoHo art scene of the late 1980s, when a meeting organized by Chuck Close and facilitated by Irving Sandler led to the formal establishment of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation by Marie Walsh.
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From the very beginning, artists and critics served as advisors, shaping the residency into a program that offered participants practical—and lasting—support. “As artists and arts professionals, they were uniquely equipped to understand what artists truly needed for a meaningful residency experience, and those needs haven’t changed: good space and time,” Willmott said. Founding figures like Close and Philip Pearlstein continue to lend the program legitimacy, but more important is the fact that Sharpe-Walentas remains artist-led, with a rotating committee of contemporary artists selecting each new cohort.
When asked what makes a residency truly impactful, Willmott emphasized that access to a workspace is only the beginning. “At SWSP, artists are given large, well-lit and ventilated studios with minimal programmatic requirements,” she says. “It’s a comparatively large program, too, with seventeen studios, and the length of the residency, along with the diverse range of participants, fosters a dynamic environment where artists learn from one another.” Free from the common pressures of preparing for exhibitions or producing finished work to leave behind—requirements that define many other residencies—artists at Sharpe-Walentas can focus on the development of their practices while building meaningful relationships with their peers.
Beyond this internal community, the program brings in curators, writers, critics and artists, creating organic opportunities for professional growth. “These visits create professional connections with institutions and publications nationwide,” Willmott added, noting how often this type of facilitated relationship-building leads to exhibitions and other career-enhancing engagements.
Originally based in TriBeCa, the residency program relocated to DUMBO in 2008 and adopted its current name in 2014, when the Walentas Family Foundation assumed its sponsorship. That shift not only ensured the program’s survival but also reaffirmed its commitment to the evolving needs of New York’s artists. Rising rents in TriBeCa had made the original space untenable, prompting the Walentas family to step in with an offer of fully sponsored studios at 20 Jay Street—part of Two Trees’s DUMBO portfolio. “When Jane and David Walentas were approached by three of the program’s advisory committee members—Phong Bui, Irving Sandler and Chuck Close—they recognized an opportunity to provide artists with the studios they desperately needed,” Willmott explained.
Relocating the program also aligned with the Walentas family’s broader investment in the neighborhood’s creative ecosystem. “Two Trees and the Walentas family continue to nurture DUMBO’s vibrant creative scene through public events, subsidized artist rentals and by fully sponsoring the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program,” Willmott said. Despite rapid gentrification, the local creative scene remains vibrant. In April, more than 7,000 visitors come for DUMBO Open Studios, where nearly 100 artists—including current SWSP residents—open their workspaces to the public.
As the art world continues to change, emerging artists face new challenges. When asked about the program’s priorities and how they meet the moment, Willmott underscored the deepening urgency of a familiar issue. “It used to be that young artists could find space in New York. Now, even in less central neighborhoods, studio space is prohibitively expensive. It’s nearly impossible for artists to afford both studio and living spaces, or even a combined space, in the city.”
“As the capital of the art world, what happens in New York has global repercussions, and New York artists play a vital role in shaping contemporary culture,” Willmott added. “They drive conversations about global issues, individual development and societal growth.”
Indeed, the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program counts among its alumni some of the most influential artists of our time, many of whom are exhibiting at major institutions across the country and around the world—Kara Walker, Julie Mehretu, Kehinde Wiley and photographer Dawoud Bey, to name a few. Many alumni, according to Willmott, remain closely connected to the program long after their residencies end. “Participants often refer to the program as a family. The relationships formed at SWSP are enduring and ultimately strengthen New York’s art community.”
