Deepen understandings of artist residencies at SCAD deFINE ART professional practices panel
Join arts leaders Charlotte Caldwell of Stove Works, Sasha Okshteyn of The Watermill Center, and Lilly Robicsek of Silver Art Projects as they share how participating in an artist residency can greatly affect the trajectory of your career. The panel will cover how these programs vitally support artists by offering time, space, resources, and mentorship to develop their work, advance their practice, forge professional relationships, and engage with new communities. The panelists will also offer insight on the standard expectations, deliverables, and application processes for residencies, providing suggestions to improve submission materials like artist biographies, statements, artwork samples, and more.
Panelists
Charlotte Caldwell, founder and director at Stove Works
Sasha Okshteyn, associate director of artist programs at The Watermill Center
Lilly Robicsek, program director at Silver Art Projects
Moderated by Honor Bowman, SCAD executive dean of academic services
This event is free and open to the public and presented as part of SCAD deFINE ART 2025.
About the panelists
Charlotte Caldwell is the founder and director of Stove Works, a contemporary art center and residency program located in Chattanooga, Tenn. Caldwell has worked in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors of the art world and received an M.A. in visual arts administration from New York University. She returned to Chattanooga after 14 years at large, honing her skills as residency director at the Wassaic Project and project manager at No Longer Empty.
Sasha Okshteyn is a creative producer with more than 12 years of experience and currently the associate director of artist programs at The Watermill Center on the East End of Long Island. Okshteyn specializes in live performance and public art. Her past work includes institutional collaborations with Performa, The Museum of Modern Art, Pace Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pioneer Works, Art Basel, and the Momentary. She has also collaborated with artists Madeline Hollander, Will Rawls, Adam Linder, Barbara Kruger, Tschabalala Self, Kevin Beasley, and Jacolby Satterwhite, among many other amazing minds. Okshteyn is the founder and artistic director of Beach Sessions, a pioneering performance series in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York. A native New Yorker, she received her B.A. in art history and dance from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and her M.A. in visual arts administration from New York University.
Lilly Robicsek is the program director at Silver Art Projects, New York’s largest nonprofit artist residency, providing free, yearlong studio space to 28 artists annually on an entire floor of 4 World Trade Center. Since joining as the organization’s first hire in 2020, Robicsek has established Silver Art Projects as a leading residency. She has supported more than 130 artists, overseeing the selection process, programming, studio visits, community building, professional development, and strategic partnerships, with four spots reserved annually for formerly incarcerated artists. Each year, Robicsek assembles a selection committee featuring art world visionaries such as Mickalene Thomas, Derek Fordjour, and Hank Willis Thomas; collectors such as Venus Williams and Everette Taylor; and curators such as Eugenie Tsai and Christopher Y. Lew. Under her leadership, the applicant pool has nearly tripled since the residency’s inception, with 700 artists applying for the most recent open call. During the program, resident artists have gained gallery representation, presented solo and group exhibitions, and participated in local and international art fairs. Artworks by residents and alumni are now held in major collections at the Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Notably, several current and alumni residents have exhibited at the SCAD Museum of Art. Through her dedication, Robicsek continues to create sustainable career paths for emerging artists and fosters an inclusive artist community in New York.