RISD Trek 2025 Participants Experience the Creative Culture of New York’s Hudson Valley

“I have always been a little nervous about networking and thought of the professional world as cold and intimidating,” says rising senior Maggie McCreery 26 FD. “But conversations with the alums and other artists we met during Trek Hudson Valley came so easily! I realized that they were recently students themselves and were excited to talk to us about their experiences.”

McCreery is just back from a whirlwind week in New York’s Hudson Valley, where she and nine other RISD students toured numerous galleries, studios, museums, and cultural institutions and met with the creative professionals—many of them RISD alums—making their mark on the region. Now in its fourth year, RISD Trek allows students to engage with art world professionals and build networks with industry leaders, alumni, and mentors. 

The goal of the program—which is fully funded through private donations and organized by Alumni + Family Relations—is to give students a deeper understanding of how they can translate their RISD experiences into fulfilling careers as working artists, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals. 

One of the first stops on the itinerary was Hollengold Farm in Accord, NY. It was founded by botanical artist and RISD alum Wendy Hollender 76 TX, who led a studio tour and on-site botanical drawing workshop.

The group also visited Sky High Farm—founded by noted painter and RISD alum Dan Colen 01 PT—where students toured the inaugural biennial Trees Never End and Houses Never End, a site-specific exhibition exploring the relationship between local ecology, history, and industry in the Hudson River Valley and its connection to New York City. The organization is committed to community-centered research focused on issues at the intersection of climate, agriculture, food access, and education.

“At Sky High Farm, I was inspired by how art can take a regenerative form, cultivating nutritious food, fostering community care, and creating impact beyond the studio,” says Trek participant Asmaa Amadou MFA 26 TX, a graduate student in RISD’s Textiles department. “It resonated with my own goal of one day building a studio space that bridges art with community-centered work.”

Another inspiring moment was a visit to The Wassaic Project, an artist-run nonprofit contemporary art gallery, artist residency, and art education center co-directed by RISD alums Jeff Barnett-Winsby MFA 06 PH and Bowie Zunino MFA 09 SC and Eve Biddle. “Wassaic is an amazing place where I feel like the opportunities to make an impact are endless,” Zunino says. “I love the architecture and how it inspires both our programming and the artists who come to work here—opening the door to wild ideas and out-of-the-box solutions.”

Students were also introduced to out-of-the-box thinking at Storm King Art Center, a 500-acre outdoor museum featuring large-scale sculpture and site-specific commissions; the River Valley Arts Collective, where local artists come together to experiment and share skills; Art Omi, home to a sculpture and architecture park, the Newmark Gallery, and five distinct residency programs; and The School, a unique component of the Jack Shainman Gallery whose curatorial vision is guided by a desire for creative exploration and cultural exchange.

They got behind-the-scenes tours of Urban Art Projects (UAP), which provides artists the space to develop ideas, investigate materiality, deliver projects, and extend their practice; and LikeMindedObjects, a furniture, accessories, and interiors design firm focused on sustainability and led by artist and RISD alum Elise McMahon 09 FD.

“I don’t have concrete plans yet for where I’ll be living and working after RISD,” says Amadou, “but I gained a firsthand sense of what life after RISD can look and feel like, along with exposure to the many different ways art practices can take shape in a professional context.”

Top image: students get a behind-the-scenes tour of Urban Art Projects in Rock Tavern, NY.

Simone Solondz
August 29, 2025