Making Things, Together at Milkwood

Illustration as a field — unlike the studio arts of painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics — does not have a long history of artist residencies. Typically, illustration is practiced in solitude, perched next to the coffee pot and the telephone. Illustrators are creatures on a deadline. Contemplation is a luxury we can rarely afford. 

Milkwood Farm has changed that paradigm. Since its founding in 2021, the beautiful former dairy farm in the misty Catskill Mountains of New York has hosted dozens of illustrators each summer. Two-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, illustrator, and living legend Sophie Blackall and her partner Ed Schmidt bought the property after it was closed as a working dairy. It has been rebuilt into an artist’s paradise. Focused specifically on writing and illustration for the children’s book community — Milkwood has become a kind of pilgrimage for the industry. Luminary illustrators, art directors, agents, librarians, writers, educators, and editors have all camped out at Milkwood (under the roof of the converted barn). It is an extremely competitive residency for good reason. Not only does it have an illustrious pedigree, but the place is simply gorgeous. A true oasis dedicated to the making of art and writing for young people.  

The MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture program at the Sam Fox School was awarded an unprecedented opportunity at Milkwood. For a week in August of 2026, we took over the entire farm — a group of 10 including myself and nine MFA-IVC alumni. Sophie and Ed told us we were the first group to be accepted to the residency from an MFA program. It was an incredible week. Many of us remarked that it felt like being at camp. We set up a daily schedule, with critiques and conversations throughout the week. There was tea time each day for anyone who wished to talk about their daily progress. Each day started with community coffee and plenty of time to work amongst the gorgeous landscape. The hayloft, the 5,000 book library, the calf barn, and the pond all provided amazing studios. We ended each day with a community dinner — each day’s menu was based on a famous picture book (“Dragons Love Tacos,” from Adam Rubin, BFA ’05, was one such selection). In the evenings, we had a campfire, played games, and watched movies in the hayloft.

Personally, as the chair of the MFA-IVC program, it was extremely fulfilling to see so many different generations of our students together in such a place. Of course, I know all the students, but how I forget that in our eight year history, not every one of these former students knew each other. At Milkwood, our alumni were in the spiritual company of so many great artists that had come before. Just being there meant these IVC alums belonged with their heroes. At Milkwood, they have a collection of sketchbooks, which act as a kind of illustrated guestbook. Each visitor does a page, the standing prompt is to draw a horse, the mascot of Milkwood. For our time that week, we did a single page jam-comic (a practice of making a collaborative visual story from individually drawn components.) It was a fitting work for our time there. The IVC program has always emphasized an embodied artistic life: collaboration, presence, and creative fellowship. We all need to be reminded of the greater community of our work — Milkwood does that quietly with mist and moon. The week was a cauldron of inspiration, collaboration, reflection, and laughter. Special thanks to Danielle Ridolfi, MFA’23, for leading the charge on the application process, she was the one who got the ball rolling for this singular adventure.  

We all created a lot of new work there (amazing what you can get done in a single week when you have time, space, and good friends to encourage you). Who knows what future bestsellers will come from this one week in the mountains? But what we are taking home is not the stuff we made, but a vision of “the good life.” Grounded in the humble joys of daily writing, reading, drawing, cooking, eating, talking, making — Milkwood reminded us of the reason why we make art in the first place. Wonder!  

—JOHN HENDRIX

Learn more about Milkwood Farm.