Jane Wegscheider is a maker, community member, collaborator, and co-director of The Art Garden, a community-supported art-making space she founded in 2009 following her second Catwalk residency. Conceived as a social sculpture, The Art Garden has become a sustaining creative force within its rural community. Her artistic practice explores relationships, stories, and memories that shape what it means to be human — holding grief and joy simultaneously while responding to “sounds from the heart.” Through objects, environments, and experiences, her work investigates connection, care, and the transformative potential of shared creative engagement.

Website: https://www.theartgarden.org/

Affiliation: SAIC

Since 2019, Penn State professors poet Julia Spicher Kasdorf and photographer Steven Rubin have worked on a documentary poetry and photography project to represent agricultural activity within walking distance, about 30 miles, of our homes. Through the Covid 19 pandemic and into a second Trump administration, we have followed the seasons and worked to represent landowners, Hispanic farm workers, and farm communities with beauty and complexity. Our radically local focus reveals implications of global issues, such as climate change, corporate consolidation, industrialization, migrant labor, land development, and food insecurity. During the residency, we hope to finalize our art book manuscript.

Website: https://www.juliakasdorf.com/

https://www.stevenrubin.com/

Affiliation: Penn State

Andy Li is a composer based in New York City whose work spans musical theater, opera, and audio drama, with productions presented by organizations including Classic Stage Company, The American Opera Projects, and the Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow. Jill Ohayon is an internationally recognized writer and performer whose creative practice explores resilience, identity, and community through lyrical and character-driven narratives. Together, they created The Garden Bridge, recipient of the awards for Best Music & Lyrics and Best Production at the 2025 SheNYC Summer Festival. During their residency at Catwalk, they will continue developing new theatrical works that merge powerful storytelling with music-driven performance.

Affiliation: NYU

Kea Trevett is a theater artist, filmmaker, and founding member of Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble whose work spans stage, film, and Shakespeare-based adaptations. Playwright Mary Hamilton is a resident playwright with New Dramatists whose work has been developed by The Lark, Ars Nova, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. During their residency, the two will continue developing Mary’s award-winning play 16 Winters, inspired by The Winter’s Tale and originally commissioned by the American Shakespeare Center. Following a recent workshop produced by Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, Kea and Mary will spend their time at Catwalk synthesizing notes in preparation for a planned 2027 production.

Website: https://keatrevett.com/

Affiliation: Columbia