By: Deborah Johnson Wood
There’s no room at the inn. And Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency in Saugatuck aims to change that by adding 2,400 square feet of student housing and a 
4,200-square-foot directors’/visiting artists’ residence.
“We turn students away because we can’t accommodate them,” says Jason Kalajainen, executive director. “Part of the Ox-Bow experience is living on campus, an inclusive all-encompassing experience.”
About 10 of the 115 acres are devoted to the school’s campus. The rest is natural dunes where students can hike, meditate, and open themselves to artistic inspiration.
Stepping onto the campus is like stepping into a 1900s New England community, Kalajainen says. The new student housing will look like a two-story farmhouse, complete with seven bedrooms for nine students, and a comfortable gathering space for student artists.
The directors’/artists’ residence, named Metternich Lodge after benefactor Dale Metternich, will be two two-bedroom structures joined by a common roof and a breezeway. Both will be designed as small homes. Plans include concrete floors, exposed beams, and cathedral ceilings.
A gallery and gathering space in the artists’ residence will feature some of Ox-Bow’s art collection. Visiting artists are essentially the rock stars of the contemporary art world. Past visiting artists include J. Morgan Puett, Lena Knilli, Ellen Lanyon, and Eames Demetrios.
“The visiting artists’ residence allows us to invite a top quality of artists,” Kalajainen says. “And the directors’ residence will enable whoever is executive director, the one establishing the vision for Ox-Bow, to spend more time on campus, which is a great thing.”
The architectural design is by Jack Murchie of SMNG-A Architects, Chicago. Vander Meulen Builders of Holland is handling the construction.
Source: Jason Kalajainen, Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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