The Alumni Newsletter

Our inaugural Alumni Newsletter is here!

We are celebrating the artists and scholars who have received support through our interdisciplinary residencies. Each year, Craigardan awards more than $125,000 in scholarships and fellowships to more than 60 artists and scholars from around the Adirondacks and around the world through our creative residency programs. Their accomplishments are a testament to the power of art in all of our lives!

Are you interested in applying for a 2026 residency or resident internship opportunity? The deadline to apply is January 15th. Learn more HERE

Would you like to make a year-end gift towards our programs and scholarships? Please consider supporting the Alumni Fellowship, the new Main House Project, or the general fund HERE

Alumni! We have a page just for you. Share your news, use the short-form residency application to return to Craigardan, submit to the Gardan Journal, and learn more about ways to stay connected HERE

Dr. Lise Deguire (‘24, ‘25)

Dr. Lise Deguire is the co-editor of the new book Disfigurement: Understanding Visible Difference, published by Routledge Press. This book has been called "The new gold standard for understanding the experience of disfigurement,” this book is written by an all-star team of experts, most of whom live with disfigurement themselves.

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall (‘23)

Her recent book, A Protest History of the United States, (Beacon Press) was published in April 2025. Gloria is currently on a book tour that has taken her to 20 states across the U.S.

During Gloria’s two weeks at Craigardan, she conducted research on John Brown, who protested against slavery. He is featured in chapter two of “A Protest History.”

Holly Hanessian (‘25)

Holly uses her internal compass for making art that is tied to connecting people together and community building. Past projects ranged from hurricane mitigation, and designing sustainable water systems, to investigating agricultural justice issues. These artworks addressed historical and structural problems that require us to change the ways we think about water scarcity in the environment or who grows our food. Below are two links to current projects that Holly has been working on.

Gadsden Farm Project Interview

The New Ceramic Locavore

Learn more about Holly: https://www.hollyhanessian.com/

Instagram

Matthew Daddona (‘22)

Out now, Matthew’s debut novel, The Longitude of Grief, is a dark, intimate coming-of-age story about a boy's determination to escape the betrayals of his small town and his beleaguered family. When the boy, Henry, befriends an elderly man, Josef, whose sagaciousness presents new possibilities in life, he wonders if he can achieve a newfound sense of self with the help of Josef or if he is another false star in a constellation of malevolent men with which he is surrounded. Helen Phillips, National Book Award-nominated author of The Need, summed it up as "a mesmerizing read" that's "rich with melancholy beauty and emotional acumen." Kirkus Reviews called it "a philosophical, intentionally digressive exploration of masculinity, toxic and otherwise." 

Natasha D'Souza (‘23)

Natasha has been invited to be a Forbes Contributor exploring the future of careers and leadership. Her articles will be located here.

Additional article info can be found here.

More info about Natasha:

https://www.natashanotes.com/ or Instagram

Lu Chekowsky (‘24, ‘25)

Emmy-award winning creative director Lu Chekowsky's Don’t Buy What I'm Selling, is part memoir about accidentally succeeding in—and eventually escaping—the toxic world of advertising that rejected the author's own fat image, and part manifesto on how we can break free from the grasp of advertising's relentless, targeted influence. Don’t Buy What I’m Selling is forthcoming from Little, Brown in 2026.

Rights: Laura.Mamelok@hbgusa.com

Learn more about Lu: https://www.lchekowsky.com/

Evan Shopper (‘23)

Using his 15 years of experience as a psychotherapist, Evan developed Deep Dive Parenting, a free website (no ads, no sponsors, etc.) to help parents understand and work with their child in ways they probably aren’t finding outside of working with a therapist. 

The website contains about seventy 1000-word posts, and he’s adding more every week. 

Like the name implies, the website dives deep into how young children work so that parents can communicate and connect with their child in a more psychologically attuned way.

Deep Dive Parenting helps parents gain an in-depth understanding into:

• how young children emotionally experience and (mis)interpret their surroundings

• how children can develop harmful narratives based on these experiences and (mis)perceptions

• how parents can help children express and work through their feelings

• how parents can decipher their child’s behavior as a form of expressed feelings

• how parents can talk with and connect more fully with their child

Sara (Smmo) Ozawa (‘24)

Along with Sara’s collaborator, Phillip Norman, she released a 5-episode podcast series documenting stories of immigrant inclusion in rural America as part of a fellowship for the Center for Rural Strategies and Welcoming America. The process of documenting these oral histories felt particularly prescient to Sara, and they are grateful for the hope it kept alit during these turbulent times. She hopes that tuning in offers listeners a glimpse at that hope.

Listen to the Podcast

Learn more about Sara: https://rootedfutures.co/

John Kane (‘22, ‘25)

Documentary: The Last Seat in the House Written and Directed by John Kane 2024

Known as the "Father of Festival Sound," Bill Hanley (b. 1937) made his indelible mark as a sound engineer at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Fair. Hanley is credited with creating the sound of Woodstock, which literally made the massive festival possible. Stories of his on-the-fly solutions resonate as legend among festivalgoers, music lovers, and sound engineers. Since the 1950s, his passion for audio has changed the way audiences listen to and technicians approach quality live concert sound.

In his two-part 90-min documentary - The Last Seat in the House - John Kane examines Hanley’s echoing impact on the entire field of sound engineering, that crucial but often-overlooked carrier wave of contemporary music. Hanley’s innovations founded the sound reinforcement industry and launched a new area of technology, rich with clarity and intelligibility. By the early seventies, the post-Woodstock festival mass gathering movement collapsed. The music industry shifted, and new sound companies surfaced. After huge financial losses and facing stiff competition, Hanley lost his hold on a business he helped create. By studying both his history during the festivals and his independent business ventures, Kane seeks to present an honest portrayal of Hanley and his acumen and contributions.

View the trailer

Learn more about John: http://www.johnkanestudios.com/

David Fontana (‘18)

David was recently published in The New Yorker. You can read his piece titled Tim Walz, J. D. Vance, and the Politics of Place. In the article, both candidates speak about what it is like to lead nationally, but also what it is like to live a life locally.

Read the Article

Sonya Huber (‘24)

Nothing Compares to You: What Sinéad O'Connor Means to Us was published in July 2025. It is a collection of essays from 26 women and nonbinary essayists about the personal impact of Sinéad on their lives, with a forward by Neko Case.

Stellah de Ville (‘18)

Stellah recently opened a new studio/gallery in Mexico City. You can find a wonderful write-up with professional images of the new space in Domino Magazine

More info about Stellah:

www.studio-claro.com

Emily Sullivan Smith (‘24)

Emily’s new works titled Quietly at the Magic were on exhibition at the Roger Glass Center for the Arts Gallery on the campus of the University of Dayton.

Emily Sullivan Smith is an Associate Professor and Foundations Coordinator at the University of Dayton’s Department of Art and Design in Dayton, OH. Her studio practice is multidisciplinary and includes sculpture, printmaking and fibers. Sullivan Smith’s work visualizes her relationship with the natural and human worlds, using imagery collected with her cell phone camera, long tended to house plants, interior spaces and found objects. Intersections of ecology, fine art, craft, storytelling and human belonging are evident throughout her practice in both subject and material.

Learn More about Emily: https://www.emilysullivansmith.com/

Chelsea Dodds (‘25)

Chelsea is publishing a poetry chapbook titled Nothing Good Will Get Away, through Finishing Line Press. This is her first book publication! The chapbook is now available for preorder, and is on sale through December 19th. The release date is scheduled for February.

Nathan Blum (‘24)

Nathan Blum's short story, Outcomes, appeared in the November 3 issue of The New Yorker.

A short interview with the magazine's fiction editor, as well as a podcast recording of Nathan reading the story, are also available online.

Read the Article

More info about Nathan:

https://www.nathanoblum.com/

Erica Berry (‘18, ‘19)

Erica Berry is a writer and teacher based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Her essays, which are often about the intersection of inner worlds and outer environments, appear in The New York Times, The Guardian, Emergence, Outside, The Yale Review, and other publications. She is the author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear (Flatiron/Macmillan, 2023), which won the 2024 Oregon Book Award, and Bodies In Heat: Love in a Changing Climate, forthcoming from Flatiron (US) and Faber (UK). Winner of a 2025 Oregon Career Fellowship, she is a contributing editor at Orion magazine and a 2025 Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.

Check out a recent article that Erica wrote and see if you can spot the Craigardan inspiration.

Read the Article

Christina Rivera (‘23)

Christina Rivera's book, MY OCEANS: Essays of Water, Whales, and Women (Northwestern University Press, March '25), recently launched into the world! Christina is very grateful for her time at Craigardan in which she put finishing touches on the book. She gives special thanks to her wonderful residency companions and also the Applebarn audience for their enthusiastic support and reception of the project. Excerpts from MY OCEANS were published at The Cut and Longreads if you'd like to read a sample!

Jennifer Steil (‘18, ‘24)

Jennifer is now on Substack with The Liminal with Jennifer Steil.

Award-winning author and ovarian cancer wrangler Jennifer Steil talks writing, reading, recurrence, and remission as well as life in the fertile territory of Inbetweenland.

Subscribe to her Substack

Learn more about Jennifer: https://www.jennifersteil.net/

Instagram

Michelle St. Romain Wilson (‘23)

Michelle is very excited that her debut novel, completed during her Craigardan residency through the Bookgardan program led by Kate Moses, will be released on April 21, 2026 by She Writes Press, with distribution by Simon and Schuster. Song of Belonging is a dual-timeline story with hints of magical realism and includes themes of caring for our environment, listening to the wisdom of our ancestors, and connecting with nature in all of its beautiful forms. Set in 1934 rural Louisiana and current day California, it is the story of a young woman who begins having memories that are not her own. This tale began in her mind when she was a young girl growing up in Louisiana and was given a green jewelry box by her great-grandmother when she died. You can follow Alice's journey as she unravels the stories of her grandmothers and others in her family, starting with a letter with instructions to "Protect what you love and create what you desire."

Fanxi Sun (‘24)

Fanxi’s latest short film, I kept following until I realized what was true (2025), was selected into the 42nd Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival in Kassel, Germany! It has been included in the Shorts Program #4 "Short and Sweet" on November 19. She was editing this film at Craigardan in the summer of 2024. Fanxi also had the chance to present its silent version during her Applebarn Talk.

Film synopsis: A film about walking, moving, traveling, and migrating; about the choreography of camerawork and the art of editing; about playing with sound and images; about making a statement. It also serves as her farewell to the city of Richmond, Virginia, USA, where Fanxi lived for three years until the summer of 2024.

Kasseler Dokfest: The Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival is a yearly six-day event taking place in Mid-November, organizer is the Filmladen Kassel e.V. The film program, which includes short and feature documentary films and artistic-experimental productions is the main part of the festival. One section shows productions from Northern Hesse. In 2024 212 films were presented. The festival’s profile also includes the trans-media section Monitoring, an exhibition of current video and media installations, the workshop symposium interfiction, the DokfestConnection, the film educational side program junges dokfest, the DokfestGeneration, as well as the DokfestForum.

Rob Rogers (‘25)

Rob presented his essay titled Cognitive Distortion at an online Live Author Reading event on Saturday, September 27th at 2 pm EST/11 am (PST) hosted by Thorn & Bloom magazine.  Rob's essay will also be published in the next issue of Thorn & Bloom, set for release on September 30th. Cognitive Distortion explores Rob's struggles to overcome self-doubt and warped perceptions of the world caused by his past struggles with depression.

Another essay of Rob's, titled Mardi Gras '95, has also won First Place for Nonfiction in the SLO (San Luis Obispo) Night Writers Golden Quill Writing Contest. Mardi Gras '95 will be published in the next issue of The NightWriter Review, scheduled for release in January 2026. His essay titled Baby Bear will also be published in November in the Bacopa Literary Review.

Learn more about Rob: https://robrogerswriter.com/

Virginia Chang (‘24)

During Virginia's Craigardan residency in the fall of 2024, the seeds for the book Preparing For End of Life For Dummies were planted. The contract was negotiated and the first ideas about writing this book were developed at Craigardan. Here is a description of the forthcoming book by John Wiley & Sons to be released February 2026:

A compassionate and practical way to approach end-of-life planning for you and your loved ones.

“End of life” can be a daunting, intimidating, and even scary phrase. But it doesn't have to overwhelm you. You have the power to make decisions about your future that help secure the well-being of your loved ones and bring a sense of comfort. And that's a great thing!

In Preparing For End of Life For Dummies, certified end-of-life doula, Dr. Virginia Chang, offers a positive and meaningful approach to end-of-life planning that helps you make the most of the time you and your loved ones are granted. She walks you through specific actions and decisions you can take to arrange for the selection of a healthcare team, organize and make choices about your funeral and burial options, and ensure you've got the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual support you need to help guide you through the process.