Craigardan is a nonprofit arts organization and educational working farm that leverages collective creativity for social good. We bring people together for place-based and interdisciplinary learning, providing creative residencies, courses, and events that span diverse artistic and knowledge disciplines in order to foster curiosity, inquiry, and collaboration.

Craigardan supports ceramic, literary, visual, and performance artists, as well as farmers, chefs, activists, scholars, and researchers from the Adirondack region and around the world. We cultivate a dynamic that amplifies each individual’s work and activates collective creativity within the community. We believe that fostering the interaction between artists and the local public is as important as providing sheltered time to artists to further their creative practices.

As an organization deeply rooted in this region’s unique history, Craigardan exists at the nexus of processes (re)making this region’s present and future: environmental conservation, the resurgence of small farms, rural economic revitalization, and cultural/social activism.

By developing interdependent connections within our local Adirondack community, we nurture a deep sense of place through people, culture, food, stories, and the exchange of ideas and skills. With a built-in focus on equitable exchange across a wide range of disciplines, Craigardan offers an experience that ties the creative process to larger contexts. This experience leads to new questions and new initiatives; and it generates positive social change through collective creativity.

OUR VALUES

We inhabit a space of process.

We design for movement and change.

We support and respect diversity in all forms.

We are responsive as much as generative.

We leverage collective creativity for social good.

We think forever.

VISION

We envision an Adirondack region defined by its makers who are committed to the development of sustainable systems that integrate the needs of human communities with the integrity of the natural world.

MISSION

Craigardan is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to encourage the human imagination to interpret the world with philosophical, ecological, and artistic perspective.

EQUITY VISION

We create space, hold space, and build space to benefit all.

We believe in providing equitable opportunities for all people. We are intentionally focused on the support and implementation of inclusivity, with the goal of eliminating barriers to participation by Indigenous Peoples, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities, as well as all who are historically underserved, under-resourced, and underrepresented.

Craigardan is antiracist. We reject racial hatred, bias, systemic racism, and the oppression of marginalized groups. We are actively raising our own awareness of and unconscious complicity in systemic racism through trainings, dialogue, accountability, and truth and reconciliation processes.

TOGETHER WE WILL

PRESERVE PLACE bring people together to experience and create place
SHARE KNOWLEDGE bring people together to learn from each other
EXPLORE RELATIONSHIPS bring people together to gain new perspectives
STEWARD AND NURTURE bring people together to catalyze change

Visit Us

We are located at 9216 NYS RT 9N // Elizabethtown, NY 12932

You can reach us Monday through Saturday from 9am - 6pm

518.242.6535 or info@craigardan.org

contact us

We'd love to hear from you! Reach out below to learn more or get in touch.

**Copies of our 990 and other filings, organizational policies and documents are available upon request by filling out the form below.

A Rocky Garden