NEWSLETTER
Blue Mountain Lake, NY — The Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, (ADKX) is pleased to welcome four talented artists — Ben Allanoff, Andrea Mancuso, Jinghong Chen, and Joy Muller-McCoola—selected for its 2026 Artist-in-Residency program. The artists will live and work on site for one month, in June, July, August, and September, respectively. During the residency periods, the artists will focus on creating their own body of work within the public areas of the museum grounds and guide activities in the museum’s Art Lab makerspace. The intention of this program is for artists to engage with the public while spending time pursuing their own creative works and be inspired by the natural areas that comprise and surround the museum’s campus, as well as key objects and stories within the collection.
Artists were selected through a highly competitive application process. The museum received 185 applications from artists in 33 different countries and 22 states. Submissions included artists who work in a range of mediums, including sound, digital, animation, painting, photography, sculpture, and performance. A committee comprised of ADKX staff as well as arts leaders in the region reviewed applications: Pam Poquette, Art Omi (Ghent, NY); Anya Villeneuve, Lake Placid Center for the Arts (Lake Placid, NY); and Ellen-Deane Cummins (Saratoga Springs, NY).
“Coming off the success of the inaugural season of this program in 2025, ADKX is extremely excited to welcome these artists to our campus to continue building meaningful connections between artists and our visitors. This residency allows the public to observe, converse, and create alongside working artists, fostering a vibrant culture of curiosity and artistic exploration here at the museum.” said Cheryl Braunstein, ADKX Director of Interpretation
Throughout the 2026 season, visitors will have the unique opportunity to meet these artists, explore their creative process, and experience their artistic styles firsthand. Check theADKX.org for each artist’s schedule and to find out when you can visit them on campus.
“My relationship with the Adirondacks is one of deep devotion and sustained exploration,” says artist Andrea Mancuso. “As an Adirondack 46er, I have intimately experienced the region’s peaks, waterways, and seasonal transformations. These mountains have shaped not only my understanding of wilderness but also my artistic practice, grounding my work in themes of place, materiality, and the dialogue between human presence and natural systems.”
Meet the 2026 ADKX Artists-in-Residence:
JUNE: Ben Allanoff, Joshua Tree, CA
Ben Allanoff maintains a diverse art practice driven by a deep connection to the natural world and a desire to stimulate that same appreciation in others. His work serves as a bridge, connecting people to one another and the environment while speaking to the intuitive, non-rational corners of the human psyche. Working primarily with natural materials, found objects, steel, and rust, Allanoff creates installations for public parks, botanic gardens, universities, and art centers across the United States, Japan, Mexico, and Spain. A hallmark of his practice is community engagement, often involving the public as collaborators and participants in the design and construction process.
Prior to his career as a visual artist, Allanoff chaired an organization dedicated to minimizing human impact on sensitive ecosystems in Southern California. This background in environmental advocacy, combined with experience in filmmaking, continues to inform his creative perspective and his work for both public and private collections. Originally from the Philadelphia area and a graduate of Duke University, he now lives and works in Joshua Tree, California.
JULY: Andrea Mancuso, Buffalo, NY
Andrea Mancuso is a founding member of virocode, a collaborative practice that has spent nearly four decades exploring liminal spaces and the transformations between the organic and the inorganic. Her work, which spans photography, video, installation, and bio-art, has been exhibited internationally and at prestigious institutions such as MoMA, often questioning our collective relationship to the Anthropocene. Through her work with collectives like virocode and the Artsy Lobby, Mancuso emphasizes symbiotic relationships and immersive experiences, inviting the public to engage deeply with the intersection of the natural and manufactured worlds.
Mancuso’s practice is rooted in a philosophy that values process over product, operating at the intersection of artmaking, collaboration, and education. During her 24-year tenure as a teacher and Art Department Chair at Nichols School, she integrated teaching directly into her creative practice, translating collaborative principles into transformative educational experiences. By fostering lasting partnerships and developing comprehensive exhibition programs, she continues to bridge the world of professional artmaking with public programming, connecting the act of creation to the broader experience of seeing and learning.
AUGUST: Jinghong Chen, Queens, NY
Jinghong Chen is a Chinese-born visual artist based in Queens, New York, whose work explores memory, place, and belonging through the medium of cut paper. Influenced by Chinese folk art, nature, and personal history, her hand-cut designs incorporate cultural and spiritual motifs that intertwine with narratives drawn from local histories. Through the process of cutting and layering, Chen reflects on the complex experiences of migration, examining the tension between connection and distance that emerges through displacement and assimilation. Her work serves as a meditative bridge between past and present, inviting viewers to reconsider how relationships with land, family, and home are continually rebuilt.
A 2023 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration, Chen’s work has been exhibited across the United States, including in New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. Her professional achievements include serving as a juror for the 46th Annual Student Exhibition at Brown University and being named a 2021 Contemporary Art Department Fellow at the RISD Museum. A finalist for an MTA Art & Design public art project and a 2023 resident at the Peter Bullough Foundation, Chen continues to develop a practice that translates personal and collective narratives into intricate, layered visual experiences.
SEPTEMBER: Joy Muller-McCoola, Glens Falls, NY
Joy Muller-McCoola has utilized wet felted wool as her primary medium since 2012, drawing inspiration from the elemental peace of water and stone. Her work frequently explores environmental themes such as rising tides, aridification, and soil degradation, using the movement of water and the stacks of stones surrounding her home as metaphors for larger ecological shifts. Currently, her practice incorporates wool from twelve distinct breeds of sheep whose migratory histories mirror those of human populations, examining the complex intersections where industrial processes meet the natural world.
With a degree in art education from NYU and an MA from SUNY Albany, Joy spent 37 years teaching public school art before dedicating herself fully to her creative practice. She is an active member of both the Northeast and International Feltmakers Guilds and has exhibited at prestigious venues including Hudson Valley MOCA, the Mohawk Hudson Regional at The Hyde Collection, and the Schweinfurth Art Center. Her work also tours as part of "Wool & Water," a traveling exhibition curated by Paul Smith’s College that highlights critical water issues within the Adirondack region.
About Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake
Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake (ADKX), accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, shares the history and culture of the Adirondack region through interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, and culturally rich collections in more than 20 historic and contemporary buildings on a 121-acre campus in the heart of the Adirondacks. The museum is supported in part with donations from the general public, with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. For additional information, call 518-352-7311 or visit www.theADKX.org.