Invitation to Apply: Apply Here
IMPROV FOR THE ARTIST: Getting Started, Getting Curious, Doing What You Want to be Doing
A Creative Intensive Workshop led by Grayson Cox & Hollis Witherspoon
The Clearing | Cragsmoor, New York
June 28th, 2025 | 11am - 7pm
About this Intensive:
We invite artists of all disciplines to join us for a transformative experience designed to explore the intersection of personal ecosystems, improvisation, play, and discovery. This full-day outdoor workshop will offer space for artists to reconnect, reflect, and reimagine in a serene natural environment. Join us for one or both dates!
What you can Expect:
Awaken your creative impulses through improvisational, exploratory play
Connect and collaborate with fellow artists in a supportive, non-judgmental space
Engage in embodied, joyful, spontaneous activities with time for reflection and dialogue
Enjoy the ‘pause’ that the natural world can offer you and your artistic practice
Be guided by seasoned facilitators with experience across visual, performance, therapeutic, and academic arts
Cost: *$490 includes workshop fee, catered lunch, drinks and snacks
*Your contribution helps sustain The Clearing—supporting the land, maintaining structures, paying artists and helpers, and funding future shows and gatherings. You’re not just joining a workshop—you’re investing in a creative ecosystem that stays wild, alive, and artist-run.
Apply Now!
This workshop is open to all artists seeking stimulation, joy, and new creative tools. The day will offer a loosely structured blend of group and individual exercises as well as guided dialogue, offering opportunities for breakthroughs in both personal and artistic growth.
How to Apply:
Submit your application to HERE. Limited spots available. We encourage you to apply early to secure your place!
We hope you join us in the beautiful Shawangunk Mountains for a day of creative transformation!
Hollis Witherspoon is an artist, performer, teacher, and drama therapist based in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. With a background as an actor and improviser, she has applied her experience in indie film and experimental theatre to an eclectic body of work collaborating with multidisciplinary, visual, and performance-based artists. Hollis believes in the power of play and improvisation to unlock joy and self-understanding. Her approach to teaching ‘Improv for the Artist’ at institutions such as Pratt, NYU, Columbia, SVA, Hampshire, and Skowhegan, is grounded in the exploration of process over product, offering a space for artists to move beyond traditional frameworks and intuitively honor their creative impulses. Hollis is in private creative arts therapy practice and frequently facilitates retreats, trainings, and workshops designed to support and empower participants in exploring their creative potential.
Grayson Cox is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn and Cragsmoor, New York. Working across sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media, his practice spans more than two decades and centers on creating environments that encourage intimacy, self-awareness, and social reflection. His participatory projects often use tactile materials and spatial design to invite viewers into moments of quiet exchange or collective experience—gently questioning the roles we inhabit and the systems that shape our behavior. Cox has exhibited internationally, including at the New Museum in New York, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, and in Tokyo, Japan and Maihar, India among others. As an educator, he has taught at Columbia University, Indiana University, Parsons, Yale, MICA, SUNY Purchase, Southern Oregon University, and has been a core faculty member at Pratt Institute for 15 years.