Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)

Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency fosters an environment that rejects injustice, oppression, and racism through radical hospitality and care. We are committed to continued listening, learning, and direct action that will result in sustainable change within our organization to ensure that Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latine artists, trans and queer artists, and artists with disabilities are seen, heard, and supported at Ox-Bow. 

Our leadership team is working toward being an anti-racist organization. Recent tangible actions include a year-long educational relationship with Enrich Chicago, expanding funding  opportunities in support of BIPOC participation in Ox-Bow programs, the Peter Williams Award for teaching and mentorship by a BIPOC alum, revised hiring practices that support equity, the adoption of ethical storytelling in our communications and the development of the Hold Space Grant for Artists of Color.

As we complete our current strategic plan, audits of facilities and programs will continue this work to inform Ox-Bow’s future. 

Ox-Bow Accessibility Statement
Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency is committed to providing open access and support to all artists. 

Ox-Bow’s campus is located in a remote, forested setting. Our campus features mildly uneven terrain and wide gravel footpaths. This location and the variety of buildings on site, some of which are historic and rustic, pose some challenges to access. 

All of our classroom studios (spaces for Ceramics, Glass, Metals, Painting, Papermaking, Printmaking and New Media) are wheelchair accessible. Only our Printmaking and New Media Studio has air conditioning. All other studios are open-air in the summer. Studio spaces are largely modular. Studio Managers set-up the studio spaces depending on the needs of current classes, students, and/or artists-in-residence.

We offer several ADA compliant dorm rooms and bathrooms on campus. 

Ox-Bow’s dorm spaces are simply appointed. Summer session living spaces do not offer air conditioning or heat. Fans are provided in all dorm rooms.  

Our Burke New Inn first floor dining room and food service area are ADA compliant. Modified food service is available upon request. Dining space is communal, and offered both indoors and outdoors.

Registered service animals are allowed on campus with proper documentation and previous approval by the Deputy Director. 

Emotional support animals are allowed on campus on a case-by-case basis with proper documentation and previous approval by the Deputy Director. 

Participants should be prepared to encounter myriad potential environmental irritants on our largely open-air campus, including but not limited to various insects including deer ticks which may carry Lyme disease; animal dander; and plant life.

An ADA compliant public transit shuttle service is available to pick up and drop off passengers from Ox-Bow’s main parking lot. This is a local public service provided by The Interurban, costs $1 cash per ride and is available during daytime hours. This shuttle will transport passengers to and from locations in the local towns of Douglas and Saugatuck.

Ox-Bow House, located at 137 Center Street in Douglas, features ADA accessible entry, bathrooms, and upper level access via elevator.

Comprehensive access is a long-term organizational priority at Ox-Bow. We are working to improve access to our communications, events, facilities, and programs.

Ox-Bow asks all residential participants to communicate their accessibility needs prior to arriving to campus, and we do our best to meet those needs. We are eager to work with artists on an individual basis to ensure that accessibility needs are met. Contact Claire Arctander, Deputy Director of Campus Life and Operations at carctander@ox-bow.org or 269-857-5811 to schedule a one-on-one consultation via phone or video conference to discuss your accessibility needs.

Indigenous lands acknowledgement:

Ox-Bow’s campus is located on the unceded land of the Potawatomi who call themselves “Neshnabek” meaning original or true peoples. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed by the US government westward, an event referred to as the Potawatomi Trail of Death. We acknowledge the Potawatomi community, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations as the original inhabitants of this land. Ox-Bow also acknowledges that it was founded upon exclusions and erasures of many Indigenous peoples, including those on whose land this institution is located. This acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to beginning the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.

Updated February 9, 2024