I am thrilled to announce that I will be teaching this in-person cyanotype workshop at the spacious Chestnut Hill Farm, in Saugerties, NY. We will have plenty of space to spread out in the newly renovated historic barn and land to forage plants to include in compositions. I will also be providing a myriad of pressed plants, paper cutouts, and negatives to utilize.

The 53-acre farm is set beside a picturesque creek and the property includes a lovely pond, hiking trails, glamping campsites, an 1840s farmhouse, and creative arts studios in the barn.

Refreshments will be included, as well as experiencing the full amenities of the farm; swimming in the creek, hiking the trails, and relaxing on the swings hammock or farmhouse porch.

Limited accommodations are available in the farmhouse and the glamp sites on the property. For information about the farm and reservations to stay overnight, please be in touch.

Location:

Chestnut Hill Farm
269 Wilhelm Road, Saugerties, NY 12477

Dates/Tuition:
July 12 & 13, 2025 - $650 (early bird pricing)
July 12, 13 & 14, 2025 - $875 (early bird pricing)

Time:
The workshop will run from 10am – 4pm each day (with a break for lunch). You may also stay and enjoy the amenities of the farm.

Please note: the cost of the workshop includes all essential materials and students may bring additional supplies they would like to work with during this time.

We will start with the basics of how to make a cyanotype print by mixing chemistry, coating paper and/or fabric, and developing the print using the sun. We will cover how to print using fresh and pressed plants, printing with three-dimensional objects (string, plastic bags, glass jars, jewelry, etc.), printing with paper cutouts, and how to create and print with photographic negatives.

I will also go over more experimental techniques including wet cyanotype and toning. Demonstrations will include altering cyanotypes with paints, collages, and multiple exposures. This medium is infinite in ways to combine techniques during the creation of the print and after it has been printed.

The workshop does not require any previous experience in cyanotype.

About the instructor:
Sometimes considered a printmaking technique, sometimes a photographic technique, artist/educator Julia Whitney Barnes approaches the medium as someone painting with light. She is interested in creating objects that feel both beautiful and mysterious. Each of her cyanotype paintings recall something familiar yet slightly outside of time. Given that sunlight starts the exposure process with cyanotype chemistry, she carefully arranges elaborate compositions at night and utilizes long exposures under natural or UV light to create the final prints. She manipulates physical impressions of plants grown in her Hudson Valley garden and other nearby areas, along with intricate negatives that are created as digital renderings or photographs printed in reverse onto transparencies.

Julia Whitney Barnes is an artist living in the Hudson Valley who works in a variety of media from cyanotypes, watercolor, oil paintings, ceramic sculptures, murals, and site-specific installations. She has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. She was awarded fellowships from New York State Council Arts, Arts Mid-Hudson, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Abbey Memorial Fund for Mural Painting/National Academy of Fine Arts, and the Gowanus Public Art Initiative, among others.

Born in Newbury, VT, Julia Whitney Barnes spent two decades in Brooklyn, before moving to Poughkeepsie, NY in 2015. She received her BFA from Parsons School of Design and her MFA from Hunter College. Whitney Barnes has created site-specific installations at the Albany International Airport/Shaker Heritage Society, Albany, NY; Brookfield Place/Winter Garden, New York, NY; Arts Brookfield, Brooklyn, NY, the Wilderstein Sculpture Biennial, Rhinebeck, NY; The Trolley Barn/Fall K*ll Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY; GlenLily Grounds, Newburgh, NY; ArtsWestchester, White Plains, NY; Gowanus Public Arts Initiative, Brooklyn, NY; Space All Over/Fjellerup Bund i Bund & Grund, Fjellerup, Denmark; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council/Sirovitch Senior Center, New York, NY; Brooklyn School of Inquiry, Brooklyn, NY; New York City Department of Transportation, New York, NY; and Figment Sculpture Garden, Governors Island, NY and among other locations.

Please note: 75% of the workshop fee can be refunded if cancellation occurs with 14 days notice. 50% of the workshop fee can be refunded if cancellation occurs with 7 days notice.