Artist-in-Residence Program

The Erie Canal Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program invites artists to explore the past, present, and future of this iconic waterway through their unique artistic lenses. A partnership between the New York State Canal Corporation and the Erie Canal Museum, the AIR program is a celebration of creativity, history, and stewardship.

The program supports the revitalization of the Erie Canal by blending art with storytelling to illuminate its cultural, environmental, and historical significance. Through exhibitions, events, and public programs, the AIR program brings new perspectives to the Canal's lasting impact on New York State and the nation.

We are thrilled to welcome the 2025 Artists-in-Residence, Kari Varner and Sarah Cameron Sunde, who will begin their year-long exploration of the Erie Canal. Stay tuned for updates on their journey! 

Kari Varner

Kari Varner is a photographer and educator living and working in Binghamton, New York. She received a BFA from the University of Denver and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. Her explorations of the landscape often take the form of photographs, installations and ephemeral works.

Kari has received grants from the Light Work Organization and a Puffin Foundation. She has been awarded residencies at Kimmel Harding Nelson, Millay Arts, Wofford College and the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University.

Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions abroad, including the Palace and Museum Bourbon del Monte in Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, Italy; San Marco Basilica in Florence, Italy; and Kunst(seug)haus Rapperswil Museum and Kammgarn West Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Previous exhibitions in the United States include the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, the Candela Gallery and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

In 2025 Kari will explore three sites along the canal to create an archive of ecological change through direct collaborations with nature. By harvesting plants both terrestrial and aquatic and applying them to the process of photographic production the images emerge as a direct result of their interaction with the canal and the species who inhabit its banks and waters. 

Sarah Cameron Sunde

Sarah Cameron Sunde is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of performance, video, conceptual and public art. She investigates scale and duration in relation to embodiment, ecological crisis, and deep time. Her work is presented nationally and internationally, and most notably includes 36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea - a series of nine site-specific participatory performances and durational video works made by Sunde standing in bodies of water for full tidal cycles, made in collaboration with communities on six continents (2013-2022).  She is instigator/co-founder of Works on Water, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Cultural Leader with the World Economic Forum.  

As an Artist-in-Residence with the Erie Canal Museum, Sunde will conduct research engagements at three distinct sites in the East, West and middle of the Canal, working in both video and photography.  One body of work will be made in collaboration with Jeremy Dennis, an artist/photographer from the Shinnecock Nation, and will document Sunde’s attempt to physically connect her body with the canal; another will focus on the ecology of the canal in relation to climate. Both are intended to encourage visitors to look closely and slowly, providing a sensory experience of the Canal.  

At the end of each research engagement, the public will be invited to participate in making imagery, walking the canal, and a community dialogue.