Mission Statement

Looking Glass Arts is an artist-led non-profit residency organization in Upstate New York democratizing access to the space, time,and natural beauty critical to artistic growth and practice. Our programming prioritizes people of the Global Majority; artists who make up the bedrock of our cultural lives.

About Us

Looking Glass Arts sits on a 15-acre field outside of a small hamlet in the northeastern corner of the Catskill Mountains. Our organization is operated by a small collection of artists committed to making space for artists to retreat, explore, engage and work amid natural beauty. 

We are committed to providing resources to artists unaccustomed to being offered space; the army of artists that make up the bedrock of our cultural lives. We welcome everyone, those with prestigious awards and those without such public accreditation.

Our residency sessions are designed for artists to come to Looking Glass Arts for 5-6 days and unplug from their everyday lives. We understand that there is a process of unwinding that has to happen to clear the mind and make space for creative work. We encourage artists to take the time they need– all residencies are self-directed. Residencies are offered on an application basis.

Our History

In 2016, through friends of friends, Marika Hughes heard about a barn on a 15-acre field that was for sale in the rural hamlet of West Fulton, New York. The tiny town was full of creative people; musicians, theatre artists, ceramicists and more. She bought the barn.

Over the next few years, Marika, a cellist, and bassist Rashaan Carter excitedly explored the sonic possibilities of the space; recording improvised duos in experimentation. This sonic exploration led to a number of other recordings including Fay Victor’s acclaimed release, Barn Songs on Pi Records.

Looking Glass Arts was established as a non-profit organization in 2018 with plans to make a space for artists. What this would become was yet to be realized. But what we all saw right away was that the barn is the heartbeat of Looking Glass Arts.

In early 2020 when the pandemic and subsequent shut-down hit, musicians like so many others, were cut off from sources of our income as venues shuttered and gigs and tours were canceled. Nonetheless, artists continued to write and compose and practice.  

In 2021, with our mission and principles in clear view, what would become our pilot season came into focus. Looking Glass Arts decided to answer the conundrums of the shut-down by offering musicians fully-funded recording residencies in the barn at zero cost to the musician. This was our effort to counteract the ongoing impact the COVID-19 crisis had on musicians. Without earning income the costs of recording new works were inaccessible to most.

So Marika invited musician friends, people she’d played with on and off for years, to come up to record their music, at no cost to them, in the barn. Thanks to the generous support of a few individual donors, Looking Glass Arts was able to host five of these fully-funded recording retreats in the inaugural summer of 2021. The success of our initial experiment offering fully-funded recording residencies in the barn, proved wildly successful right away.

In the years since the fully-funded recording residency is open to application annually. We look forward to expanding our capacity so that we can keep up with the demand of the applicant pool each year.

In addition to the five residencies offered that first summer of 2021, Marika was commissioned by CAP-UCLA to produce a filmed version of Julius Eastman’s The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc for 10 cellos and baritone. This production was a monumental undertaking in our pilot season. It  proved to us that we are capable of making great art with our initially limited resources. (You can see the film on the “watch” page of our website).

In preparing for our second season, in 2022 we added the Goldfinch Writing Residency to our programming. This residency was established by Marika’s dear friend from college, Christina Kelly. It is offered to writers 45+ who have always maintained a writing practice but for whatever reasons have not been able to make it a career and haven’t been published by a major outlet. This residency has also been wonderfully successful. It is a special privilege and joy to offer this residency to people who are not typically supported in their creative endeavors.

In 2023 we expanded our programming once again to include the Multi-Disciplinary Residency. This residency is offered to artists whose practice doesn’t fit into the parameters of our other programs. We have hosted a jewelry maker, an animator, a composer and more.

In our 2024 season we introduced the Cheswatyr Recording Residency. Funded by a small family foundation, this residency includes the fully-funded recording session in the barn as well as a paid concert for the recording artists at Panther Creek Arts, our presenting neighbor 2 miles down the road. 

And in 2025, our Fully-Funded Recording Residency is expanding to include mentorship, before, during and after the ensemble’s time at Looking Glass Arts. 

We are thrilled with the progress and growth Looking Glass Arts has had over our first 4 years. As we look to expand and meet the needs of the artists we aim to serve, we are working towards major capital improvements that include barn upgrades as well as building out housing for artists and additional work studios on our field.

​Looking Glass Arts maintains its principles and programming through the generous support and insight of individual donors, grants and our executive and advisory boards.

Who We Are : Staff

Marika Hughes

  • Marika Hughes is a cellist, singer, songwriter and native New Yorker from a musical family; her grandfather was the great cellist Emanuel Feuermann. Marika holds dual degrees in Political Science and Cello Performance from Barnard College and the Juilliard School, respectively. She has been a storyteller on The Moth Radio Hour.

    Marika has recorded on over 100 albums. She has also worked with Whitney Houston, Lou Reed, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Adele, D’Angelo, Idina Menzel, Somi, Taylor Mac, Nels Cline, William Kentridge, The Uptown String Quartet and Henry Threadgill among many others. Marika has self-released three albums: The Simplest Thing (2011), Afterlife MusicRadio (2011) and New York Nostalgia (2016). She was a member of heralded Bay Area based bands 2 Foot Yard and Charming Hostess. Marika has held the cello chair holder of the Broadway show Hadestown since its premiere in 2019.

    Marika was a Master Teacher and a Co-Director of theater works for Young Arts 2010-2023. from 2008 through 2014 Marika worked with Triad Trust, a non-profit organization whose work is based in South Africa and Haiti. Triad Trust worked directly with communities ravaged by HIV/AIDS. Their work specializes in teaching artists to teach (grades 3-12) about safe sex practices and HIV prevention. Marika co-created their curriculum and worked with local artists, using song and theater as their tools, to teach and inform the school age populations.

Cellist and Founder & Director

Rashaan Carter

  • Rashaan Carter grew up in the Washington D.C. area. It was there, with the nurturing of his father, a saxophonist, and his mother, a jazz radio programmer, Rashaan forged an interest in music. After stints with various instruments, the bass became the voice for his musical expression. Rashaan worked and gained experience in the local scene in Washington D.C. and after high school, he moved to New York City to attend the New School University. At the New School, Rashaan studied with Buster Williams and Reggie Workman. While attending the New School he also began to work with many of the faculty including Joe Chambers and Jimmy Owens, among others. Since moving to New York Rashaan has become entrenched in the jazz scene and has worked with Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller and Louis Hayes, Wallace Roney, David Murray, Ravi Coltrane, Geri Allen, Henry Threadgill, Marc Cary, Cindy Blackman, Doug and Jean Carn, Antoine Roney, Sonny Simmons, and many more. He's also studied with one of his prime influences, Ron Carter. Rashaan regularly performs with a myriad of artists in and outside of New York and can be found on various recordings as well.

Recording Engineer

Alicia Hines

  • Alicia H. Hines is a partner at MASK Consortium. She taught English and was an academic dean at Horace Mann School in the Bronx for more than 15 years. Alicia writes about race, gender, public space, literature and art. With Dr. Alondra Nelson and Thuy Nguyen Tu, she co-edited of a collection of essays titled Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life, published by NYU Press. Alicia is the former owner and operator of Likkle Jamaican Dumpling House & Library, a restaurant, community lending library and cultural destination in Brooklyn, New York. Alicia has been the residenct chef at Looking Glass Arts since 2022.

Chef / Writing Workshop Leader

Alexandria Hill

  • Alexandria Hill is a violinist and singer-songwriter based in New York City. She has her bachelor and masters degrees in music performance specializing in violin. As a violinist, Alexandria has had the privilege to work in recording studios and stages across the US and Europe. She has performed with the Recollective Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Matt Jones Orchestra all through which she has had the opportunity to perform at the Lincoln Center Stage, Hollywood Bowl, London Southbank Centre, Kennedy Center Stage, and NPR’s Tiny Desk. 

    Her eclectic music background has given her the opportunity to share the stage not only with classical musicians like Yo-Yo Ma and Anthony McGill, but also with hip-hop/R&B/jazz artists such as Laufey, John Legend, The Roots, and PJ Morton. 

    It wasn’t until 2020 that Alexandria found her voice as a singer. After 2 years of studying voice, she decided to begin the journey of writing and releasing music under the stage name, ALEXVNDRIA. In 2024 she released her first album and began performing her music in venues around NYC.

Administrative Assistant

Additional Staff :

Jordan Dales - Assistant Engineer
Colin Perry - Marketing

Executive Board :

  • An Emmy award winning producer, Michelle Stern started her career as an immersive theater-maker in the mid-1990's and expanded into event production in the early 2000’s. Throughout her career, she has kept one foot firmly planted in the performance art/theater world, and the other in the special event world. In the 1990’s, Michelle was the co-Founder and Managing Director of GAle GAtes et al., a performance and visual art company that transformed an empty warehouse space into a vibrant cultural venue, anchoring the DUMBO neighborhood during its transformation in the 1990’s from deserted warehouse district to thriving NYC hotspot. She was the Line Producer for Curran Under Construction at the famed Curran Theatre in San Francisco. She produced The Ascent, the Ad Council’s award-winning PSA, Love Has No Labels, for which she and her partners won a 2106 Emmy Award. She was the Line Producer and Company Manager for MacArthur-winning artist Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Culture. She was the Lead Producer for YouTube’s first streaming upfront, the YouTube Morning Show, and has since produced Google’s NewFront, and acted as Segment Producer on YouTube’s Brandcast. She has worked for 13 years as the Show Producer for Stand Up for Heroes, a multi-million-dollar fundraiser for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, anchored by Jon Stewart and Bruce Springsteen, at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.

Michelle Stern, Board Chair

  • JESSICA TROY (viola), wears a wide variety of freelance hats. She performs extensively on period instruments - Baroque ensembles of which she is a member or frequent guest include, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), Opera Lafayette (D.C.), Trinity Baroque Orchestra, the Sebastians, New York Baroque Inc., American Classical Orchestra, and she has performed as a substitute with the European ensembles Il Pomo d’Oro and Anima Eterna Brugge. On modern viola she performs with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center (formerly known as Mostly Mozart), New York City Opera, NOVUS NY, Westchester Philharmonic, New York Pops, among others. Playing chamber music for dance, she has performed with Dance Heginbotham, and has toured extensively with the Mark Morris Dance Group - from Sydney to San Juan, and Moscow, Idaho to Moscow, Russia - including performances with Yo-Yo Ma across the US and Japan. A participant at many illustrious summer festivals, she can be heard on the Marlboro Festival's 50th anniversary CD in György Kurtág's Microludes for string quartet, which she prepared with the composer. She has subbed and had her own chair on numerous Broadway shows (ranging from Porgy & Bess to Tootsie) and played on many film scores (where unusually her worlds collided - on the Joker soundtrack she plays both baroque and modern viola). She has recorded quartet tracks for Lou Reed and Ani DiFranco, performed on tv with Renée Fleming and Whitney Houston, and on film with David Byrne.

Jessica Troy, Board Member

  • Experience:

    Deputy Director of Treasure Island Development Authority

    San Francisco, United States | May 2023 – Jan 2025

    Treasure Island is an ambitious $2.5B development program involving the transformation of a former military base into a sustainable, transit-oriented community. The project includes approximately 8,000 housing units with 27% affordability and 300 acres of parks and open space. Under her leadership, key milestones have been achieved, including: - Successfully adopting the DA/DDA amendments to secure the fiscal viability of the project. - Completing the first subphases on Yerba Buena Island/Treasure Island (YBI/TI). - Initiating charter-compliant staffing for parks and exploring a nonprofit or conservancy to manage parkland outside of the department. - Achieving consensus on city ownership of infrastructure and securingoperations and maintenance staffing. – Launching TIDA’s equity program to empower residents. – Developing transparent communication strategies regarding radiological safety and environmental cleanup.


    Director of Citywide Policy, San Francisco Planning Department

    San Francisco, United States | 2017 – May 2023

    Oversees a staff of up to 53 and a budget of $5.9 million, and serves as one of eight senior managers in San Francisco's Planning Department. Citywide Policy develops land use policy,maintains and oversees compliance with the City's General Plan, prepares and implements community plans, recommends capital plan investments, acts as the urban design resource for the city, and gathers, monitors, and analyzes data in support of land-use policy for the 49 square miles of the City. The Division works on a wide range of topics, including land use, transportation, urban design, community development, parks and open space, resiliency, and sustainability. Under my direction, these staff plan and implement studies and analysis in coordination with the public and decision-makers. I develop the annual work plan for the group, oversee the application for and the implementation of grants, and work diligently to recruit, retain, and develop the skillset of this highly motivated and functional team. As a deputy director, I coordinate with local agencies for the Director on the Capital Planning Committee, Connect SF, Climate SF, the Seal Level Rise Coordinating Committee, and am a voting member on the regional Association of Bay Area Governments for Mayor Breed.



    Senior Policy Advisor, San Francisco Planning Department

    San Francisco, United States | 2013 - 2017

    Director of the small but mighty Legislative and Communications Team. Held responsibility for the Department's image and communications with decision-makers and the public, served as a member of the Senior Management team. Administered and directed staff analysis of land use and planning issues and recommended course of action. With this staff of seven, we processed up to 50 pieces of local land use legislation per year and oversaw the Department's external and internal communications. While in this role, state land use legislation became an ever-increasing influence in land use policy. In response, I developed relationships with the Mayor's Office to our state legislative lobbyists. Because of the City's central role in state politics, I had relationships with many of San Francisco's state-level representatives and their staff. Under my leadership, the Department constructed our own state legislative platforms, which I continue to shepherd.


    Manager of Legislative Affairs, San Francisco Planning Department

    San Francisco, United States | 2007 - 2013


    Administered & directed staff analysis of planning and land use issues & recommended course of action. Adept at interpretation of laws, policies, procedures and guidelines.

    Directed and advised all Planning Department staff on approvals through the Board of Supervisors. Supervised, motivated, and monitored Program Managers on Urban Design and Land Use Planning. This included: Japantown Area Plan & Urban Design Staff, Annual Report Planning Staff, Housing Element Planning Staff, Legislative Staff, and advisement to Glen Park Area Plan & Urban Design Staff. Served as the Department's primary representative to the Board of Supervisors. Conducted weekly check-in meetings with each Board Member's staff and the Mayor's Legislative Manager and coordinated Department response to inquiries from elected officials and/or legislative activity.


    Citywide Policy Planning, Planner III, San Francisco Planning Department

    San Francisco, United States | 2002 - 2007


    Managed the production of two urban design and land use plans: the Market & Octavia Plan and the Glen Park Plan. Market & Octavia Plan Urban Design & Land Use Plan ($2 million+ effort). Adopted Plan the result of 8 years of planning sought to house people, balance transportation choices and build whole neighborhoods, supported by functional and accessible open space and parks. Analyzed project budgets and assigned necessary resources as project evolved. Managed consultant teams including: architectural, engineering, transportation, and community outreach firms. Documented and released one underperforming consultant team.


AnMarie Rodgers, Treasurer

  • Vivian Williams-Kurutz is a vision-driven founder and executive director of Harlem Wellness Center, health activist, community organizer, speaker, yoga and meditation teacher, writer, and business owner based in Manhattan. Through her two decades of work at the intersection of racial, health, and environmental justice, and as co-owner with her husband of Plowshares Coffee, she is committed to contributing to the vibrancy, health, and stability of her community and the world.

    Vivian draws on her training in mindfulness, psychology and the arts, to lead initiatives that amplify healing, race, identity, equity, belonging and joy. In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream for a beloved community, she delights in bringing diverse groups of people together in ways that foster understanding, connection, empathy, personal healing, and social change.

    Prior to her current areas of focus, Vivian maintained a career in the arts that encompassed performance, direction, stage management, producing, writing, music, and teaching. She is a longtime union member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity. A 2016-2019 Columbia University A'Lelia Bundles Scholar, Vivian has maintained her scholars project by continuing to build bridges between Columbia University and the Harlem community. Vivian is a proud member of the Omega Women’s Leadership Center’s Juno Leadership Collective. In February 2021, she was awarded a proclamation from the New York Senate, in recognition of service to her community and the city of New York.

Vivian Kurutz, Board Member

Advisory Board :

Rachel Chanoff

Rachel Chavkin

Kristy Edmunds

Jennifer Kessler

Jason Moran

Maxine Roach

Imani Uzuri

Nasheet Waits