The National Sculpture Society (NSS) and Chesterwood are pleased to announce that Stephen Saxenian is the 2026 NSS Affiliated Artist-in-Residence. Saxenian will spend the month of June working in the Morris Center Studio on Chesterwood’s campus. Accompanying artist talks and open studios will be announced.

Miguel A. Rodríguez, Executive Director of Chesterwood; Fabio J. Fernández, Executive Director of NSS; and Dr. Michele Cohen, Curator Architect of the Capitol selected Saxenian as this year’s artist-in-resident.

During his residency, Saxenian will work on a piece based on a 1915 photograph of a mother and her daughters on a forced march during the Armenian Genocide. Saxenian says, “In my sculptural practice, I am driven by a commitment to gesture, form and storytelling. Inspired by both classical technique and lived experience, my work often explores memory, trauma, and resilience. As the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, I use sculpture to preserve and honor the stories passed down through my family.”

Prior to working as a sculptor, Saxenian had a 30-year career in education, teaching English in Sumatra and high school math and physics in New York City and Amherst, Massachusetts. During his teaching career, he also pursued a practice as a ceramic artist with a passion for throwing large vessels inspired by traditional Japanese and Korean forms. Saxenian grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, where Daniel Chester French’s Minute Man and Melvin Memorial are located. As a sculptor, Saxenian appreciates “the importance of French’s visionary and profound sculptures.” He is honored to carry forward French’s tradition through this residency.

Daniel Chester French (1850 – 1931) is a founding member of the National Sculpture Society and one of America’s foremost sculptors. Chesterwood is his former summer home and studio. The site, located in idyllic Stockbridge, Massachusetts, includes French’s home and studio; museum collections of objects owned or created by him; outbuildings; and 122 acres of designed and wooded landscape.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation maintains the historic buildings, collections, and landscape as a museum for the public. A contemporary sculpture exhibition has been guest-curated and sited throughout the core of the property for four decades. The site is open for the season through October 31, 2026.