The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild (WBG) is steward of Byrdcliffe, possibly the oldest continuously-operating arts and crafts colony in the nation. Established in 1903, Byrdcliffe was willed to the WBG in 1976 by Peter Whitehead, the surviving son of Byrdcliffe's founders, Ralph Radcliffe and Jane Byrd McCall Whitehead. Today the Byrdcliffe Colony supports today's working artists while simultaneously undertaking a vigorous historic preservation program.

Photos: Dovecote at Byrdcliffe Barn. Byrdcliffe desk, ca. 1904. Lilies at Byrdcliffe. Weaving by Byrdcliffe founder, Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, ca. 1904; pots from White Pines Pottery, ca. 1918. To see larger, click on image.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Colony hosts an Artist in Residence (AIR) program, concert and theatre series, and classes.  Walking tours are conducted regularly in summer, and all are invited to take a self-guided tour at any time, year-around. 

         
Photos: Interior reception hall at White Pines, residence of Byrdcliffe founders Ralph Radcliffe and Jane Byrd McCall Whitehead. Catalog of comprehensive national traveling exhibition of Byrdcliffe artifacts, includes essays on history and philosophy as well as art, architecture, and craft.

Byrdcliffe's recent 100th Anniversary was celebrated with a comprehensive exhibition curated by University by Nancy E. Green, Senior Curator for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, www.museum.cornell.edu/Byrdcliffe. After opening in Woodstock in the summer of 2003, the exhibit continued on to the Milwaukee Art Museum; the Johnson Museum, Ithaca, NY; the Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY; the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; and the Winterthur Museum, Gardens, and Library, Wilmington, Delaware. A comprehensive catalog includes scores of photos as well as essays on the history and culture of Byrdcliffe. The WBG maintains a collection of pottery, painting, weaving, metalwork, and furniture produced at the original Byrdcliffe Colony. Some objects are on view at White Pines, the 1903 Arts and Crafts residence of the Whiteheads. Many are currently in storage, to be made available as facilities are restored. Photos of many of the objects are available online.