The Hoosac Institute

The Hoosac Institute is a curated platform for text and image focusing on pieces that don’t fit conventional disciplinary narratives.

Despite language expounding the necessity of experimentation, creativity, and interdisciplinarity, too many institutions keep their textual and image boundaries tightly controlled. We have all written, produced, or created projects that didn’t find a home; projects to which we devoted time, energy and skill. The Hoosac Institute dedicates itself to these very works of people whose titles may not reveal everything about themselves and their productive capacities.

Founded in 1970 in Williamstown, Massachusetts, The Hoosac Institute has been dormant for over 40 years. The Institute has been revived and restored by Jenny Perlin in an effort to open drawers, shine lights, and reshuffle categories. The Hoosac itself is a river that runs through Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York. Its name can be translated from the Algonquian to either “the beyond place” or “the stony place.” Either one suits the founder fine.

— Jenny Perlin
Director, The Hoosac Institute