About Us

We are two artists, Gretchen Burger and Sarah Cameron Sunde, who have shared several studio spaces, starting with 325 Main in Kerhonkson, NY, over the past five years. Inspired by these spaces/locations, we have collaborated on art works investigating how we live in and with our communities (urban and rural, art and activist, human and environmental). What began as an urge to invite neighbors into a conversation about gentrification in our small hamlet in Ulster County has catalyzed two additional place-based projects exploring similar themes of: Who belongs in our communities? What creates value in our communities? And how does belonging and value translate to how we relate to each other and the natural world around us? 

This work has taken the form of a retail store activation (WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?); a week-long 3D exquisite corpse with 20 artists in an unsanctioned space in financial district (What.Art.Now?); and, currently in progress, a community deep listening activation with Rondout Creek in mid Hudson Valley (KAHAKSINK-RONDOUTings). 

Some methodologies and frameworks that inform our approach: deep listening, embodiment as a measure for human (vs machine) scale and duration, time markers and rhythms of the natural world, reciprocity as a foundation for exchange, the value of connection as a form of currency. These are our starting points. This work is in-motion, ever-evolving, and emerges from the people, places and histories we’re in conversation with.  Reach out to us: 325mainaconversation@gmail.com