Alumni Spotlight: Becky Gochman ’81 – Founder, The Forge Project 

As part of our Alumni Spotlight Series, Gill St. Bernard's recently spoke with Becky Gochman, a GSB Class of 1981 alum whose philanthropic ventures have built a platform to support Indigenous artists and a space to share their works with the world.  

Becky Gochman was an undeniably avid horseman at Gill St. Bernard’s at a time when the school still maintained a strong equestrian connection. She even boarded her horses with longtime groundskeeper Junie Hockenbury. After graduation, she immersed herself in equestrian life and spent many years travelling across the United States and the world on the competitive horse show circuit. As her family grew, her husband, David Gochman, and two children, Sophie and Mimi, joined her in the often-nomadic lifestyle of the competitive equestrian, with the girls becoming world-class competitors themselves. 

As Sophie and Mimi began to reach adulthood, Becky found her time and interests shifting, and she rekindled her connection to other passions that had driven her as a GSB student—namely art and social justice. The former art teacher had long been involved in the traditional art world, where she noticed a disturbing deficit in the support provided for Indigenous art within the mainstream art community. Through conversations with family and others with similar concerns, Becky uncovered a path to incorporate social justice and art into one defining mission, and the Forge Project was born.  

Along with Co-Founder and former New York City art dealer Zach Feurer and Executive Director Candice Hopkins, a citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation and of Tlingit descent, the Forge Project launched in 2021 with a Native-led initiative centered on Indigenous art, decolonial education, and supporting leaders in culture, food security, and land justice. 

One of the first objectives for the foundation was finding space, which the founders did in a tranquil 38-acre property located on the unceded homelands of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok in the Hudson Valley, under two and a half hours from Gladstone, New Jersey, and the GSB campus. The land came with two modern homes designed by the artist Ai Weiwei, an activist artist himself, and allowed for the development of a fully immersive art and educational community including a gallery, a guest residence for resident artists, a studio space, display and gathering spaces, and offices. 

The Forge Team set an aggressive timeframe, and in just two short years, the Forge Project has grown from a concept to improve the value and representation of Indigenous artists in the market, to a fully operational Native-led organization which hosts a lending art collection of over 230 contemporary works by over 40 Indigenous artists. Forge Project acts as a home and workspace for fellows, provides public education and events, and offers art-based, land-based, and food-based educational programming at the Community Learning Kitchen developed in partnership with Sky High Farm. 

The program’s rapid success reflects the dedicated efforts of everyone involved, including fellow GSB alum Thatcher Keats ’82. Keats, a professional photographer, documented the development of the project from a pastoral, uninhabited piece of land to the robust, interactive community space it is today. 

“The width and breath of the Indigenous art Becky has collected over the past two years is impressive,” said Thatcher. “I’ve learned so much through my involvement in the Forge Project from how expansive the Indigenous art world is to the broader issues surrounding the Indigenous people, their art, and the world at large such as land use and water use.” 

Becky’s efforts, along with all of those involved in the Forge Project, have not gone unnoticed. The New York Times featured an article about The Forge Project last year as did Equestrian Living, and the organization was recently highlighted on the PBS NewsHour.  

The Forge Project welcomes inquiries and invites the public to the open onsite events. Follow @forgeprojectny on Instagram to learn about upcoming opportunities to visit the collection and feel free to direct message the team with inquiries about specific artists, the collection, the lending program, or events.