As a community-based artist, my focus is on creating art in public spaces. My work evolves from informal interviews I have with strangers in various public spaces or institutions such as a university, library, and city transit system. The conversations are centered around a particular topic respective to those public spaces. For example, my project that took place in the Danville Public Library dealt with the idea of knowledge and how it is obtained.

These recorded conversations are the basis for a visual and aural installation, which includes printed materials and listening stations. Most important to me is that my work be both approachable and understandable. My pieces are designed to blend in with their surroundings (an encyclopedia in a library, a kiosk in a bus station). The work that I do relies heavily on the process of communication both between myself and the participant as well as between the audience and the final product.

My reason for doing this type of work is my curiosity about people I see in public places. I feel that we’re all generally interested in each other, yet we have no vehicle with which to reach one another beyond the socially acceptable sphere of "small talk". My work invites people to listen intently (with headphones) to someone whom they would otherwise never meet. This allows viewers to become more aware of the people they encounter in their daily life as well as exposes them to people that seem different from them. It is my hope that, through my work people can begin to feel more connected with each other and see strangers as a little less strange.

Download portfolio
PDF 2 MB

 
     
   
 
  Education
  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
M.F.A Painting, May 2003

University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Cum Laude
Charlotte, NC
B.F.A. Illustration, May 1997
B.A. English, May 1997

   
    Community Art Projects
    What Happened Was..., Dublin City Libraries, Dublin, Ireland. In progress
What Happened Was... is a collection of stories told to me by residents of Dublin, Ireland, which will be installed as listening stations in Dublin city libraries, giving listeners the experience of being told a story by a stranger in their own city.
     
    Danville Community Encyclopedia, Danville Public Library, Danville, Illinois. 2003
Formatted as an encyclopedia and permanently installed in the reference section of the Danville Public Library, the Danville Community Encyclopedia contains knowledge of citizens of Danville as it was audio-recorded in my interviews with them in the library in 2003.
     
    On the Bus, Illinois Terminal and city buses, Champaign, Illinois. 2002
With the intent to spark interest in, and increase appreciation for, people we encounter in our daily lives, On the Bus is an interview-based, multi-media project that was installed on city buses and in the main bus station in Champaign, Illinois.
     
    Making Connections, Champaign Public Library, Champaign, Illinois. 2001
This interview-based project explored the ways in which strangers in the city are linked through their jobs and hobbies. The resulting brochure and visual map were installed in the Champaign Public Library.
     
    Champaign-Urbana and Philip Guston, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois. 2000
This project was comprised of my interviews with random members of the community of Champaign-Urbana about the paintings of Philip Guston. The resulting brochure with interpretations of the paintings was installed in the Krannert Art museum next to a Philip Guston painting.
     
    Commissioned Collaborations
    Artist, Delridge Oral History Project, Delridge Neighborhood Development Association and Southwest Seattle Community College, September 2007
I am creating an audio-visual website that aims to preserve the history of the small neighborhood of Delridge in Seattle. Designed to be interactive, the website will contain audio clips from interviews conducted with past and present Delridge residents of as well as maps and photographs that depict Delridge in the early to mid 1900’s. The project will be used as a tool for teaching Northwest History as well as an archive for historians, residents, and people interested in the area.
http://www.delridgehistory.org
     
    Artist in Residence, The Farmland Values Project, USDA Grant, University of North Carolina Asheville,
June 2005-June 2008

The Farmland Values Project is a USDA-funded project in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Appalachian State University that explores the cultural, economic, environmental and scenic value of farmland. I am creating an audio-visual installation and website that will represent this interdisciplinary project. Largely based on surveys and interviews I am compiling with farmers, developers, focus groups, and rural and urban residents, the project will be used as an educational tool for the public as well as policy-makers on the value of farmland.
http://www.unca.edu/farmlandvalues/
     
    Artist in Residence, Visualizing the Difference Diversity Makes, Ford Foundation Grant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, February 2006-June 2006
Documenting the Difference Diversity Makes is a Ford Foundation-funded, interdisciplinary project at the University of Illinois. The purpose of the project is to provide evidence of the benefits of diversity in a university setting. In collaboration with EOTU (Ethnography of the University) and the Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society, I created Visualizing the Difference Diversity Makes - an audio-visual, web-based introduction into undergraduate research dealing with diversity on the University of Illinois campus. The project is presently used not only as a summary of student research on diversity but also as a jumping off point for further research and questioning.
http://www.eotu.uiuc.edu/visualizing
     
    Artist in Residence, Ethnography of the University (EOTU), Departments of Anthropology and English, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, May 2003-May 2004
This ethnography was accomplished by a collaboration of students in Anthropology and English classes that sought to provide a multi-faceted representation of their university and examine the “University” on an intellectual level. From interviews the students conducted and projects I assigned, as well as my own interviews, I created EOTU Live, a web-based, audio-visual representation of the EOTU. EOTU Live is used as an archive of student projects, a teaching tool on how to conduct an ethnography, and a resource for further student research on the role of the university.
http://www.eotu.uiuc.edu/live
     
    Art Exhibitions
    Collected, Opensource Art, Champaign, Illinois. 2007
    Mediating America, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA. 2005
    Chthonic Cartographers, Chesapeake Gallery, Bel Air, MD. 2005
    Anna Callahan: Voices in Public Places, Karl Hofer Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany. 2005
    Mapping, Contemporary Arts Center, North Adams, MA. 2005
    Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Peoria Art Guild, Peoria, IL. 2004
    Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL. 2003
    Mapping, Mess Hall, Chicago, IL. 2003
    Tracked and Tracking, I Space, Chicago, IL. 2003
    Location, Location, Location, I Space, Chicago, IL. 2002
    Unity in Variety, Springer Cultural Center, Champaign, IL. 2002
    Today in Eight Parts, I Space, Chicago, IL. 2001
    Amuse, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL. 2000
    Beyond Definition, Zone One Contemporary, Asheville, NC. 1999
     
    Selected Bibliography
    Steve Edwards, Eight Forty-Eight: Danville Community Encyclopedia, Chicago Public Radio, October 5, 2004
    Emily Nunn, Listen to This, Chicago Tribune, April 23, 2004
    Harper’s Magazine, Encyclopedia Americana, February, 2004
    Jennifer Weakley, 13 Locals Featured in Magazine, Danville Commercial-News, January 17, 2004
    Judith A Hoffberg, Danville Community Encyclopedia, Umbrella Magazine, December, 2003
    Judy Malloy, Engaging the Audience in New Media and Information Art, NYFA Current, October 15, 2003
    Barbara Nolan, Danville Community Encyclopedia offers Art, Ideas and Sound, Danville Commercial-News, Aug. 9, 2003
    Jim Meadows, Sidetrack: Danville Encyclopedia, WILL AM 580, July, 2003
    Matt Metcalf, The Morning Show: On The Bus, WCIA Channel 3, March, 2003
    Brant Hansen, Brant Hansen Show: On The Bus, WDWS AM 1400, February, 2003
    Melissa Mitchell, Bus Riders’ Thoughts Key Part of New Genre Public Art Project, U of I News Bureau, Feb., 2003
    Jason Croft, Sidetrack: On the Bus, WILL AM 580, February, 2003
    Jennifer Weakley, What do you Know?, Danville Commericial-News, November 17, 2002
     
    Collections

    Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
    Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
    Sächsische Landesbibliothek-Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek, Dresden, Germany
    Middlebury College Library, Middlebury, VT
    Milner Library, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
    Idaho Center for the Book, Boise State University, Boise, ID
    Ricker Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
    Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL
    Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY
    Mary Jane Jacob
    Lucy Lippard
    Buzz Spector
    Johanna Drucker
     
    Teaching Experience
    Instructor, The Nature Consortium, Seattle, Washington, Winter 2007Class: Website Design
Taught a diverse group of kids aged 12-18 how to design and build their own website in this after-school web-design class.
     
    Computer Lab Assistant/Instructor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2000-2003
Class: various workshops
Assisted Art & Design university students in the computer lab and taught workshops on various art-related computer programs. (Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator).
     
    Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Spring 2003
Class: Junior Studio
Worked with Junior level painting students on an individual basis to help them express their unique ideas in their artwork.
     
    Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Fall 2002
Class: Senior Studio
Worked with Senior level painting students on an individual basis to help them express their unique ideas in their artwork.
     
    Instructor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Spring 2002
Class: Issues and Methods
Introduced Sophomore level art students to the relationship of issues and methods to meaning in art. Students explored a diverse range of methods and ideas in this pivotal class.
     
    Instructor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Fall 2001
Class: Elementary DrawingTaught a diverse group of students from various backgrounds the basics of drawing and how to express themselves visually. Various materials and methods were used to help make this traditional class interesting and relevant.
     
    Awards
    Artist Trust/Paul Goode Ireland Residency, 2007
    Artist Residency at the Karl Hofer Gesellschaft, Universität der Künst Berlin, 2005
    Harrell Fletcher’s Earthling Award, 2005
    Masters Thesis Grant, 2003
    Brodie Grant for New Artists, 2001
    Information
    main