Shannon Stratton, FMS alum and founder of the Chicago based visual arts organization, Threewalls, will talk about the arc of her practice from artist to (currently) institutional curator at the Museum of Arts and Design through the lens of unmaking (and remaking). With roots in craft-based studio training, Stratton brings questions of what craftsmanship means in terms of curatorial practice, alongside a constant interrogation of how to work the institution itself as form or "material."
Shannon R. Stratton has worked in the visual arts as an artist, writer, curator, professor, publisher and arts administrator with an emphasis on artist-run initiatives and concepts in contemporary craft. After completing her MFA in 2003 she co-founded the artist-run organization, Threewalls (Chicago), where she was artistic and then executive director for 12 years. At Threewalls, she organized exhibitions with over 100 artists; created The Propeller Fund award in collaboration with Gallery 400 for artist’s self-organizing; conceived and published 4 volumes of PHONEBOOK, a national guide to grass-roots and artist run organizations across the US; and co-organized the first Hand-in Glove conference which would lead to the founding of Common Field, a national organization in support of artist-focused organizations. In 2015 she left Threewalls to assume the role of Chief Curator at The Museum of Arts and Design in New York and pursue her interest in the future of craft. At MAD she has reimagined the artistic vision of the institution, programming the exhibition calendar, including curating eight exhibitions, from fall 2015 until present. She continues to organize exhibitions independently, with a particular research interest in expanded concepts of the self-taught and grass-roots cultural production.
Image Credit: Andreas Buntes. "Two Films About Pressure" in the exhibition In Time: The Rhythm of the Workshop.
Made possible by the William Bronson and Grayce Slovet Mitchell Lectureship in Fiber and Material Studies. This lecture is free and open to the public.
