OX-BOW SCHOOL OF ART & ARTISTS' RESIDENCY SAUGATUCK, MICHIGAN | WWW.OX-BOW.ORG | @OXBOWSCHOOLOFART
OUR PURPOSE
As an artist-built and run school and residency, Ox-Bow is dedicated to the creation and preservation of time and space for arts education, research, practice, and community-building for artists at all stages of their artistic journey.
OUR VISION
Ox-Bow is a community builder. We meet artists, staff, and patrons where they are to fuel connection, dialog and joy, and bridge disciplines, generations, and identities through art. We welcome the whole person with care and inclusion as we collectively become stewards of our ever-growing network.
As Ox-Bow moves into the future we will continue to create a space that emphasizes our culture of discovery, innovation, play, and being good neighbors. We will nurture our historic campus and protected landscape so we can continue to be inspired by the sunsets provided by the coast of Lake Michigan.
ABOUT OX-BOW
Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency was established in 1910 in Saugatuck, Michigan off the coast of Lake Michigan. Our egalitarian and intimate environment encourages all artists, regardless of experience, to find, amplify, rediscover, and share their impulse to create. Faculty, Visiting Artists, Residents, staff, and students live together in community on our campus surrounded by 115 acres of the Tallmadge Woods, where they share meals, social time, and the exchange of ideas. We actively encourage our participants to engage across differences in age, regional location, race, and gender identity, learning what it means to be a community by participating in one. Ox-Bow is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization.
WHERE TO FIND US
OUR MAIN CAMPUS
3435 Rupprecht Way
Saugatuck, MI 49453
OX-BOW HOUSE
137 Center Street Douglas, MI 49406
HOW TO CONTACT
E-MAIL: oxbow@ox-bow.org
PHONE: 269-857-5811
STAY CONNECTED
WEBSITE: www.ox-bow.org
NOTE: All images are courtesy of faculty unless otherwise noted.
CATALOG DESIGN BY: ASHLEY M. FREEBY
SOCIAL MEDIA: @oxbowschoolofart PROUDLY AFFILIATED WITH THE SCHOOL OF THE
INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, A MAJOR SPONSOR OF OX-BOW
My work draws from years of participation in queer, punk and DIY communities where we experiment with how we can, and cannot, consciously shape the world in which we live. Today the brightly-colored, large-scale installations I create are similarly informed by a lineage of artists and thinkers who understand the role art can plan in reshaping our world through radical imagination.
- Macon Reed, 2025 Visiting Artist
COVER ART BY: Macon Reed
As Above, So Below, 2022
Floating Installation Dimensions: 15 FT x 15 FT x 6 FT
Location: Beam Camp, Stratford, NH
Materials: Wood, steel, aluminum mesh, hemp fiber, LED lights, white glue, recycled plastic barrels, latex paint, firewood
As Above, So Below is a collaboration with Beam Projects, consisting of two large-scale site-specific works I designed to help young people process their experiences of the pandemic. Working closely with Beam, I worked to develop a curriculum enabling 80 campers (ages 8-17) to build out the physical components of the installation. I worked with older campers to help them mentor younger campers in discussions about grief, the deaths of their loved ones, and lost time at school- leaning into what supported them through the early pandemic as well. Each camper then made a small sculpture to remind them of what helped forge their resilience and placed it inside small alcoves built into the installations during a ritual to help them move forward.
DEAR ARTIST,
In your hands you are holding an Ox-Bow summer course catalog that marks our 115th year of programming at 3435 Rupprecht Way in Saugatuck, Michigan. Founded by artists associated with the School of the Art Institute, Ox-Bow is evidence of the long history of Midwestern artists striking out on their own to support one another through DIY initiatives. In Chicago there has been decades of artist-run apartment galleries and throughout the Midwestern states, summer residencies in rural locations – it is in the DNA of the Midwest to make places for gathering to learn, create, and be in community.
If you haven’t been to Ox-Bow, you might wonder what is in store…where is it? What’s it like? Who will you meet here? Each year a new cohort of students arrives for the first time and are enchanted by what they experience. They leave describing their time as magical, but the Ox-Bow spell is deceptively simple: it’s created from making art in community, spending time in nature, and eating healthy meals with new friends. It’s enhanced by dancing together at the Friday-night costume party, taking canoe trips to Lake Michigan, and watching technicolor sunsets. Despite those modest ingredients, when artists leave, they usually leave transformed.
In 1910 it was a little easier to stay present— people didn’t have the distraction of digital devices, non-stop information and on-demand communication clouding their daily lives. But even then, Ox-Bow was described as an escape
from the polluted urban setting. Now, in addition to immersing oneself in nature, Ox-Bow allows for late-nights in the studio, morning coffee with visiting artists, and artist talks beside a lagoon. A campus cat might wander through the painting studio or a rooster’s call serve as your alarm clock. In time you realize you’ve lost track of social media and you’ve been having vivid dreams. Your mind can finally unwind and tap back into your most creative impulses. You start to be energized around possibility and trusting what art and artists can do. Last year at a Friday night dance party, two freshmen excitedly told me: “We can’t wait to be artists now!” and a junior said: “I didn’t know places like this existed!”
It sounds like a tall-tale, but these are the reasons Ox-Bow abides. It’s a rarity, an endangered species even. Ox-Bow is one of few remaining places where emerging artists can learn in a multi-generational environment that supports them in an immersive artistic community where day-to-day life and art-making merge. Join us for a summer that you will never forget, it might very well change your life!
See you soon,
Executive Director Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists' Residency
Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency has a rich history of connecting artists to new skills, supportive mentors, and inspiring nature. As we embark on another summer season, we are excited for a new group of students to join and engage with us in our courses that bridge craft and concept, merge play and focus, and allow students to explore new techniques in the studio.
Every summer Ox-Bow provides oneor two-week offerings—including familiar courses in woodfired ceramics, glassblowing, and papermaking—that students come back for year after year. This season, our Summer 2025 core academic courses offer special focuses with unique opportunities to learn: illustration from cartoonists, site-specific designed objects, and studio-based skills rooted in social, event-based practices.
All core courses are open to anyone over 18 and are available as for- or non-credit enrollments. Courses meet every day during the session, including any weekend days, from 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. ET. During each session, Ox-Bow hosts an exciting calendar of events after course hours including Visiting Artist lectures, spontaneous workshops, and social gatherings.
Three students, dressed all in white, push against a tree in a performance piece created in Rhyming the Land.
PHOTO BY: DOMINIQUE MUÑOZ, SUMMER FELLOW 2024
THE TRANSPARENT SELF: WORKING IN GLASS
with Minami Oya & Nate Watson
GLASS 666 001 | 3 credits
$350 Lab Fee | June 1 –14
Glass embodies a fluidity, range, and nuance well suited to expose the truths that every person holds. Through a series of material inquiries, and personal reflections, we’ll find the methods by which the stories that define us can best be made visible through glass. This workshop will examine
the qualities that make glass such a powerful mode of expression and help students refine an honest and natural relationship with the material. We’ll cover a range of foundational techniques including basic glassblowing, adhesives and assemblage, color application, basic coldworking, and sculpture techniques— A balancing of traditional and nontraditional processes will help you access the expression that comes from a harmony between you and the material. Through a series of short lectures, brief writing assignments, and thoughtful experiments, students will come to understand the range, immediacy, and responsiveness that glass can offer the creative process. Instructors will introduce contemporary artists like Vanessa German, Tavares Strachan, Fred Wilson, Team Lab, and many more who mine the
material of glass in wildly different ways to alter how we observe the world and how we envision ourselves within it. Experiencing and reflecting on the material in its purest form while constantly checking in with how we tell our own truths through short writing prompts, we’ll consider where the language of glass and the stories that make us, overlap. Ultimately we’ll seek a merging of ourselves with the making process in a way that allows for our truths to melt into the spaces where we live and work and create together. The course begins with students responding to a series of writing prompts designed to produce short autobiographical excerpts. These expressions of self reflection are to be presented, discussed, and distilled into personal methodologies for approaching glass. Inquiry is the mechanism for refining individual paths in this course, as each unique
story is transformed into a series of experiments and challenges through which each student builds a foundational understanding of how glass works.
This course will cover the fundamentals of glassblowing and is designed to develop a student’s foundational knowledge and skill upon which more advanced ideas can be built. Students will learn to gather hot glass out of the furnace and how to manipulate it with a variety of tools and techniques in both the hot shop and the cold shop. Productive practices including working as a team, timing and choreography, and using natural elements to execute ideas will be demonstrated. This course may include a screening of Glassmakers
Corey Pemberton, Class final (Napkin Ring) from ‘Dinner Party’ course, 2024, glass
of Herat. We will investigate glassblowing from a historical approach and look at objects from different periods in history, including works made by Pino Signoretto, Bill Gudenrath, and Karen WillinbrinkJohnsen. Assignments will range from functional cup making, executing complex abstractions, and methods for coloring and patterning. This course will culminate in the completion of a student designed sculpture or installation to be exhibited in the hot shop.
THE DINNER PARTY
with Corey Pemberton GLASS 676 001 | 3 credits $350 Lab Fee | June 29–July 12
There’s nothing more satisfying than eating and drinking from handmade wares with friends. This course, open to students of all levels, will focus on establishing a strong foundation in form and function in service of manipulating molten glass into items for a communal table setting. We will learn the processes involved in making objects including drinkware, pitchers, serving bowls, plates, and candlesticks and consider the works of Judy Chicago, Beth Lipman, and Joe Cariati. Underscoring the social nature of the glassblowing process in the studio, our objective will be to create a tablescape to use for a social mixer at the end of the class, bringing everyone together to celebrate one another’s hard work and individuality. Students need only bring a good attitude, an open mind, and a hunger to learn!
(left to right starting from top left) Christen Baker, New! And Impervious to Natural Elements (Installation View with HDPE _O_ ), 2023, glass, cement blocks, hand painted sign, OSB plywood, rope, and tape, 24 x 69 x 102 in.; Minami Oya, Infinity No.3: Traverse Black, 2023 , glass, mirror, partially reflective mirror, LED light, and paint, 27 x 23 x 7 in.; Emily Endo, Siratus Drip, 2024, glass, shell, volcanic stone, and fragrance, 4 × 8 × 5 in.; Yashu Reddy, "Opal White Cups", 2021, 3 x 3 x 5 in.; Will Hutchinson, Table orb, 2024, glass and ceramics, 24 x 12 x 12 in.; Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez, shifting countenance, 2015, flameworked and blown glass, performance, mask: h: 9.5 x w: 7 x d: 4.5 in.
MULTI-LEVEL GLASSBLOWING
with Will Hutchinson
GLASS 641 001
1.5 credits | $175 Lab Fee
July 13–19
A hands-on studio workshop for those with some glassblowing experience. Students will learn a variety of techniques for manipulating molten “hot glass” into vessel or sculptural forms. Lectures, demonstrations, videos, and critiques will augment studio instruction.
This course will cover the fundamentals of glassblowing and is designed to develop a student’s foundational knowledge and skill upon which more advanced ideas can be built. Students will learn to gather hot glass out of the furnace and how to manipulate it with a variety of tools and techniques in both the hot shop and the cold shop. Productive practices including working as a team, timing and choreography, and using natural elements to execute ideas will be demonstrated. This course may include readings from Ed Schmidt’s Beginning Glassblowing and a screening of Glassmakers of Hera t. We will investigate glassblowing from a historical approach and look at objects from different periods in history, including works made by Pino Signoretto, Bill Gudenrath, and Karen WillinbrinkJohnsen. Assignments will range from functional cup
making, executing complex abstractions, and methods for coloring and patterning. This course will culminate in the completion of a student designed sculpture or installation to be exhibited in the hot shop.
PERFUMERY & GLASS-CAST VESSELS
with Emily Endo GLASS 652 001
1.5 credits | $175 Lab Fee August 3–9
This class will introduce the process of casting hollowcore glass vessels and the fundamentals of fragrance construction. Part one of the class will introduce the process of creating cast glass vessels using an adaptation of the coreforming process. Techniques covered will include basic hollow-core mold making, wax sculpting, and firing schedule development. The second section of the course will guide students through perfume formulation, structure, material families, extraction processes, and blending. Participants will work with aroma molecules and high quality botanical essences. Each student will leave with their own custom blended alcohol based perfume and cast glass vessel. The histories of perfume and glass have been intertwined since their inception in the ancient world. In addition to technical demonstrations, this workshop will explore the historical and conceptual intersections between glass and perfume. The class will discuss contemporary artists who fuse olfaction, glass, and mixed
within their work such as Sissel Tolaas, Katie Paterson, and Candice Lin. Readings and screenings will include excerpts from Fragrant by Mandy Aftel, Ancient Glass by R.A. Grossmann, and Perfume on the Radio by the Institute of Art and Olfaction. Assignments will include sculpting a vessel using shape, color, and ornamentation to reveal or conceal the vessel’s contents and create a perfume that tells a story through its ingredients.
students will explore three methods of hot glass forming: solid sculpting, glassblowing, and mold blowing with the inclusion of found organic materials. Soil, wood, water, and food are some examples of organic materials that will be used to create glass artworks that speak to the environmental impact of humans in the Anthropocene. Through demonstrations and discussions, students will develop an understanding of sustainable glass
Mescher-Leitner, and Kristen Neville Taylor will be important points of consideration. Assignments will explore material inclusions in glass, optics, impressions, and other formal considerations that speak to the environmental impacts of humans in our time. Students will also view selected historical videos from the Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass to research the important technological role of glass in our modern world.
complex forms, such as nontraditional glasses, candlesticks, and cake platters. We will cover the fundamentals of traditional glassblowing at the furnace. Starting with gathering, we will explore basic forms and shapes for cups, bowls, and accompanying parts, such as stems and feet. This course will primarily focus on the importance of timing and teamwork, both of which are equally important in glassblowing. Our instruction will reference
The setting of Ox-Bow has always been one of the major things I love about this place. Being surrounded by the beautiful nature of southwest Michigan is breathtaking, from the forest to the lake.
Glass-Blown Organics is an introductory glass course that approaches material investigation and sculpture through a lens of posthumanism.
“Posthumanism” refers to a perspective that challenges traditional human-centered views by emphasizing interconnectedness among organisms and complex systems, aiming to disrupt hierarchies and boundaries between humans and other entities. In this course,
practices that can then be applied to their sculptural works. Using these skills and techniques, students will learn to create forms and surfaces that explore glass as a unique material, how glass is deeply significant to place and time, and how to utilize hot glass and organics together to enhance artistic impact. Each component of this course will develop an understanding of material and processes and will facilitate discussions on critical theory, artistic practice, and making with intention. Sculptural works by contemporary glass artists such as Amber Cowan, Sabine
Students must demonstrate a strong work ethic and a passion for investigating personal artistic strengths and goals throughout this intensive course. Students of all experience levels working with glass are welcome and encouraged.
GLASS STEMWARE
with Yashodhar Reddy GLASS 653 001
1.5 credits | $175 Lab Fee August 24–30
This intermediate glassblowing class is for students who desire to learn advanced techniques for incorporating stems and bases into more
traditional Muranese methods of glassworking, looking at makers such as Davide Fuin, a glass maestro working today, and the works of historical glass manufacturers such as Venini and Barovier & Toso. Assignments will invite students to draft potential table and stemware designs in charcoal or paint and then fabricate selected designs in glass using the techniques and methods covered. The class will culminate in a presentation and critique of final pieces.
CERAMICS
WOODFIRE: ANCIENT METHODS & CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS
with Henry Crissman & Virginia Rose Torrence CERAMICS 660 001
3 credits | $300 Lab Fee June 1–14
This course will explore the many histories, methods, and potentials of using wood as fuel to heat and transform clay into ceramic. Presentations will survey ceramic science, the history and logic of kiln design, and the range of objects made with wood fired kilns.
Demonstrations will include handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques as well as experimental methods with found ceramic materials and objects. Films and readings including Maria Martinez: Indian Pottery of San Ildefonso and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass will offer insights as we engage and form the material of the Earth. Conversations throughout will aim to assist students in finding creative agency with ceramics. Students will work on independent projects and the class will culminate in a nearly two day long firing
of Ox-Bow’s 50 cubic foot catenary-arch wood-kiln; a massive group effort that will involve loading the kiln, and methodically stoking it with wood for the duration of the firing until our desired temperature is reached throughout. While the kiln cools we’ll explore ways in which the techniques covered might be applied outside of the workshop, and build and fire a small and temporary kiln which students could easily recreate independently. Once cool, the big kiln will be unloaded and cleaned, results will be finished and analyzed, and we’ll hold an exhibit of the works created.
CUTENESS OVERLOAD
with Chase Barney CERAMICS 663 001 3 credits | $250 Lab Fee June 15–28
Cuteness and humor can be used to convey serious topics in a palatable way. Artists such as Robert Arneson, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Ruby Neri, and Beth Lo utilize these tactics in their clay practice to tell us stories from unique points of view. Students will learn hand-building techniques such as coil building, slab construction, pinch pots, and various surface design techniques, combining these skills with their interpretation of “cute” to achieve their desired result. This course allows students of all levels to work
on projects, improve their ceramics skills and develop their visual vocabulary. Participants will have access to all materials in the ceramic studio and demonstrations will include hand-building, vessel creation, construction methods, proper firing methods, and encourage an intermediate understanding of drying times, methods for building sound pieces, techniques for minimizing loss, and studio safety. Taking inspiration from the California Funk movement and ideas about the aesthetics of optimism, as coined by curator Angelik VizcarrondoLaboy, students will be encouraged to listen to episodes of VizcarrondoLaboy’s podcast “Clay in Color”. Group readings and discussion will focus on Sontag’s “Notes on Camp”, we will screen episodes of Art 21 and Craft in America, as well as classic cartoons such as Looney Tunes and Hello Kitty. Assignments are designed to build an understanding of handbuilding techniques, ceramic tradition, cuteness’s place in the present art canon, and how to introduce humor and play into your practice. Assignments and exercises may include clay-exquisitecorpse, pinch pot coffee cups, and a narrative vessel. Instructors will be available to help facilitate individual projects and class critiques.
Dee Clements, Polyp, 2024, ceramics, reed, dyed, and polyurethane, 28 x 26 x 30 in.
HAND-BUILDING POTTERY FOR PLANTS
with Dee Clements CERAMICS 671 001
3 credits | $250 Lab Fee
June 29–July 12
In this class, we will use hand-building techniques to create planters, baths, vases, and sculptures specifically designed for growing flowers and ornamental plants. We will pay special attention to the strength, drainage, and outdoor readiness of our designs to best serve our growing needs. Students will have access to all materials in the Ceramics Studio. Demonstrations will cover hand-building, vessel creation, and construction methods, with a focus on developing an intermediate understanding of drying times, building sound pieces, minimizing loss, and studio safety. In addition, students will have the opportunity to explore effective surface techniques using the Ox-
Bow glaze lab. We will use coil- and slab-building methods to construct pots and then enhance them with ornamental and decorative surface treatments including carving, sgraffito, incising, feathering, and the addition of other sculptural elements. We’ll also explore colored slips and underglaze techniques. To draw inspiration, we will study various ceramic artists working in similar styles. Assignments will invite students to consider the idea of the clay pot as a container for holding plants, foods, and objects and how decoration and ornamentation can signify an object’s use or history, or tell a story. We will consider the idea of “The Carrier Bag Theory” and its application within both ancient and modern pottery. We will look at examples from early Greek pots to contemporary artists like Betty Woodman, Roberto Lugo, Grayson Perry, and more. Our final installation
will be supported by a trip to the plant nursery to buy plants to create a studio installation of living elements supported by our ceramic wares.
MIX & MATCH: ASSEMBLAGE WITH CERAMICS
with Allison Wade CERAMICS 666 001 3 credits | $250 Lab Fee July 21–August 2
In this course, students will create a collection of hand-built ceramic parts to be combined with found and/or constructed elements into hybrid sculptural objects. Inspired by materials at hand and the work of Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Arlene Shechet, and Linda Sormin (among others), we will think through the relationship of the part to the whole, intuition versus planning, time as it relates to material, and construction and conjunction methods. Over the two weeks, we will pinch, coil and slab
build fire-able components while concurrently sourcing and fabricating non-clay materials. The final days of the session will be devoted to producing playful groupings for display and discussion. In addition, students will be asked to bring an item of old clothing to be deconstructed and used for our first assignment, a series of small pieces with unfired clay. A screening of Craft in America’s “Inspiration” episode and Art21’s Arlene Shechet interview, as well as short readings such as Joan Key’s “Readymade or Handmade?”, will complement studio time.
THE ANCIENT FUTURE: CLAY & SOUND
with Israel Davis & Douglas R. Ewart CERAMICS 659 001
1.5 credits | $125 Lab Fee August 3–9
Music and clay, are two of the most malleable, elastic, enduring, widely utilized,
Chase Barney, Spilled Seed (don’t cry), 2023, glazed ceramic, 15 x15 x7 in.; Edward Cabral, Fornacalia, 2023, wheat, egg, and butter, 7.25 x 10.75 x 0.75 in.; Maxwell Holden
and shared materials and experiences known to the Human Family. Many of the oldest musical instruments found at archeological sites are made of clay and, inspired by this ancient relationship, we will study the symbiotic nature of ceramics and sound through instrument making and performance. We will explore music and clay as medicine for meditation, comfort, and peace through the creation of ceramic drums, shakers, whistles, cups, bowls, and as carriers of sound, food, and libation. The works of Raven Halfmoon, Dante K. Hayes, and Ebi Baralaye may guide our creative path and we will review the ceramic instrument works of Nigeria, Pakistan, Morocco, and Turkey. Through daily musical improvisations, guided sessions, group discussions, and demonstrations on ceramic studio processes including hand-building, throwing, and glazing techniques, this course will culminate in pit fire and a final performance. We aim to share in meaningful exchange that reexamines ancient practices as a way to forge new pathways to cultural wellness.
CLAY, FIRE & FOOD
with Edward Cabral & Maxwell Holden
CERAMICS 669 001
3 credits | $250 Lab Fee August 10–23
Preparing and sharing meals represents one of the most intimate relationships we have with the earth. With plates made from clay, forks pulled from mountains,
and ingredients cleaved from nature, this class will uncover how clay feeds us by learning an abridged history of fire, earth, and food. From Jell-O molds to contemporary art, we will explore the role of ceramics in facilitating artwork at the table. Students of all levels are welcome to join this course, which will include demonstrations of techniques for effective hand-building, throwing, firing, and finishing. In addition to time spent in the Ox-Bow kitchen, the course will have a substantial seminar component. Discussions will introduce students to various histories of mealtime ceramic design and collective making and meal planning. In addition to reading Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space and watching Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, we will consider the work of Erica Lord, Roberto Lugo, Clare Twomey, Michael Rakowitz, Mel Chin, Dirt Waffles Collective, Félix González-Torres, Daniel Spoerri, Stephanie Temma Hier, Stephanie Shih, Alison Knowles, Ettore Sottsass and the Memphis Group, Adrian Saxe, and Eva Zeisel. Together we will plan and cook a final food presentation, supported by wood-fired ceramic wares. In addition to working toward the community meal, assignments will include “Spirit of the Fire,” for which students will construct a totem representing fire.
(clockwise from top) Douglas R. Ewart; Israel Davis, Devil-May-Care Series: Tea Bowl, 2024; ceramic, 3 x 4 x 4 in.; Henry J.H. Crissman, Pretzel Theory, 2024, wood-fired ceramic, 12 x 10 x 5 in.; Virginia Rose Torrence, Snake in the Grass, 2022, ceramic, 12 x 9 x 7 in.; Allison Wade, Wishful thinking, 2024, steel, wood, ceramic, and hand dyed fabric, 74 x 24 x 3.5 in. Photo: Robert Chase Heishman
CARTOONING & ILLUSTRATION
FUNNY BOOKS
with Jessica Campbell PAINTING & DRAWING 603
001 | 1.5 credits | $100 lab fee | August 3–9
The comics we first encounter in the world are funny: gag panels, newspaper strips, children’s comic books. Humor is so fundamental to the origin of the medium that is incorporated in the name (ie “comics”). Throughout history, humor has remained a tool of the dispossessed due to its malleable ability to disarm; critique; process trauma; incisively observe; destabilize hierarchy; catalyze political action; and foster connection and joy. Because of how comedy functions (by making people laugh) and how comics circulate (as ephemeral mass media), both can be dismissed as more frivolous than serious forms of academic and artistic inquiry.
The ease with which jokes and comics are overlooked is also their strength, allowing them to exist in the margins, piercing social conventions otherwise impenetrable. The accessibility of humor and comics can provide space for those shut out from the halls of power. In this class, we will investigate what it means to make funny books through production, critique, and close readings of work by other artists like Lisa Hanawalt, Walter Scott and Lynda Barry. We will explore comics through a variety of approaches designed to strengthen writing, drawing and the myriad ways in which humor can be used. Through at least one project in this course, students will investigate the process of generating ideas, writing and drawing comic strips using pen and ink.
FIELD ILLUSTRATION
with Josh Dihle PAINTING & DRAWING 678
001 | 1.5 credits | $100 lab fee | August 3–9
Inspired by the landscape and wildlife of Ox-Bow, this class invites students to develop an illustrative portfolio in pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache. Students will build effective and inventive travel easels to explore campus and, working both outside and in the studio, will develop a personal approach to rendering and responding to the plants and animals that call Ox-Bow home. Demonstrations will cover methods for effective color mixing and composing in the field as well as techniques for recreating botanical structure, basic animal anatomy, and biological
textures including bark, shell, and feathers. We will review the work of John James Audubon, Walton Ford, Evelyn Statsinger, and Kiki Smith and students will carry a naturalist pocket guide for reference. Onsite and studio drawing assignments will be accompanied by readings and discussions of naturalist poetry by Mary Oliver, Seamus Heaney, and Sharon Olds. Assignments will challenge students to notice the nuance in nature and will include a bug hunt, with invertebrates sketched in graphite, and a watercolor assignment that gives visual expression to a work of poetry or literature. Students will be encouraged to propose a final project inspired by their observations.
Jessica Campbell, Rave, 2022, Drawn & Quarterly; Josh Dihle, Mrs. Toast, 2024, found objects and casein on carved basswood, 18 x 14 x 2 in.
PAINTING & DRAWING
PHOTO BY: DOMINIQUE MUÑOZ, SUMMER FELLOW 2024
Two artists look at a landscape painting positioned in front of the lagoon.
RHYTHMISTIC AIRBRUSH
with Turtel Onli
PAINTING & DRAWING 679
001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | June 1–14
Taught by an airbrush master and legend of the Chicago-based Wearable Art Movement in the 1970’s, students who enroll in this class have a unique opportunity to enhance their technique with an exciting and versatile tool while considering the radicality of the medium. At the heart of the Wearable Art Movement was the rejection of traditional hierarchies that elevated fine art over craft. With this in mind, students will survey the fundamentals, care, and accessories related to the airbrush to create exceptional wearable and 2D artworks. This is a project based course designed to expand the skills of the beginner and experienced airbrush user. Proper handling, studio safety, and water based methods will be demonstrated for a more errorless experience. We will glean inspiration from the airbrush greats including Terry Hill, Olivia De Berardinis, H. R. Giger, and Pamela Shanteau and available texts will include The Complete Airbrush Book by Ralph Maurello, The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook by Pamela Shanteau. Assignments will familiarize students with both stencils and a freehand technique to achieve an expressive result. Our most complex project will involve precise registration techniques, with multiple colors and spray patterns to achieve an excellent collection of
designed 2D and wearable artworks. T-shirts and other fabric will be provided, but students should also bring their own pieces that they imagine could be involved in their final, wearable, presentation.
MATERIAL ABSTRACTION IN PAINTING
with Laurel Sparks PAINTING & DRAWING 683
001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | June 15–28
This course explores the principles and practices of material abstraction in painting, focusing on the transformative qualities of paint and tactile media. Students will engage in a rigorous studio environment, experimenting with various materials and techniques— including acrylics, oils, collage, object assemblage,
fabric, and industrial materials—to discover how texture, color, and form can convey meaning beyond representation. Through a combination of hands-on projects and critical discussions, participants will investigate the relationship between materials and visual language. Explorations of works by historical and contemporary artists such as David Hammons, Lynda Benglis, Jack Whitten, and Niki De Saint Phalle will expose students to practices that foreground tactility over narrative. Abstract experimental films and analog animations by Harry Smith and Jan Svankmajer will offer timebased theaters of alchemy and bricolage. Catalog essays from LA MOCA’s 2012–13 exhibition Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void 1949–1962 will highlight
postwar experiments with the materiality of gesture and the expansion of the painting medium to incorporate performance, time-based, and assemblage strategies. These examples will span the earliest experiments to the most current practitioners who move the two-dimensional medium of painting toward the three-dimensionality of sculpture. Assignments will be open and experimental, beginning with 10 quick studies that combine three unlikely elements each. These studies will generate a personal aesthetic, culminating in a final presentation of each student’s distinct exploration of tactile abstraction. By the end of the course, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the symbolic and sensory
Ann Toebbe, Frogger, gouache, oil, and paper collage on panel, 24 x 30
implications of material choices, while expanding traditional boundaries in painting.
MURALING AT OX-BOW
with Alex Bradley Cohen & Nicola Florimbi PAINTING & DRAWING 605
001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | June 15–28
In this class, students will have the opportunity to design, propose, and implement a large outdoor mural that will beautify and celebrate Ox-Bow. Visible from the main entrance road into campus, the mural will greet all visitors and participants. Students will learn strategies for planning, drafting, scaffolding, and collecting supplies for their collaborative mural. The class will draw inspiration from the style and signage of Ox-Bow and consider the work of muralists Diego Rivera, Ben Shahn, Seymour Fogel, Thelma Johnson Streat, Keith Haring, and Bernard Williams, among others. In the first few days of the course, students and faculty will work together to design three proposals, to be reviewed and approved by Ox-Bow’s Built & Natural Environment Committee. The remainder of the course will center on implementation of the selected design.
FAKING IT: INVENTED ENVIRONMENTS FOR PAINTING
with Richard Hull PAINTING & DRAWING 637
001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | June 29–July 12
In this course, students build their own landscape
(left to right from top left) Carrie Gundersdorf, Snowflake Cone #2, non-photo blue, 2024, colored pencil and watercolor on paper, 28 x 22 in.; Laurel Sparks, Heaven and Earth Magic, 2024, woven canvas strips, waterbased paint, poured gesso, graphite, paper pulp, xmas tree ash, sequence, mirrors, bells, and velvet, 68 x 55 in.; Paula Kamps, The Heralds, 2024, distemper and oil on canvas, 15.74 x 11.81 in.; Kaylee Rae Wyant, Grieving the Sugar Maple, 2024, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in.; Mari Eastman, Studio Assistant, 2024, oil on canvas, 14 x 12 in.; Holly Murkerson, gash, 2023, gelatin silver print, 19 x 12.75 in.
tableaus in the studio using materials found in the Ox-Bow environs. Students then paint these scenes. The objective of the course is for students to create more dynamic abstract or representational paintings by controlling the subject matter and inspecting how choices are made from a painting’s initial stages. Other subject matter sources include papier-mâché heads (for portraiture), nonrepresentational sculptures and invented environments.
COLOR
with Mario Romano & William Sieruta
PAINTING & DRAWING 658
001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | June 29–July 12
This course investigates a series of color problems to sensitize students to the interaction of color and color phenomena. Considering the puzzles of color use and color composition, this course emphasizes hue, value, and chroma and the application of such knowledge to the visual arts. Students are encouraged to work in the 2-d media of their choosing (acrylic, oil, pastels, etc) and will be provided with a list of colors to construct their palate prior to the beginning of class. Students will practice looking at color, and in the first week of class will take inspiration from a presentation of one hundred paintings, including work made by David Hockney, Joan Mitchell, Milton Avery, Jacob Lawrence, Stuart Davis, Josef Albers, Karl Wirsum, and Georgia O’Keefe. We will consider
how they have all playfully explored the power of color. Assignments will invite students to complete both simple and complex color wheels, with the goal of discerning the sometimes unintuitive interaction of pigments. Students will work in the studio and in the landscape, observing, utilizing, and manipulating color in nature. This is a basic course about seeing and using color that can be applied to all disciplines.
ROMANTICISM & NATURE IN PAINTING
with Mari Eastman & Paula Kamps PAINTING & DRAWING 682 001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | July 21–August 2
This class will focus on painting and drawing from nature. After starting the day with meditation and movement, we will make sketches and watercolors of Ox-Bow’s unique surroundings. Alternating between a painterly approach and writing to reflect on thoughts and impressions, we will touch upon European Romanticism and Asian landscape painting. In addition to reading passages from Rainer Maria Rilke, Emily Dickinson, and Buddhist texts, we will view works by artists including Eugène Delacroix, Édouard Manet, Emil Nolde, Giorgio Morandi, George Stubbs, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Marlene Dumas, as well as illustrators such as Beatrix Potter and Maria Sibylla Merian. Thinking together about the meaning of the sublime and the importance of what Isaiah
Berlin called “longing for the unbounded and the indefinable . . . an effort to return to the forgotten sources of life,” we will stress solitary studio and reading time as much as encouraging students to explore nature on their own. In the first week of the course, we will supplement local florals with foraged natural elements to design ephemeral arrangements via a lesson in ikebana. These living sculptures will serve as still-life subjects. Finding inspiration in OxBow’s dynamic weather and its rich flora and fauna, we will sketch in the field, draw from canoes, hike, paint the constellations at night, and bird-watch. We will study our subjects and utilize the techniques necessary to translate their textures and colors, starting in watercolor en plein air before finishing works in oil and acrylic in the studio. The class will culminate with an installation of final works.
THE ARTIST’S COLLECTION: FORAGING ARCHIVES FOR THE STUDIO
with Kaylee Rae Wyant & Holly Murkerson PAINTING & DRAWING 604 001 | 3 credits | $175 Lab Fee | July 21–August 2
What do you like to collect, and why? From Georgia O’Keeffe’s scavenged bones to the Chicago Imagists’ “trash treasures,” artists have often built personal collections to develop unique visual languages. Through daily foraging walks, students will gather and document
objects from the Ox-Bow landscape, creating a personal archive to inspire their work. We’ll also explore the local ecology, learning about nearby dunes, wetlands, and old-growth forests. As we examine our relationship to the land, we will consider ways to “collect” without taking and explore how artmaking can offer new perspectives for connecting with the environment. We will study artists who use collected materials to create unique painting styles, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Barbara Rossi, Christina Ramberg, and Wangechi Mutu. We’ll explore the collection aesthetics in the assemblages of Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Dion, Louise Nevelson, and Rashid Johnson, as well as experimental photography and collage techniques by Evelyn Statsinger, James Welling, Harold Mendez, and Anna Atkins. Readings like Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Death by Landscape by Elvia Wilk will prompt discussions about our relationship to the land, expanding our view to include plants and animals. Students will focus on developing a unique visual vocabulary through maintaining a rigorous daily sketchbook practice— completing at least 10 sketches a day along with reflective writing—and compiling a detailed archive of paintings, drawings, rubbings, and photographs that explore forms, patterns, and colors observed in nature. Students will then synthesize their collections,
methods, and materials to produce a hybrid body of work for presentation at the end of the course. Although the course is rooted in drawing and painting, a multidisciplinary approach is encouraged. Students will use their sketches to explore ideas, study form and color, and experiment with alternative modes of markmaking, image generation, and nontraditional surfaces. While works on paper and canvas are welcome, students will also have the opportunity to work with cast plaster, handmade paper, and photograms, broadening their exploration of materials and techniques.
This class champions the interrelationship and the experimental nature of drawing, printmaking, and painting and will invite artists to move fluidly between Ox-Bow’s painting studio and the print studio, providing students with the opportunities to actively combine printmaking, drawing, painting, and collage techniques and materials. Methods demonstrated will include monoprinting, etching, screen printing, frottage, collage, grattage, decalcomania, and fumage. In the painting studio, students can work in watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and/or oils.
This course is meant to challenge traditional drawing, painting, and printmaking techniques and focus directly on the spirit of the process and its relationship to contemporary contexts. Chance operations and collaboration will be encouraged. We will review the work of many artists who experiment successfully with a multidisciplinary approach including Dottie Attie, Squeak Carnwath, Judy Pfaff, Miriam Schapiro, Joan Synder, Mickalene Thomas, William Weege, Jeffrey Gibson, and Louisa Chase and discussions will be supplemented by The Slip, 2023 by Prudence Peiffer and “Alex Jovanovich on Peter McGough”, Artforum 2023. Assignments will develop and expand mark-making and compositional vocabularies in relationship to the concepts of expression, attention, histories, form, and social arrangements. Students will be split into 2-groups, one group will have a home-base in the painting studio and the other in the print studio. As the group progresses through content, they will switch studios and focus on assignments specific to those facilities. On the weekend, both groups will come together with all faculty to have group critiques and discussions. The class will culminate in a final presentation of works installed at Ox-Bow.
DRAWING PLACE IN WATERCOLOR & GOUACHE
with Carrie Gundersdorf PAINTING & DRAWING 672
001 | 1.5 credits | $100 Lab Fee | August 24–30
Watercolor is historically associated with observation of the natural world, through works such as botanical and wildlife illustrations, J. M. W. Turner’s ethereal landscapes, Charles Burchfield’s transcendental images, and Joseph Yoakum’s reminisced locations. This course will help students build a basic understanding of the materials associated with both transparent watercolor and opaque watercolor (gouache)— paint, brushes, and paper— as well as the techniques: layering washes, working wet into wet, and using the white of the paper to create color. This course celebrates the ease and transportability of working in watercolor and gouache and brings the landscape into the studio. In addition to using the Ox-Bow environment as a source of subject matter, we will look at past and contemporary artists, including John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Georgia O’Keeffe, Dawn Clements, Amy Sillman, and Josephine Halvorson. Exercises involving color, observation, and mark-making will help familiarize students with the medium. The class will enable students to build a personal approach to working with the idea of place.
DRAFTING FLATTENED SPACE & PATTERN
with Ann Toebbe PAINTING & DRAWING 666 001 | 1.5 credits | $100 Lab Fee | August 24–30
This weeklong course explores flattened space as a compositional and narrative framework with a focus on pattern, decoration, multi-view perspective, and intuitive “quilted” layouts. We will be looking at Indian miniature, folk, and medieval depictions of space and a range of 20th century American artists like Horace Pippin, Morris Hirschfield, Martin Ramirez, Florine Stettheimer, Grandma Moses, and Nellie Mae Roe moving toward younger contemporary artists like Anne Buckwalter, Larissa Bates, Bryan Rogers, Laura Williams, Robyn O’Neill, and Andrea Joyce Heimer. Working in graphite and colored pencil the class will focus on creating quicker small drawings at the start of the week then slow down to create 1-2 finished works on larger paper. The option to paint or add paint media will be the artist’s choice. We will wrap up the week with a class discussion of the best or breakthrough pieces generated during the intensive work sessions. Source material can range from memory to photo images and anything in between, and it is up to the artist to have this material on hand.
(left to right from top left) William Sieruta, Balance Bean, oil on plywood, 22 x 22 in.; Alex Bradley Cohen, Social Construct #4, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 26 x 32 in.; Nicola Florimbi, Mother and Daughter, 2024, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in.; Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, 2022, popsicle sticks, marker, paper, tape and glue, Made with the artist’s nieces.; Michelle Grabner, untitled, 2023 oil, burlap and canvas, 60 in. diameter; Richard Hull, Kiss, 2024, oil and wax on linen, 48 x 54 in.; Turtel Onli; Brad Killam, Untitled, 2023, digital photograph; Mario Romano, Ashtray, 2022, oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in.
PRINTMAKING & PHOTO
PATTERNED & PRINTED TEXTILES
with Elnaz Javani
PRINT 628 001 | 3 credits
$175 Lab Fee | June 1–14
In this course, we examine a range of traditional and contemporary approaches to surface designing and mark making on fabric, using materials both pure and crude, to generate images. Drawing will be used as a device to access ideas, as a weapon against stunted creativity and will encourage accidental discovery. We will focus on the physical relationship between drawing and printing and will use silkscreen to translate
images quickly onto cloth. Direct printing techniques, such as mono printing, will be employed to transfer drawings onto unique surfaces, as well as photosilkscreen, hand painting, and fabric reactive dyes.
In this class fabric will become an extension of the paper; thick, thin, ridged, brittle, opaque and transparent. Instruction will be supplemented by relevant lectures on fiber and print artists and readings such as Prints Now Directions And Definitions, by Gill Saunders and Rosie Miles, Amanda Williams’ Color Theory, Hive Mind Out of Control by Kevin Kelly, The Tiling Patterns of Sebastien Truchet and The Topology
on relevant works of their choosing. This course gives students different approaches on imagemaking and process-based work framed with specific conceptual and historical readings on how artists and craftspeople have used dye, print and drawing to create complex surfaces.
LITHOGRAPHY: STONE & PHOTOLITHO GRAPHY
with Danny Miller & Kristina Paabus
PRINT 637 001 | 3 credits
$175 Lab Fee | June 15–28
of Structural Hierarchy by Cyril Stanley Smith and Pauline Boucher, Handbook of Regular Patterns: An Introduction to Symmetry in Two Dimensions by Peter Stevens, and Randomness Rules and Compositional Structure in Design by Michael Eckersley. Students will engage in sampling and experimentation, and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to independent studio practice and projects. This class will importantly include in-depth discussion about students’ work, concepts, material and technical choices, and thematic interests. Students are expected to work independently
This fast-paced course is designed for both beginners and advanced artists, and will be offered in a two-week sequence. Week one focuses on traditional methods with stone lithography, and week two introduces students to photomechanical lithography using both hand-drawn and digital processes. Students are encouraged to investigate personal directions in their work as they explore lithographic possibilities through editions and unique variants. Emphasis will be placed on both conceptual and technical development, and additional demonstrations will be added based on the specific interests and needs of the participants. Class consists of demonstrations, presentations, work time, discussions, and critiques. Historical and contemporary lithographic examples will be presented in order to clarify the relationships between idea, context, material, and process.
Two artists working on lithography stones in the Works on Paper Studio.
WANDERING SPIRITS
with Joseph & Sarah Belknap PHOTO | 615 001
3 credits | $175 Lab Fee June 29–July 12
What does it mean to make an image? In this course we will make images and photographs using the Earth’s Sun in collaboration with photographic techniques that emerged in the 1800s and continue to be used in contemporary art. We will play with digital photography, anthotypes, cyanotypes, chlorophyll prints, and other alternative photographic techniques. We will utilize photography, drawing, painting, and collage to make images with depth, vibrancy, and wildness. Our images will be experienced through virtual worlds and platforms as well as physical spaces of the home, communities and other locations through posting, installing, inserting, publishing and other possible ways where images can be transmitted. The acceleration of image production has transformed our understanding of ourselves by folding the horizon in on itself. We will look into phenomenological studies of being while making images that examine our contemporary conditions of the power within our lives that these images can serve, deconstruct and reinvent. From social justice, deep fakes, intimacy, ecology - the political impact of images shape our existence. While we look at contemporary and historical image making we will look at ways of seeing. Artists
will include Anna Atkins, Kiki Smith, Candice Lin, Zadie Xa, and Dario Robleto. Readings and screenings for this course will include Rebecca Solnit, Susan Sontag, Jean Painlevé, Sara Ahmed, and Hito Steyerl. Assignments will invite students to respond to the reading and viewing of Hito Steryerl’s work How Not to be Seen and create a series of images using the Cyanotype process. We will also consider the perspective points of the viewer and the processes of concealment that make this object or subject hidden in plain sight.
ART MAKING FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
with Anders Zanichkowsky PRINT 673 001
1.5 credits | $100 Lab Fee July 13–19
When artists make work about death, we are affirming our relationships to the living world. Doing this well requires asking questions, respecting mysteries and ethics, and inviting collaboration: with the living and the dead, the past and future, the human and non-human. This interdisciplinary seminar will show students different ways to engage with death, mortality, and grief in their studio practice. We will discuss readings, films, artworks, and historical burial practices, and develop our own work in response through drawing, creative writing, and monoprint, relief, and cyanotype printmaking. Final projects can also use performance, video, poetry, or other media. A major topic for the
Elnaz Javani, Piscina, 2023, Hand stitched embroidery, Hand dyed Fabric, Appliquéd cotton fabric, sublimation printing and discharge printing , 42x45 inches ; Sarah and Joseph Belknap, 2024, cyanotype, grog, epoxy clay, MDF, Photo Tex, rocks, bismuth, 32 X 36 in.; Kristina Paabus, Remainders (on the eve), 2022, collagraph intaglio, linocut, and letterpress, 20 x 16 in.
seminar is Necropolitics: How social inequality and oppression defines an era of untimely death for people whose lives are deemed “ungrievable” (Judith Butler) and thus not worth saving; and creates communities of “disprized mourners’’ (Dagwami Woubshet) whose grief goes unacknowledged and unhealed. We will discuss writings by those theorists as well as Christina Sharpe, John Berger, Teju Cole, and Mosab Abu Toha, and look at artists responding to and resisting the conditions of the Necrocene, including Alfredo Jaar, Tilda Swinton, Anna Campbell, and filmmakers Itziar Barrio and Tourmaline (“Atlantic is a Sea of Bones.”) Students will work through short but complex texts together, and learn to use creative writing to develop their own projects in printmaking or other media.
RISO-RELATIONS & BOOKISH BEHAVIORS
with Madeleine Aguilar & bex ya yolk
PRINT 668 001 | 3 credits
$200 Lab Fee
July 21–August 2
This course is an introduction to the RISOgraph as a tool for high volume printing, editioned objects, and bookmaking to produce publications in printed bookish form. Students will experiment with a range of binding, printing, and sculptural tools to create publications while learning a variety of book structures and binding techniques. Equipment and praxis include but are not limited to: the RISOgraph
printer, screen printing, xerox copier, comb binder, Epson scanner, laminator, spiral bound machine, and hand bookbinding tools. Daily in-class technical demonstrations in tandem with lectures on independent presses, zine makers, works by artists and publishers that utilize the RISO as both an economic and artistic tool, and prominent book artists will all be explored. The class will culminate in the production of a publication for the Ox-Bow Artists’ book and Zine Library (est. 2023). Each student will donate at least one book from their edition(s) to the collection. This gesture in fostering community by means of leaving ephemera and art objects for future artists to engage with, is the very core of what arts publishing can be.
This course will examine the relationship between drawing and print through various techniques for monotypes and monoprints while encouraging a playful approach to both disciplines. Students will develop sketches, drawings, and paintings into workable and reworkable print matrices. Emphasis will be placed on monoprint processes that facilitate iteration, variation, sequencing, and seriality. Techniques taught will include trace monotypes, additive and subtractive monotypes,
screen monotypes, and relief monotypes and monoprints. Students will look at, read, and discuss the following as points of reference: Ray and Charles Eames’s film Powers of Ten (thinking about zooming in and out while making work); works by Christina Ramberg and David Weiss (working in sequences, iteration); Tracey Emin’s Monoprint Diary (monoprinting as a mediation between drawing, printing, and painting); Ellsworth Kelly’s 1954 Drawings on a Bus: Sketchbook 23; Nicole Eisenman’s monotypes; Carla Esposito Hayter’s The Monotype: The History of a Pictorial Art ; Lynda Barry’s Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor (exploring “failure” and “good vs. bad drawings”); and Zarina Hashmi’s relief prints. While students will be encouraged to use all techniques taught to enhance their individual practice, they will also be given daily prompts to develop sketches and drawings. Assignments will include the creation of a monotype based on another student’s sketch using one or all of the following techniques: trace, additive, or subtractive methods. This will yield a cognate, or “ghost print,” which will be passed on to yet another student for further development.
WET PLATE
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Jaclyn Silverman PHOTO 613 001
1.5 credits | $100 Lab Fee August 24–30
Using the historic and time-honored wet-plate collodion process, students will move between the
studio, the community, and the natural environment to create glass plate images and photographic objects. We will explore the fundamentals of large format view camera photography while using individual mobile darkrooms for plate processing and production. This course considers the technical information, historical use, and advancement of photographic technology in comparison with contemporary conceptual use by late-20th-century and current 21st-century artists such as Helen Maureen Cooper, Joni Sternbach, and Sally Mann. Readings available for reference include Basic Collodion Technique: Ambrotype and Tintype, by Mark Osterman and France Scully Osterman, and Chemical Pictures: The Wet Plate Collodion Book, by Quinn B. Jacobson. Students will work independently, progressing from tintype positives to glass negatives and ambrotype objects. Subjects can include the still life, portraiture, installation for performance, or natural documentation of the environment. Daily evaluations and crossclassroom conversation will address technical and conceptual issues, and question historical and contemporary uses. The final product will include a suite of quarter glass plates in the student’s own style, driven by individual concept or idea.
(clockwise from top left) Madeleine Aguilar & Jenn Eisner, I'm trying to show not tell but I really just want to tell you, 2023, Risograph, 4 x 5 in.; bex ya yolk, Texture Notes, 2022, handmade paper, stone, wood, and elastic, 16x 23 in.; Oli Watt, Goin’ Mobile, 2021, screenprint monoprint, 11 x 15 in.; Danny Miller, Detector, 2024, acrylic on wood panel, 18 x 24 in.; Anders Zanichkowsky, Burial Blanket, 2022, handwoven cotton with naturally dyed weft, 80 x 100 in.; Jaclyn Silverman, 2023, Michael, black glass ambrotype, 4 x 5 in.; Emilia Lichtenwagner, I am many animals, 2024, installation of 70 monotypes on paper, size of the installation: 330 x 165 in.
SCULPTURE & METALS
HARD LINES: DRAWING WITH STEEL
with Devin Balara & Abigail Lucien
SCULPTURE 663 001
3 credits | $250 Lab Fee
June 1–14
This hybrid sculpture and drawing course will focus on steel fabrication and the translation of line on paper to line in space. Students will learn to use steel as a drawing material with demonstrations in hot and cold bending, modular construction, welding, and finishing strategies. Technical demos and work time will accompany discussions about daily sketchbook practices and the ways in which literal weight can be given to simple doodles or cartoon graphics. This course is suitable for all levels of shop experience; students will quickly gain confidence with equipment and be encouraged to play and improvise independently
with the material at as large a scale as they choose. Students are required to complete 3 assignments over the course of the week, one which will reinforce basic knowledge of linear steel fabrication and safety, and two further assignments, utilizing linear steel drawings at the scale of the student’s choosing. Ultimately, students may deploy work into a particular site or landscape and let their sketches stretch their legs.
BLACKSMITHING: SCULPTURAL FORMS
with Natalie Murray SCULPTURE 672 001
3 credits | $250 Lab Fee
June 15–28
This intensive will start with the fundamental techniques of forging, and move quickly into more advanced projects. We will focus on the processes of moving material while hot, and the forge and anvil will be the
primary tools of achieving form. As a corollary, the history of forged ironwork (architectural, tools, and sculpture) will serve as a source of inspiration. Each student will also be encouraged to make an inflated sheet metal sculpture.
TIME, CHANCE & OUTSIDE FORCES
with Heather Mekkelson SCULPTURE 692 001
3 credits | $250 Lab Fee
June 29–July 12
This multimedia course emphasizes sculpture and site-specificity, providing students with the opportunity to contextualize their practice in the surrounding landscape of Ox-Bow. Coursework will center on the creation of artistic systems that use forces like time, gravity, weather, and decay as process agents. Woodworking and metalworking capacities will be introduced and
accessible to students in support of their work. Demonstrations will cover the use of unconventional materials and approaches. A focus on creative forms of documentation will enable students to finish the course with compelling evidence of works that may no longer be in existence. Morning meetings will be devoted to exploring issues of autodestruction, ephemerality, agency, and uncertainty through readings and discussions. Afternoons provide the opportunity for material and process demonstrations, as well as studio work in the shop or the field with instructor support. Artists we will look to include Leonardo Drew, Mark Dion, Ana Mendieta, and Paul Rosero Contreras, among many others. In addition to discussing excerpts selected from Lucy Lippard’s Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object and writings by Gustav Metzger, we will view screenings of work by Joseph Beuys,
Abigail Lucien, Chen Peyi, 2023, enamel, vinyl, and flock on steel, 51.5 × 29 × 7 in.; Devin Balara, Groundwater, 2024, glass, lead, zinc, and steel, 55 x 24 x 0.75 in.; Heather Mekkelson, Temporal Origin, 2019-2020, soap, steel, metal alloy, and foam, 58 x 58 x 62 in.
Francis Alÿs, and others. Students will complete a midpoint exercise designed to disappear. The course culminates in an ephemeral project that is individually driven, relevant to material covered, and creatively documented.
BREAKING GOOD: IMPROVISATIONAL STAINED GLASS
with Devin Balara SCULPTURE 693 001
1.5 credits | $125 Lab Fee
July 13–19
This class will provide a full overview of stained glass techniques. Using the copper foil method, students will learn to cut, grind, and solder colorful glass sheets and shards. Emphasis will be placed on experimentation, improvisation, and using what you find among existing scraps. We will explore three-dimensional form construction, template design, and strategies to use stained glass in your own practice. Those with previous stained glass experience will find space in this class
to play and take risks, while beginners will come away confidently knowing the rules of glass—and how to break them! We will engage in readings and ongoing discussions of color theory while considering artists who use color, light, and line, such as Hilma af Klint, Kerry James Marshall, Raúl de Nieves, and Wells Chandler. Assignments will invite students to find their way through a spectrum of glass pieces and arrange them with a focus on color harmony and intentional refraction of light. The class will culminate in a burst of site-specific installations throughout OxBow’s campus.
THINGS BECOME THINGS: SCULPTURE & SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATION
with Devin T. Mays
SCULPTURE 689 001
3 credits | $250 Lab Fee
July 21–August 2
Students will create objects and temporary environments specifically for the OxBow campus. Ox-Bow’s
community of art making as well as its unique natural offerings such as the forests, lagoon, and lake will be the source and location for sitespecific creations. It is an opportunity to blur the lines between studio production and daily life in this setting and be in conversation with other artists expanding the boundaries of the studio. Students will experiment with various traditional and non-traditional approaches to object making such as casting, construction, knotting, the augmentation of found objects, and dimensional drawing. The resulting sculptural experiments will be placed in spaces in and around Ox-Bow. Presentations on historical and contemporary examples including Beverly Buchanan, Emmer Sewell, and Kenzi Shiokava will help to contextualize these modes of working and readings will include Forms of Poetic Attention by Lucy Alford, Blackness and Nothingness by Fred Moten, A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay, and The Endgame by Beckett. We will discuss the
meanings of exhibiting work in a variety of spaces: rural/ urban, indoor/outdoor/, natural/manicured, gallery space/living space, sacred/ profane, actual/virtual and in addition to creating objects and environments for specific locations, we will also reverse this process by letting spaces dictate what the sculptural environment should be. Assignments will invite students to wander, catalog the material world of their surroundings, and produce temporary slight and monumental gestures in the landscape. Regular discussion and critique will culminate in a presentation of works for the Ox-Bow community.
PULP SCULPTURE
with Elena Ailes SCULPTURE 695 001
1.5 credits | $125 lab fee August 3–9
This course will introduce students to the joys of working with pulp—an amorphous, absorbent, and raw material that is often easily sourced, affordable (free!), versatile,
Natalie Murray, Bookends, 2015, forged steel, rust, and acrylic paint, 13 x 10 x 2 in.; Devin T. Mays, Weight, Something on Something, 2022, concrete
rocks
and sustainable. Students will make functional and sculptural objects using recycled and found materials, primarily paper (cotton) and wood (cellulose) pulp, with a few brief jaunts into the wild world of paper clay and paper-mache. This course will focus mainly on press molds, dipped molds, and the coating of structural armatures, but experimentation and exploration of novel ways of approaching materials is always encouraged. The course will draw inspiration from contemporary artists whose practices touch on similar themes of sustainability, resourcefulness, playfulness, and material joy, including Wangechi Mutu, Andrea Zittel, Oren Pinhassi, and Roxanne Swentzell. We will also look to long-established craft traditions, from adobe brick or wattle-and-daub building to the long history of masks and effigies. Assignments will invite students to make place settings with found objects and explore color, texture, and scale through a hybrid object that incorporates all three demonstrated methods (press molds, dip molds on removable wire armatures, and coating with pulp). The course will culminate in an open studio presentation of installed sculptures.
In this introductory course, students will obtain technical skills and a
fundamental understanding of mold-making. Using the techniques learned in class, students will experiment with various ways to capture the everyday and the body while examining personal symbolism, rituals, and the border between art and daily life. Students will practice imprint, ready-made object, and body casting through four exercise projects using clay, plaster, slip, alginate, silicone, and resin. The class will look into art movements in history, such as Arte Povera, Neo-Dada, and Fluxus, via lectures to find the lineage of the everyday in visual art. We will discuss the practices of artists such as Ian Breakwell, Sarah Lucas, Gabriel Orozco, David Altmejd, Liz Magor, Cornelia Parker, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, and many others, to consider various possibilities of materials, objects, and rituals to trace the everyday. Readings will include Joseph Kosuth’s, “Art After Philosophy and Selected Writings, 1966-1990 (Part II: Theory as Praxis: A Role for an ‘Anthropologized Art’)”, MIT Press. Students will develop their final project using one of the four exercise techniques. Students are encouraged to adopt the natural environment of the Ox-Bow campus as their new everyday and explore it as the source of pattern materials for their molds. Assignments will include inviting students to consider sculpture as a means of recording, creating a new daily routine that involves Ox-Bow’s surroundings. Using imprints of materials and traces from it they will cast the imprints into
several plaster blocks. Students will also cast a body part in a symbolic gesture. Incorporating found materials, objects, or sites of your choice with your work to create five sculptures or installations as a final project.
OPEN AIR FURNITURE DESIGN
with John Preus SCULPTURE 694 001
1.5 credits | $125 Lab Fee August 24–30
In this small class, students will design a bespoke modern collection of outdoor seating for use around the Ox-Bow bonfire. Students will come away with the skills to draft future projects and implement, finish, and install functional works. This class will be hosted in the sculpture studio, upgraded with select woodworking tools. We will review the work of artists and designers including Martino Gamper, Jack Craig, Jessica Stockholder, Misha Kahn, Siosi Design, Hella Jongerius, Chris Schanck, James Krenov, Droog, Sam Maloof, Messgewand, Parsons & Charlesworth, Andrea Zittel, Gordon Matta-Clark, Norman Teague, Enzo Mari, Joyce Lin, and others.Assignments will invite students to compose a thematic collection, salvage from the landscape, produce drawings for projects, cannibalize found objects, and host a celebratory event for the unveiling of their collection.
John Preus, Interloper, modified camping trailer-mixed media, 30 x 30 x 12 ft.; Soo Shin, here, 2021, cast iron and brass; Elena Ailes, THE END WILL COME OUT OF MY MOUTH, 2019, cedar, 7 x 5 x 4 ft.
FIBER & MATERIAL STUDIES
PAPERMAKING STUDIO
with Andrea Peterson
PAPER 604 001 | 3 credits $175 lab fee | June 1–14
In this class, we will use paper pulp, an incredibly malleable material, to create works of art. Pulp can be transformed dimensionally, made into drawings and unusual surface textures and used to lock elements into a state of timelessness. It can evoke skin, metal, rock, or something totally different. We will use a wide range of fibers from all over the world to present perspectives unique to location. Chosen for their flexibility in the artmaking process, these fibers include cotton, abaca, flax, kozo (paper mulberry) for Eastern techniques, wheat straw, and sisal, an agricultural by-product sourced from a regenerative farm. All fibers used in the course are grown organically and in raw states. We will process the material using a sustainable cooking method in a cauldron over a wood fire. Utilizing Eastern and Western traditional techniques, we will push the boundaries of the medium.
Students will hear stories about Ts’ai Lun, the inventor of paper; designer and historian Dard Hunter; and painter David Hockney, and their global influence on paper, fiber, and pulp. This course will emphasize a sustainable approach in the studio and how it can be addressed in one’s own practice. It is designed as an open dialogue generated by students’ ideas, resulting in a body of work inspired by the medium and the natural beauty of Ox-Bow.
A student grabs a handful of pulp to add to their paper.
QUEER CRAFT
with Feather Chiaverini FIBER 629 001 | 3 credits $175 lab fee | June 1–14
HANJI UNFOLDS: TRADITIONAL KOREAN PAPERMAKING
with Su Kaiden Cho PAPER 608 001
1.5 credits | $100 lab fee August 3–9
In this hands-on workshop, students will explore the ancient Korean art of hanji, a traditional craft that transforms mulberry bark into beautiful, durable paper. For centuries, hanji has been an integral part of Korean culture, used in applications from calligraphy to interior design and fashion. Through guided instruction, students will learn the process of preparing natural fibers, forming sheets, and drying the paper. This class emphasizes both traditional techniques and modern adaptations, encouraging participants to create custom papers that reflect their personal aesthetic while connecting with the deep historical and cultural significance of hanji. Course content will consider both the historical and contemporary significance of hanji, with special emphasis on its use in art and design. We will explore the work of renowned hanji artist Lee Seung Chul, whose innovative installations and sculptures push the boundaries of this traditional material, and Yang Sang Hoon, an
This course will consider queer aesthetics and contributions to the development of visual, literary, filmic and philosophical culture with an emphasis on craft. Queer culture is not a separate or parallel function of a larger culture, but is central to and generative for it. We will address how the inclusivity and resistance of the queer movement offers productive models for artistic production now. Demonstrations and assignments will introduce crochet, dyeing, activist performance techniques and anarchist publishing strategies to the group who will also use collaboration, exploring in nature, narrative, upscaling and play as a way to contextualize queer craft, queer activism, making kin, and queer mysticism. Readings will include Larry Mitchell + Ned Asta’s The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions, 1977, Audre Lorde Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, 1978 and Jose Esteban Munoz Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, 2010. We will look at the work of Vaginal Davis, Sheila Pepe and Joe Brainard and we will screen Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2004 film Tropical Malady and Jennie Livingston’s 1990 film Paris is Burning among others. Assignments will encourage surprise, discovery, and world building. In addition to working on proposed personal projects, artists will work collaboratively on polymorphously perverse drawings, mycelium networks, and historical lesbian structures. The class will culminate in a runway presentation of crafted wearables.
Heather Mawson, Environment, 2024, laminated newspaper, thread, 42 x 41.5 x .25 in.; Chris Edwards, Red Room With Quilted Wall Hanging Quilt, 2024, cotton fabric, 72 x 90 in.; Falaks Vasa, Deep Sea Chess, 2024, crochet and ceramics, 24 x 24 x 6 in.
artist known for his intricate geometric hanji creations that blend craftsmanship with modern abstraction. A key reading will be Hanji Unfurled: One Journey into Korean Papermaking, by Aimee Lee, which offers a comprehensive look at Korean papermaking traditions. The class will also include a screening of the 2011 documentary Hanji, by Im Kwon-taek, highlighting the cultural significance of hanji in Korea. Students will create layered hanji artworks inspired by Lee Seung Chul’s installations or geometric compositions influenced by Yang Sang Hoon’s use of hanji in abstraction. For the final project, they will create a collaborative hanji sculpture for Ox-Bow.
SOFT COMPOSITIONS
with Chris Edwards & Heather Mawson FIBER 627 001 | 3 credits $175 lab fee | August 10–23
This course celebrates handicraft and invites students into the sewing circle in service of solving compositional problems with the language of quilting. Serving students at all levels of experience, participants will learn traditional, nontraditional, machine, and hand-sewing techniques to produce soft objects including quilts, banners, windsocks, dolls, and installations. Demonstrations on mapping 2D and 3D images, piecing, applique, dyeing, and additive image making will encourage the exploration of the alternative and whimsical sensibilities in soft
sculpture. Platforming the loose and improvisational mark-making possible with traditional stitch and applique techniques of quilt-making, this highly collaborative and social course will be inspired by the works of Rosie Lee Tompkins, the Gees Bend Quilters, Claes Oldenberg, RuPaul, David Byrne, and Lee Bowery. Screenings may include True Stories (1986), Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989), and readings may include “Knitting, Weaving, Embroidery, and Quilting as Subversive Aesthetic Strategies: On Feminist Interventions in Art, Fashion, and Philosophy” (Michna 2020). Students will conceive and construct original fiber works in response to assignments that focus on the expressive, personal, and comical possibilities of these materials. Assignments will include completing piecing, construction, binding, and quilting of a full personal quilt project, collaborating on group textiles, even with artists in other classes, and students will make a wearable item for Ox-Bow’s Friday Night Costume Party. The course will culminate in a group quilt show installed in the landscape.
BOOKBINDING WITH DECORATIVE PAPER
with Sophia Rauch & Kellie Romany PRINT 622 001 | 1.5 credits $100 lab fee | August 24–30
In this class, students will apply the processes of cyanotype, marbling, and dyeing on paper for use
Kellie Romany, Hold Me, 2023, paper, book board, book cloth, clay, and oil paint; Su Kaiden Cho, Being...with, 2024, burnt hand-made hanji (mulberry) paper and rice paste on gessobord cradled panel, 5 x 5 x 1.5 in.; Andrea Peterson, water flow, 2024, pigmented cotton rag, 48 x 60 in.
in a bookbinding project of their design. Students are welcome to bring their paper (store-bought or hand-made) for use in this class, and some paper will be provided. Students will learn bookbinding techniques including pamphlet, stab, and case binding. Lectures will invite students to consider the sustainable characteristics possible in paper treatments, including strategies for foraging, natural dyeing, and reusing materials to create one-of-a-kind sheets and book projects. As a group, the class will look at the work of Sol LeWitt, Krista Franklin, Bethany Collins, and Olafur Eliasson and discuss pertinent readings and resources. Students can expect to spend the first two days of class experimenting with decorative paper treatments and then using those materials to learn three bookbinding techniques.
CROCHET, GIFTS, FRIENDS: THE POLITICS OF SOFTNESS
with Falaks Vasa FIBER 630 001 | 1.5 credits $100 lab fee | August 24–30
Often, we crochet as something else happens – a class, a Netflix show, a catastrophe. Often, we crochet objects we don’t keep – a silly frog, a hundredth granny square, a scarf. Often, we crochet with friends, for friends –community, gifts, softness. In this class, we will turn our full attention to the gestures of labor and generosity that can enable
a fiber art practice. We will learn the basics of crochet, practice it as individuals and in community, and create works that consider the audience and the gift of gifting carefully. Discussions and presentations will consider the work of Wells Chandler, Faith Ringgold, and Nina Katchadourian. Readings will include excerpts from Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, Sara Ahmad’s Queer Phenomenology, and we will screen the film Wool 100%
To enhance the communal nature of our discussions and learning, students will also be able to propose relevant screenings to host throughout studio work time. Assignments will invite students to unpack what gift-giving means to them while building technical skills, and the class will culminate in a critique and/or exchange of final crocheted projects.
Sophia Rauch, Untitled, 2024, Inkjet print on paper, 10 x 8 in.; Feather Chiaverini, Floated out of my Throat, 2024, neoprene, fringe, and sports mesh, 1 wig, 84 x 10 x 68 in.
SPECIAL TOPICS
PARTY AS FORM
with Alberto Aguilar & Maria Burundarena SCULPTURE 462 001
3 credits | $175 lab fee
June 15–28
Party As Form takes the history of celebration as its point of departure for a class that blends cultural theory with current experiments in curating, social practice and performance. Through a combination of readings, discussions and deployment, students will study the history, aesthetics, labor and conventions for parties from the intimate to the public, religious to the secular. Designed as a theory and practice art history class, Party As Form challenges participants to experience Ox-Bow, a site for gathering,
community, participation and production, through the lens of readings in sociology, cultural and art theory on ideas that critically address the event, celebration or party as the gathering, hosting and cultivating of a group. Topics include: liminality, community, formation of publics, spectacle, utopias, leisure, play and ecstasy. Class consists of a combination of reading and discussion, lectures and presentations alongside projects that anchor discussion through interpretation, conceptualization and the full design and hosting of on-site events. Students taking the course for Art History credit write critical and/or scholarly papers that locate their party, or event within the context of
contemporary art and art history. Students taking the course for Sculpture will be required to design, fabricate, and implement objects and scenarios that relate to the directives of the course. Party forms may include: weddings, raves, galas, Cinco de Mayo, parades, tea parties, debutante balls, masquerades, bar mitzvahs, Mardi Gras, New Years Eve, Chinese New Year, 4th of July, Bastille Day, Burning Man, sleepovers and more.
ART AS FASHION
with Chris Bogia & Travis Boyer FIBER 633 001 | 3 credits $175 lab fee June 29–July 12
For artists interested in the intersection of art and fashion, this class will engage
with the politics, processes, and history of adornment as jumping-off points for creative making. We will consider how artists translate a personal fascination with fashion and incorporate that into a larger studio practice through learning techniques for fast and fun textile manipulation and creation, producing wearable art, and hosting community activities that stem from our in-class discussions and lectures. We will look at the work of artists including Jeffrey Gibson, Beverly Semmes, Nick Cave, and Anna Uddenberg and designers such as Miuccia Prada, Hussein Chalayan, Rei Kawakubo, and Viktor & Rolf. Readings and screenings will include interviews, daily runway show viewings featuring designers mentioned above, and more. Students will be
Maria Burundarena, Vidrios rotos que brillan como un Rayo - Broken glass shines like Thunder Lightning, 2022, Xerox
invited to use any materials they wish, from traditional paint on canvas and textiles with embellishments such as beading, appliqué, and dye to materials like cardboard, found objects, and objects from nature. This is not a sewing-heavy class nor a fashion design class, but students who possess those skills and have an interest in using them to make art are encouraged to apply.
WILD SOUNDS
with Skooby Laposky
SOUND 603 001
1.5 credits | $100 lab fee
July 13–19
Sounds are vibrations that carry intelligence, ideas, feelings, and memories. In this class students will become acoustic ecologists, sound designers, and deep listeners. We will use various microphones (contact mics, hydrophones, geophones, and binaural systems) to harvest and listen to the sound textures of Ox-Bow’s vibrant ecosystem and amplify its unheard activities and patterns. We will build listening stations around the Ox-Bow campus to immerse ourselves in the daily rhythms of the non-human world that go largely unnoticed. Additionally, we will create sculptural instruments out of foraged materials found on walks that will become the source for our electroacoustic recordings. These newly discovered rhythms of nature will be the foundation and inspiration for our sound compositions and visual works.
The act of listening is crucial to our creative process and progress. We will engage in the deep listening and discussion of
Chris Watson’s Cima Verde, Bernie Krause’s The Great Animal Orchestra, and John Cage’s Child of Tree (for amplified plant materials) to unlock new patterns of thought. This class aims to create a meaningful listening practice by engaging with the environment using various sound technologies that aid in pulling us closer to the natural world. Using amplification and sound editing software we’ll unlock the hidden languages surrounding us and use this to start our dialogues. Students should bring their own laptops for editing purposes and will be introduced to open source software to complete this part of the project. Assignments will invite students to compare field recordings as captured by their own ears versus through the microphone, create a listening station that will broadcast its live mic feed via short range FM transmission, and collaborate with the landscape in a final, sound station on display for the Ox-Bow community.
This course is an exploration of land art, installation, and performance art that uses poetry as a framework to think about sculpting. As a class, we will consider the poem and its elements (rhyme, meter, metaphor) as form, material, and method. We will have daily writing and making exercises to develop a relationship between language, land,
and our bodies. Techniques demonstrated will include mold making, cyanotype, field recording, movement mapping, kite making, and writing performative scores. This is not necessarily a poetry class, but a class of poetic making. It will entail listening, walking, sharing, caring, speaking, humming, singing, dancing, and meditating as forms of writing and research. We hope to challenge conventional understandings of the separation between body and environment by situating ourselves directly within the land. We will consider the works of artists such as Ana Mendieta, Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy, Francis Alÿs, amongst others. Readings may include Audre Lorde, Etel Adnan, Robin Wall Kimmerer. The final project is the construction of a duet poem wherein one part originates from the artist’s body and one part originates from the landscape.
BECOMING IMPERCEPTIBLE: PRECARIOUS AND EPHEMERAL PRACTICES IN CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE, WRITING, AND INSTALLATION
with Lin Hixson & Matthew Goulish PERFORMANCE 609 001 1.5 credits | $100 lab fee August 3–9
In this performance intensive, students will be asked to consider the seasons of life, with special consideration of how geography (especially the unique landscape of Ox-Bow) impacts these flows. Engaging the disciplines of performance, writing,
installation, and practices of collaboration and response, this course will examine the idea of becoming imperceptible and how it relates to the more than human, reduced behavior, the intertwining of kinship, spaces of disappearance, incompleteness, and lightness of action. The class draws from theoretical writings of Akiko Busch on How to Disappear, Erin Manning on Duchamp’s concept of the infra-thin, the poetry of Ed Roberson, the sculptural interventions of artists Devin T. Mays, and case studies from nature such as the killdeer feigning a broken wing to distract a predator from its nest. Students will work from specific directives to generate individual and group performances, and will compose creative and critical responses to the works of others. We will use our bodies to pick up the extraordinary signals from ordinary surroundings, and translate those signals to an audience, at first each other, and at the end of the week, the entire Ox-Bow community.
EARTH IN RELATION: EMBODIED EARTHWORKS
with Nance Klehm
SCULPTURE | Non-Credit $100 lab fee | August 10–16
This weeklong somatic sculpture class will call makers into the ethical and personal reimagining of making with Earth amid great ecological and social change within the dynamic landscape of West Michigan. Daily awareness practices, area field explorations, readings and
(left to right from top left) Alberto Aguilar, La Manifestación del Milagro de Isabela María Aguilar (In Three Parts), 2023, vinyl, aluminum, channel posts, wood and sandbags.; Skooby Laposky, H idden Life Radio - Hudson Valley, 2023, Pelican case, solar panels, custom circuits, and internet, various sizes.; Chris Bogia, Flowers (Pink), 2023, wood, metal, veneer, grass cloth wallpaper, and lacquer, 72 x 47 x 8 in.; Lin Hixson & Matthew Goulish, Scarecrow, 2018, performance by Every house has a door and Essi Kausalainen, directed by Lin Hixson, written and co-performed by Matthew Goulish, photo by Saara Autere. Venue: Mad House, Helsinki, Finland.; Claire Fleming Staples, time is a rubber band, 2023, video installation.; Hai-Wen Lin, River Lumen, 2022, unfixed silver gelatin print, 8 × 10 in.
discussions of ecological texts, and an introduction to scientific methods and material investigations will culminate in individual and collective earthworks. We will engage with readings and recordings by Dark Mountain, Hans Jenny, Rae Atakpa, Suzanne Simard, The Fythyr, CAConrad, and others. Screenings will include works by Regina José Galindo, Nancy Holt, and others. Assignments will invite students to record their solo predawn walks in the landscape, conduct listening exercises in the woods, and participate in labs introducing them to soil science.
THE QUEER BODY IN THE LANDSCAPE
with Brendan Fernandes & Claire Fleming Staples PERFORMANCE, FILM & VIDEO 611 001 | 3 credits $175 lab fee | August 10–23
This class will explore what it means for a queer body to define, exist, and perform in a landscape. Combining embodiment, ecology, and moving image, the course will use the camera as a witness to performances that are collaboratively built out of movement workshops. We will learn about some of the ecosystems present on and around Ox-Bow’s campus, and feel how our bodies are in conversation with these environments. We will explore the use of the camera as a choreographic tool to capture movement but also as a means to create movement gestures. Students will learn camera skills and video editing and participate collectively
in creating a movement vocabulary. We will view works by Ana Mendieta, Yétúndé Olagbaju, mayfield brooks, Pina Bausch, and Maya Deren and discuss the writings of Robin Wall Kimmerer, Paulina Ruiz Carballido, and Resmaa Menakem. Assignments will include researching local plants and ecosystems and creating miniperformances inspired by them, as well as a “video in a day” exercise, where everyone gets a chance to be behind and in front of the camera in the morning and edit in the afternoon. This two-week course, taught collaboratively by artist and choreographer Brendan Fernandes and artist and cinematographer Claire Fleming Staples, will culminate with a public screening of collaboratively produced videos. Students will have access to cameras and tripods from Ox-Bow but should bring their own laptops. For those without access to Adobe Premiere editing software, a temporary license will be provided.
Nance Klehm, Free Exposure: 3 holes, 5 heaps, 2018, Hype Objects exhibition at BallRoom Marfa Marfa, TX, photographer: Alex Marks.; Manal Shoukair, below her, 2022, solid bronze and nylon, dimensions variable.; Travis Boyer, Limp Wrist, 2022, cyanotype, dye, and embroidery on silk in artist frame, 24 x 36 in.; Brendan Fernandes, 72 Seasons, 2021, performance, variable
ONLINE
DREAMING COMMUNITY: IMMERSIVE 3D WORLD BUILDING IN NEW ART CITY
with Hiba Ali ATSP 606 001
3 credits | June 2–15, 10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ET/9:00–11:30 a.m. CT
Dreams have the ability to activate our imagination. In this class we start with dreams as an inspiration point, and translate them via a collective 3D collage in New Art City, a 3D interactive platform. Demonstrations will prepare students to use 3D objects, images, and soundscapes to create a collective dreamland. We will use software including Blender, GIFs, and Bandlab
to build an immersive collective collage on New Art City. Inspired by the work of Annika HansteenIzora, Tabitha Rezaire, Ruha Benjamin, and Mariame Kaba, in dreaming with community, we will create a digital portal of inspiration and activate our collective imagination. We will screen Tabitha Rezaire, Neema Githere, Merriam Bennani, Amina Ross, and Hito Steyerl's video work and discuss them. We will read chapters from We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (2021) by Mariame Kaba, “Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (2022) by Ruha Benjamin and I Will Survive (2021) by Hito Steyerl. Assignments will invite students to locate their sense of comfort
online, and arrange images, 3D objects and text, and sounds to translate those feelings into a space of virtual relaxation. Students will present a final project to the group. Students should supply a laptop with Blender software installed and create an account in New Art City (links will be provided upon enrollment). This class is open to students of all levels.
SINGING TO OURSELVES: ANIMATING 3D CHARACTERS
with Hiba Ali ATSP 607 001
3 credits | June 16–29, 10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
ET/9:00–11:30 a.m. CT
How can we create digital stories through characters?
In this class, we’ll be using the 3D software Blender and the Face Cap app to animate 3D characters.
We will model and rig our characters and have them speak. Along the way, we’ll use rendering to build a sense of digital animation workflows. We will look at Meriem Bennani’s 2 Lizards, Morehshin Allahyari’s She Who Sees the Unknown, and Tabita Rezaire’s Ultra Wet Recapitulation, as well as our favorite cartoons. Our gait expresses our personality and place in the world. In an assignment, students will consider how their character walks and moves. They will create an animation cycle that expresses their character’s personality and write a 250word reflection on how they interpreted the character’s walk. The class will culminate in a presentation of animated characters that move, sing, and speak. Students will be provided with access to the Face Cap app but should have their own access to Adobe.
CROCHET, GIFTS & FRIENDS: THE POLITICS OF SOFTNESS Falaks Vasa FIBER 630 001 | 1.5 CREDITS
• Classes meet daily, 9:30 a.m–5:00 p.m
• Breakfast: 8:30–9:15 a.m
• Lunch: 1:00–1:45 p.m.
• Dinner: 6:00–6:45 p.m.
• Faculty and Visiting Artist Lectures begin at 8:00 p.m.
Online courses meet everyday on Google Classroom except for Sunday. Groups meet for 2.5 hours each day and students can expect to spend another 2.5 hours completing related coursework. Course times vary and are listed in the course descriptions.
Chenlou Hou
Jason McDonald
Please note that Ox-Bow’s campus is located in West Michigan, where the time zone is situated in Eastern Time.
DID YOU KNOW...
FACULTY MEMBERS
Noun Project: Andi Nur Abdillah (Clay), Vectors Point (Music Notes), mangunkarsa (Laundry Room), Dairy Free Design (Risograph printer)
Ox-Bow Voices
Ox-Bow is hard work, but it’s also calm and much slower than daily life. It doesn’t feel like there’s as much pressure on the final product, the emphasis is more on learning and seeing the process through, which I feel like Ox-Bow has really helped me with.
– Ayanna Njorge, Student 2024
The sense of community here — I’ve felt more alive, awakened, and electrified in a social space like this. It allowed me to discover more of my true desires, whether that’s in art or life.
– Dominique Muñoz, Summer Fellow 2024
My new favorite spot on campus is the Temple. It’s a quiet, reverent place in a valley that honors important figures in Ox-Bow’s history. It takes some commitment to get to, but is worth it. On a quiet hike there last summer I was hit with the fact that the people honored in the Temple dedicated their lives to Ox-Bow. I was moved to be among them.
– Maddie Reyna, Education Director
Every time I've been to OxBow, I've initiated something surrounding a party… the party is part of what happens when I go to Ox-Bow, but I would say that party is also part of my own personal practice.
– Alberto Aguilar, 2025 Faculty for Party as Form
Sauga-what?
What, who, where is Saugatuck?
Saugatuck is nestled along Lake Michigan and the Kalamazoo River and is defined by rolling dunes and lush country sides. Saugatuck is home to a small number of year round residents but is a prime summer getaway as the town comes to life in the warmer months.
Our campus sits on the TALLMADGE WOODS, a Community Forest designated by the Old Growth Forest Network.
• Works on Paper
Studio
• Haas Painting & Drawing Studio
• Seymour & Esther Padnos Metals Studio
• Krehbiel Ceramics
Studio
• Burke Glass
Studio
Studio Classrooms
acres of dunes, forests, and trails
Ox-Bow’s campus is home to a variety of trees, including BEECH, HEMLOCK, OAK, AND MAPLE
RARE SPECIES KNOWN TO OX-BOW’S CAMPUS
• Clute Papermaking Studio
Ox-Bow House, our community space in downtown Douglas, hosted over a dozen events last year.
OX-BOW'S UNOFFICIAL MASCOT
Samson the snapping turtle... Legend has it Samson is over a hundred years old.
Eastern Box Turtle Pileated Woodpecker
Blanchard’s Cricket Frog
From Noun Project: Buheicon (Forest), Ted Grajeda (Michigan State); From Shutter Stock: Dimitrios Pippis (Eastern Box Turtle, fotorequest (Pileaterd Woodpecker), Ryan M. Bolton (Blanchard's Cricket Frog)
Life at Ox-Bow
After being invited to Saugatuck, Michigan in 1907 by their student, Elizabeth Bandle, Frederick Fursman and Walter Clute, two faculty members from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, officially founded Ox-Bow in 1910 at its current location. Each summer, artists, students, and educators gather along the lagoon in Saugatuck, located two and a half hours from Chicago. With programs that cater to degreeseeking students, professional artists, and those new to the field, Ox-Bow is a place where creative processes break down, reform, and mature. At Ox-Bow, we encourage you to experiment, take risks, be playful, and trust your instincts; to engage faculty and fellow students during course time and in our public spaces; to remain open to new experiences and contribute your unique perspective to our vital and historic community. During any given week, you will find:
• Students taking immersive courses
• Faculty from all over the world
• Renowned visiting artists, curators, and scholars
• Staff who are all working artists and have active studio practices
• Public programs that invite art lovers and the art curious to join our campus community
Courses offer a unique opportunity to build your community by working closely alongside artists from across the country under the guidance of world-class instructors. Ox-Bow’s courses are diverse, ranging in focus from functional to sculptural; from traditional to contemporary; from representational to conceptual. Intensive and immersive one- and two-week courses allow students to delve deeply into their practices. All studios except glassblowing are open 24 hours. Ox-Bow maintains six classroom studios.
Ox-Bow is located at 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck, Michigan 49453.
To report travel issues or any last minute questions on the weekend of your arrival, please call the campus office at (269) 857-5811.
Questions regarding class registration, payment, scholarship, or any other questions that come up prior to your arrival weekend should be directed to the Programs Manager, Bobby Gonzales, at oxbow@ox-bow.org.
ACTIVITIES & CAMPUS LIFE
There are always a number of activities to participate in around campus after course hours:
• Visiting Artist, Artist-in-Residence, Summer Fellow, or Faculty lectures
• The Crow’s Nest Trail: Hike 115 acres of wooded dunes
• Canoeing: Explore the Ox-Bow lagoon and the beach along Lake Michigan
• Volleyball on the meadow
• Relaxing around the campfire
• Spontaneous evening events including thematic dance parties
• Exhibitions at Ox-Bow House and the Betsy Gallery
MEALS: All participants enjoy healthy, plant-based meals prepared each day by our talented kitchen staff. Locally sourced ingredients are used as much as possible. Three meals per day are included in the room and board fee for students residing at Ox-Bow. Our kitchen staff is happy to accommodate dietary restrictions; please complete the dietary restriction form sent upon registration confirmation.
COMMUTING
STUDENTS:
Students with other housing arrangements may commute to campus and will be assessed $75 per day for a meal plan. Camping is not permitted at Ox-Bow.
TRAVELING TO OX-BOW: Our campus is located in Saugatuck, Michigan about two and a half hours from Chicago. All participants are responsible for arranging their own transportation to campus. Driving is most convenient but public transportation is available. Please make travel arrangements early and be aware of weather conditions prior to your trip.
HOUSING: Ox-Bow provides a range of dormitory-style housing in historic and contemporary buildings with shared bathrooms. Students may choose shared or single room accommodations. Roommate requests are possible for students in shared housing.
FORGET SOMETHING?: Art supplies, toiletries, and other items available at our on campus tuck shop, The Rossi!
COMMUNITY HEALTH GUIDELINES: Ox-Bow reserves the right to update their participant guidelines in response to emergent and/or ongoing local, regional, national and/or global public health, safety and environmental concerns at any time and without warning. This includes, but is not limited to, requiring any participant to provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test result and/or vaccination status prior to their participation, including approval for overnight accommodation.
Faculty, students, and staff play a game of volleyball on the meadow.
The Summer Fellowship Program
Each summer, Ox-Bow offers the Summer Fellowship program for students from competitive schools all over the nation a fully funded opportunity to focus on their work, meet with renowned artists, and grow as members of this unique community. Fellowship students experience the entire Ox-Bow summer session and live on campus for 13 weeks where, in addition to providing support labor to an arts non-profit, they will participate in all areas of campus life. By working closely with staff, fellows develop relationships with others who have also made artmaking their lives.
Fellows are selected based on the merit of their work, their commitment to making inspired and innovative art, and their stated growth potential at Ox-Bow. The Summer Fellowship program is a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate within an engaging artist-run community. The 2025 Summer Fellowship dates are May 29–September 1.
Fellowship recipients receive:
A studio space with 24-hour access
• Bi-weekly stipend for on campus labor
• Room and board, including 3 meals per day
• Weekly studio visits with Visiting Artists
• Opportunity to exhibit their work Opportunity to TA a class
Juniors, seniors, or graduate students from any degree-seeking institution are eligible for the Summer Fellowship. In 2025, two fellowship positions will be awarded to students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Ox-Bow works with partner schools to bring in fellows from across the country. In 2025, Ox-Bow’s active partner schools include Carnegie Melon University, Pratt Institute,
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Eligibility (applicants must):
Be undergraduate students in their junior/senior year or graduate students
• Have a graduation date of December 2024 or later
• Be at least 21 years old at the start of the fellowship
Have the ability to work in the United States or have a work visa prior to starting work
Applications for the Summer Fellowship Program are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 9, 2025.
2024 Summer Fellows
Michael Anderson the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Rosa Chang Yale University & Trinity College
Ben Copolillo University of Texas at Austin
Dominique Muñoz University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Morisha Moodley Northwestern University
Mackenzie Serwa Rochester Institute of Technology
Eugene Tang the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Vivian Tran Tufts University
Joan Wyand Herron School of Art & Design
Summer 2024 Fellows (left to right): Michael Torres Baja Anderson, Joan Wyand, Vivian Tran, Rosa Chang, Morisha Moodley, Ben Copolillo, Eugene I-Peng Tang, Mackenzie Serwa, and Dominique Muñoz.
Straddling the realms of science and art, Josh Dihle brings two worlds together in his course Field Illustration.
Students of Field Illustration gather at the edge of the meadow to sketch flora.
During Josh Dihle’s undergraduate studies at Middlebury College, his days were filled with lab work and science textbooks. As a biology major, he eventually landed a job that took him out of the classroom and into the riverbeds of Pennsylvania. “During the summers, I had a job for the federal government, weirdly, where I was part of a team that was counting endangered freshwater mussels,” Dihle explained. In order to land the gig, Dihle had to prove himself fluent in mussel identification. For his studies, he began sketching the different species to cement their individuality in his mind. This marked the beginning of Dihle’s slow marriage between the sciences and arts.
Dihle’s studio is now filled with sketches of feathers and caterpillars, alongside paintings that blend the natural and the surreal, and sculptures that embed the organic alongside the synthetic. His practice shows the experimental courage and intellect of a creative who has moved beyond being a mere observer of their environment. Dihle’s work reveals the spirit of an individual who is in connection and communication with the natural world. Perhaps it’s this inclination that led to his affinity for Ox-Bow.
Dihle first stepped foot on the interdunal campus as an Artist-in-Residence in 2015. At the time, he was already teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He recalled “finding [his] stride in a really meaningful way in the studio space.” At Ox-Bow he regained an awareness for the intrinsic relationship nature had with his practice. “I was always a nature kid and somebody who loved to draw and make things and imagine. But often those get parsed into two separate camps.” At Ox-Bow, those worlds couldn’t help but collide. “Being at Ox-Bow that first time, I was just out here drawing and there were bugs walking on me… there was just a union of multiple passions. A lot really clicked,” Dihle said.
Most of the memories Dihle reminisced upon were rooted in encounters with animals. Whenever he took
phone calls in the parking lot he was joined by owls that swooped and hooted in the canopy of hemlock and pines. After wading into the lagoon to render a painting en plein air, he emerged with a tagalong friend… a tightly secured leach. “There was always this other kind of natural force asserting itself into the situation, which I really have come to appreciate,” shared Dihle. These anecdotes and optimism offer a clear window into an artist who can love the many faces of nature, even its blood thirsty aquatic parasites.
In 2021, the artist returned to teach at Ox-Bow. In line with his residency habits, he led an en plein air course. The offering was a classic on campus, allowing Dihle to join the rich legacy that sits central to the organization, which was once known as the Summer School of Painting. After a stint as the professor of this quintessential class, he started scheming up his own course. In 2024, Field Illustration made its debut. The new offering was rooted in much of the same tradition as his first course. “They’re both classes that seem important in that they are a wedding of a kind of tradition of being in the environment and working from observation and
just slowing yourself down and really trying to notice and see things in a different way,” said Dihle. Student Nico Weems described the course as a beautiful chance to “be in nature up to the armpits.” The environment facilitated space both for rigorous work and play. Mornings might begin with quick improvisational sketches of the fast-footed Ox Flock. Challenging the students to keep up with the free range chickens woke up both the mind and body of the artists. “They’re not going to pose for you,” Dihle jested about the birds. While the exercise summons a loose and active spirit, Dihle insists that the practice of Field Illustration is also rooted in slowing down. Afternoons were spent in contemplation of poets such as Mary Oliver and Sharon Olds. “At Ox-Bow you can really allow yourself a different level of peace and quiet,” Dihle said, and the poets selected paired well with this philosophy. As the course progressed, Dihle’s students were encouraged to find their own aspects of nature to meditate on and capture on paper and canvas. By the end of the session, students had learned not only how to render what they saw, but to collage their renderings together into imagined scenes and landscapes.
A student of Field Illustration observes a work hanging on the studio wall.
TUITION AND ROOM & BOARD
Ox-Bow offers the opportunity to enroll in courses either for-credit or non-credit. The rates associated with the enrollment type are reflected below.
Students who complete a for-credit course will receive credit through the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Ox-Bow’s for-credit tuition is the same as SAIC’s per credit. In most cases, students enrolled in courses for-credit can use their financial aid award from SAIC toward degree-credit tuition for courses.
The tuition listed below does not include any lab fee associated with the course. Please check the course listings for those details.
who would prefer a single room. Single rooms are limited and we encourage those interested to register quickly.
An essential part of the magic of Ox-Bow is getting to know its architecture, sharing meals, and living amongst fellow students, faculty, and staff. Room and board fees cover more than just your cozy 6- or 13-night stay. At Ox-Bow, the kitchen is the heart of campus and aims to provide all participants with three restorative, sustainable, and healthy meals per day. The team uses locally sourced ingredients as much as possible and can adapt to any dietary restriction. Meal plans are included in the room and board fee.
Room and board costs are available in two tiers to accommodate those
REGISTRATION
All Ox-Bow core academic courses are open to any participant over 18 for registration. Certain courses fill rapidly and we encourage you to register on the first day it is available.
For-credit in-person registration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago begins at 8:30 a.m. CT on Monday, March 31 in the Neiman Center on the second floor at 37 S. Wabash in Chicago, Illinois.
Online registration begins at 10:00 a.m. ET/9:00 a.m CT on Monday, March 31, your registration (forcredit or non-credit) can be submitted to the Ox-Bow registrar via the registration form on our website.
Please note, Ox-Bow’s registrar does not work from Ox-Bow’s campus in Saugatuck, Michigan and will not be available via the campus phone. Any questions regarding registration should be directed to our main email, oxbow@ox-bow.org.
PAYMENT INFORMATION
For-credit payments should be processed via check to SAIC or credit card payment through SAIC’s payment partner, CASHnet, which is accessible through Peoplesoft Self Service.
Non-credit payment should be processed by credit or debit card via the Ox-Bow registration form. Payment for non-credit enrollments is due at the time of registration and is non-refundable.
FOR–CREDIT DROP POLICY
If a for-credit student drops their course from the time of registration until four weeks before the start of their course, they will receive a tuition and room and board refund minus a $350 drop fee. If a for–credit student drops within four weeks of the start date of their course, no refunds will be given.
Requests to drop must be submitted in writing to the Ox-Bow registrar via email (oxbow@ox-bow.org) by 5:00 p.m. ET on the last day of the drop period. It is not possible to drop an Ox-Bow course through the SAIC Self Service, through the SAIC registrar, or to use scholarships granted by Ox-Bow to cover the costs of drop fees.
NON-CREDIT DROP POLICY
Non-credit enrollments are non–refundable. Non-credit students who drop their enrollment from the time of registration until two weeks before the course will be issued a credit to be used within the same calendar year of the original transaction that can be used for any registration, event, rental, or retail item at Ox-Bow. If a non-credit student drops within two weeks of the start date of their course, no credits will be given.
EXPANDED DROP POLICY DETAILS
Students who register for an Ox-Bow course assume the risk that they may need to leave Ox-Bow due to testing positive for respiratory or other illnesses and are encouraged to consider insurance options.
Ox-Bow does not provide refunds for students who leave campus prior to the completion of their course for any reason.
Ox-Bow is dedicated to providing students with the experience described in the catalog, but cannot guarantee the listed faculty. In the rare event that a faculty cannot instruct their course due to an emergency, a replacement of similar expertise will be provided. Faculty replacement does not make a student eligible for a refund.
Ox-Bow reserves the right to adapt this drop policy after the publication of the catalog, per evolving guidelines and recommendations.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Students can be awarded funding from Ox-Bow to take a course via the Merit Scholarship, the Work Scholarship, and the Need Based Scholarship. Awards for all three scholarships are partial in nature but can combine to cover costs associated with an Ox-Bow enrollment. Ox-Bow hires a diverse panel of artist professionals to review applications whose intersectional perspectives help identify merit in applications, with the goal of building a diverse student body and expanding equity in aid awards. Please see below for details and instructions.
THE OX-BOW MERIT SCHOLARSHIP
Merit Scholarship funds can apply toward any core course for-credit or non-credit enrollment. Applications are submitted through the OxBow website, are based on the prospective student’s portfolio, response to short essay questions, and reviewed by a panel of diverse arts professionals with experience at Ox-Bow. Awards are typically partial and communicated to the student at least one-week prior to
open registration, so that they can claim their spot in class.
The Merit Scholarship deadline is Sunday, March 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET/10:59 p.m. CT. Apply online at www.ox-bow.org.
THE OX-BOW WORK SCHOLARSHIP
Ox-Bow will award a number of work scholarships on a first-come, firstserved basis to students enrolling in Ox-Bow classes for-credit. The work scholarship is equivalent to 50% of the cost of shared room and board while attending Ox-Bow.
Work scholarship students work thirteen hours per week while on campus in one of the following jobs: kitchen, housekeeping, or grounds and maintenance. Each work scholarship field is unique and requires teamwork with other Ox-Bow staff members in their departments. Tasks specific to these departments may change based on the time of year or priority projects but general descriptions are as follows:
Kitchen work is often dishwashing, cleaning the dining room, or prepping ingredients for meals. Housekeeping is often cleaning bathrooms, sweeping floors, and turning over bedrooms.
Grounds and maintenance is often raking leaves, setting up tables and chairs for events, and trash removal.
Students can rank their preferred department at the time of registration and will receive confirmation of their department when they arrive on campus from Ox-Bow’s Deputy Director of Campus Life and Operations, Claire Arctander.
Work schedules are dynamic and based on the current needs of each department. Students will be scheduled to work, at times, during class. Faculty are aware they may have a student who is working
toward their work study scholarship and will keep them caught up with the syllabus. Failure to complete any of the hours assigned will result in a removal of the scholarship.
Work scholarships can only be claimed in person at Ox-Bow’s inperson registration event held at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. You can find the Ox-Bow programming team onsite at SAIC March 31, in the Neiman Center (37 S. Wabash in Chicago, Illinois) starting at 8:30 a.m. CT.
THE OX-BOW NEED BASED SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship is available to students enrolling in an Ox-Bow course either for-credit or non-credit who demonstrate financial need. Awards are partial in nature. Applications for this scholarship are informational, not portfolio based, and are reviewed by the Ox-Bow Scholarship Committee on a rolling basis.
If a student is interested in a Need Based Scholarship for their Summer 2025 enrollment, they should submit the Need Based Scholarship application by Sunday, March 9 at 11:59 p.m. ET/10:59 p.m. CT. Apply online at www.ox-bow.org.
FINANCIAL AID FROM THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
Undergraduate and graduate students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago may be able to use their financial aid award and merit scholarships from SAIC toward for-credit tuition costs at Ox-Bow. Students interested in this should reach out to Student Financial Services to refer to their deadlines and ensure their funding will be applied to the summer term.
OX-BOW SCHOLARSHIPS
Ox-Bow thanks its donors for building the endowments that support our students.
BEA AND CAROLINE DAVIS SCHOLARSHIP
Available to all students. Credit or non-credit courses.
BEN SEAMONS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Available to all students. Credit or non-credit courses.
DALE METTERNICH MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
For undergraduate and graduate students from any school. Credit or non-credit courses.
DANIEL CLARKE JOHNSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
For undergraduate and graduate students from any school. Credit or non-credit courses.
DAVE BALAS SCHOLARSHIP
Available to all students. Credit or non-credit courses.
FITZ AND THELMA COGHLIN SCHOLARSHIP
For students from the West Michigan region. Credit or non-credit courses.
GEORGE LIEBERT SCHOLARSHIP
For undergraduate and graduate students from any school. Credit courses only.
JIM ZANZI SCHOLARSHIP FUND
For SAIC students to take classes at Ox-Bow. Granted on the basis of financial need. Credit courses only.
LALLA ANNE CRITZ ZANZI SCHOLARSHIP
For female School of the
Art Institute of Chicago undergraduate and graduate painting students. Credit courses only.
LEROY NEIMAN FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP
For undergraduate and graduate students from any school. Credit or non-credit courses.
LORETTA GRELLNER SCHOLARSHIP
For adult women who are either pursuing a degree in art or seeking to refresh their professional practice in the classroom environment. Credit or non-credit courses.
RUPPRECHT SCHOLARSHIP
For undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Painting and Drawing programs. Credit courses only.
STEKETEE SCHOLARSHIP For SAIC undergraduate and graduate students. Credit or non-credit courses.
VI FOGLE URETZ SCHOLARSHIP
For SAIC undergraduate and graduate students. Credit or non-credit courses.
WEST MICHIGAN SCHOLARSHIP
For students residing within the West Michigan area. Credit or non-credit courses.
Outside the Padnos Metals Studio, a student works on a sculpture.(Below): On the porch of the Clute papermaking studio, a student shapes pulp inside a deckle.
POLICIES
ACCOMMODATIONS POLICY
Ox-Bow is committed to providing participants with disabilities equal access to the classroom and other events on campus. Because of the unique nature of learning at Ox-Bow, participants are asked to communicate their needs related to living and learning to the Ox-Bow staff when asked during registration so that preparations can be made with the campus team and their faculty. If at any time a student needs to make a confidential accommodation request, they can do so by emailing oxbow@ox-bow.org.
ADMISSION POLICY
Ox-Bow reserves the right to deny admission/participation to any individual who has demonstrated a history of behavior that, in the judgment of OxBow, might contribute in any way to the disruption of the educational processes or residential life on campus.
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
Ox-Bow does not discriminate on the basis of demographic information in regards to recruitment and admission, financial aid programs, student employment service, educational
programs and activities, or in employment practices.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Due to the intensive nature of an OxBow course, students are required to attend in full and everyday during the session to be granted the credits assigned to their course. Ox-Bow will work with students who miss class, and their faculty to understand their needs and get on a path toward completion. Missing one day of class or arriving tardy more than once will trigger a mediated conversation between student, faculty, and Ox-Bow administration. Failure to correct unexcused absences will make the student eligible for a non-passing grade.
COMPANION ANIMAL POLICY
Service Dogs and Emotional Support
Animals (with proper documentation) are permitted at Ox-Bow. Approved animals are expected to be under their handler’s control at all times at Ox-Bow and abide by our campus rules, including being leashed at all times when in public and current on vaccinations. The animal should not wander, approach others, block busy walkways, make loud noises repeatedly, and the handler must immediately pick up the waste from
campus grounds. Failure to abide by this policy can result in a request to leave Ox-Bow.
GRADING POLICY
Ox-Bow adheres to a credit/no-credit grading system. Students enrolling in classes for-credit are indicated by the grading basis CR, or Credit, on the registration statement and transcript. Students enrolling in classes for non-credit are indicated by the grading basis AUD, or Audit, on the registration statement and transcript.
GUEST POLICY
Students are not permitted companions, guests, or visitors during their stay, including children or other family members.
STUDIO POLICY
Each studio has specific policies in place to ensure the safety of participants and equipment. Additionally, these policies ensure that all participants receive a quality education with equal access to faculty and equipment. All studio-specific policies will be explained on the first night of classes. Any participant found in violation of these policies will be asked to leave the course without refund. These same policies are applied to any work conducted in the Ox-Bow landscape or on the Ox-Bow grounds. Because Ox-Bow is a community, we ask that all participants respect the rights of their classmates and fellow community members by following our policies.
SUSPENSION & EXPULSION POLICY
Ox-Bow reserves the right to impose sanctions including suspension and expulsion, without refund, upon students, fellows or residents whose behavior, in the judgment of Ox-Bow, contributes in any way to the disruption of the educational processes or residential life on campus. Additional policies are listed in the Ox-Bow Policy & Procedures Handbook. SAIC students will be subject to disciplinary procedures and sanctions as outlined in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Student Handbook.
Glassblowing students work alongside each other in the hotshop.
Summer Artist-inResidence Program
Ox-Bow’s fully-funded Summer Residency Program offers 12 artists the time, space, and community to encourage growth and experimentation in their practice for three weeks on campus. The Summer Residency is held while our core courses and community programs are in session. During this time, a small group of residents have access to Ox-Bow’s artist community of students, faculty, and Visiting Artists.
Our summer residencies are open to artists or writers at any level. Currently enrolled students, MFA candidates, arts faculty, emerging, or established artists are encouraged to apply. There are generally three residents on campus at a time. The dates available are:
• June 1–21
• June 22–July 12
July 21–August 9
• August 10–30
Residency recipients receive:
• A studio space with 24 hour access
• Housing and 3 meals per day
Weekly studio visits with visiting artists
• Opportunity to exhibit their work
Applications are due February 16 by 11:59 p.m. ET
(Above: clockwise from left) An artist shaping clay in the Krehbiel Ceramic Studio, an artist works alongside Metals Studio Manager Nick Fagan, and Longform Resident Jeannie Hua painting in her studio.
(Opposite Page): (left) An artist paints a large canvas fixed to the wall of the Haas Painting Studio. (right) Myungah Hyon, the 2024 Peter Williams Awardee, sets a book on a table.
Student Ambassador Program
Do you feel the Ox-Bow magic? Do you hope to come to Ox-Bow every summer? Are you eager to become an integral part of our community and share your experiences with other SAIC students? Ox-Bow is excited to announce a new student initiative that will welcome students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago into a multi-year opportunity as Ox-Bow Ambassadors. In exchange for 4 - 6 hours of work per week during the academic semester, Ambassadors receive a full Ox-Bow scholarship (including tuition, shared room and board, and fees) to a two-week, 3-credit course each summer they are enrolled at SAIC, and a guaranteed spot in our Summer Residency Program the summer after their commencement. Ambassadors will work closely with the Ox-Bow Programming team to build on student driven initiatives including Chicago-based alumni exhibitions, Ox-Bow orientations, class presentations, testimonials during Ox-Bow events, among others.
If you are an SAIC student and are interested in becoming an Ox-Bow Student Ambassador, please get in touch with us via oxbow@ox-bow.org
The Peter Williams Award
Honoring and instilling a legacy of BIPOC mentorship at Ox-Bow
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Peter Williams Award was created to honor Ox-Bow BIPOC Alumni (Instructors, Faculty, or Visiting Artists) whose teaching and/or mentorship exemplifies excellence and care for the student experience, lifelong learning, and creative exploration. The award is named in memory of former faculty member Peter Williams who invested deeply in the students of Ox-Bow and embodied these same virtues. In 2022 the first award was given to the memory of Peter Williams.
GIVING BACK
Each year, the Peter Williams awardee selects a non-traditional and/ or young artist who will receive a scholarship to attend Ox-Bow programming.
SUGGEST AN AWARDEE
Have you been impacted by an instructor, faculty, or visiting artist at Ox-Bow? Nominations for the 2025 Awardee can be submitted by anyone with an Ox-Bow affiliation. By nominating an Alum, you’re playing an essential role in empowering artists and telling the story of Ox-Bow.
Scan the QR code to access the submission form.
A Brief History of Party as Form
LET THE PARTY BEGIN
Since its first appearance in 2012, Party as Form has been exploring the practice of gathering at Ox-Bow and beyond. The course was started by Shannon Stratton, who has since become Ox-Bow’s very own Executive Director.
“Ox-Bow had a long history of costume parties and it was a place that readily embraced play,” explained Stratton, “through this class we could both study play, parties, hospitality, ritual, etc. in a place that was already practicing that.”
ENCORE
Just one summer later, Stratton came back to campus to teach Party as Form, this time with co-faculty member Ben Fain. This return sparked the beginning of the course’s reputation as an enduring tradition at Ox-Bow.
PARTY AS TRADITION
Four years later, Stratton and Fain circled back to campus. This iteration of the course inducted 11 new students into the tradition of party as a form, practice, and more.
PARTIES FOR ALL
Both introverted and introspective, Kelly Lloyd found delight in the space that was available for her as a student of Party as Form in 2013. There was no limit to who could be the life of the party; under Stratton’s lead all participants contributed to the lifeforce. Lloyd eventually went on to become the instructor alongside Alex Chitty in 2022. As they adapted the syllabus, Lloyd wanted to reinforce the spirit she’d experienced with a robust set of readings. Lloyd described the course as “kind of a Trojan horse. It can have people that are really studious and it can have people that are partiers,” and both can feel at home in the offerings.
BEYOND OX-BOW
During the spring of 2024, Party as Form went international. Kelly Lloyd and Shannon Stratton teamed up together to lead a residency version of the course at PRAKSIS in Oslo, Norway. “The project now lives on as a collective,” Stratton said, explaining that the artists that participated in PRAKSIS are likely to grow into “an expanded network” that continues to share the tenants of Party as Form. A special edition of the digital journal Dilettante Army features Party As Form in January of 2025. Check it out at www.dilettantearmy.com
JOIN THE PARTY!
The pedagogical torch is once again being passed. In 2025, Alberto Aguilar and Maria Burundarena will put their own spin on Party as Form. Perhaps this is also the year that you too join the tradition of this historic course at Ox-Bow?
Photos above: [2012] A figure with a glowing hat and a hollowed-computer over their head stands in the water at night. Photo courtesy of Shannon R. Stratton. [2014] Four artists piled into a glitzy, decorated boat on the lagoon. Photo courtesy of Shannon R. Stratton. [2018] A table decorated with glamorous bottles, positioned in front of the lagoon. Photo courtesy of Shannon R. Stratton. [2022] Kelly Lloyd stands next to Madeleine Aguilar in a studio session for Party as Form. Photo by Hai-Wen Lin (Summer Fellow 2022). [2024] A PRAKSIS artist sets off confetti in a green-lit room. Photo courtesy of Shannon R. Stratton. [2025] Chicagoans gather in a parking lot for Alberto Aguilar’s day-long party at the Chicago Humanities Festival. Photo courtesy of Aguilar.
VISITING ARTISTS
Ox-Bow is proud to platform a range of voices, ideas, and perspectives through its Efroymson Family Fund Visiting Artist Program. Every week, a new artist comes to campus to participate in the community, most notably through an artist talk open to everyone on campus. In addition, current Summer Fellows and Artists-in-Residence receive studio visits with the artist.
THE SUMMER 2025 VISITING ARTISTS
SESSION 1 >> Tammie Rubin - June 1–7 // Cathy Lu - June 8–14
SESSION 2 >> Natalia Arbelaez - June 15–21 // Edie Fake - June 22–28
SESSION 3 >> Patricia Peco - June 29–July 5 // Santiago Galeas - July 6–12
SESSION 4 >> Wally Dion - July 13–19
SESSION 5 >> Macon Reed - July 21–26 // Lisa Williamson - July 27–August 2
SESSION 6 >> Reginald Pointer - August 3–9
SESSION 7 >> Emma Safir - August 10–16
SESSION 8 >> Chenlou Hou - August 17–23 // Jason McDonald - August 24–30
Mikey Coleman, former Longform Artist-in-Residence 2024 and Hope Wang, Longform Visiting Artist, share a studio visit.
MEET OUR FACULTY
Alberto Aguilar (he/his/they) uses the party as form to create a shared public moment. In “A Personal Dinner Invitation” he invited strangers into his home to experience a normal dinner party with a slightly amplified program. In 2024 he organized a block party in Pilsen by invitation of the Chicago Humanities Festival. This event happened throughout a single day in and around The National Museum of Mexican Art. The day began with “Museum Church”, which was meant to give attendees a sense of grounding. For “Auto Portrait Spectacular,” 24 artists were invited to show their cars as vehicles of public engagement, installation or as artworks themselves in the museum parking lot. Along with the cars there were performances and live music that unfolded throughout the night as well as Aguilar’s signature 50 ingredient mole served to the public by a food truck. Alberto is the recipient of the 2024 Latinx Artist Fellowship. He has appeared in the Creative Independent as well as NYU’s Latinx Project.
and makes lists. Using the archive as form, she acknowledges the passing of time by cataloging lived spaces, collected objects, familial histories, personal relationships, natural phenomena, mundane routines, and ephemeral moments. Madeleine runs bench press, a collaborative risograph press based in Chicago. She is currently a Senior Lab Specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago where she manages the Print Lab in the School of Design. She has performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the DePaul Art Museum, EXPO Chicago, and Experimental Sound Studio. Her work lives in the Franklin Furnace Archive in the Pratt Institute Library, the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the 8-Ball Library in New York, the Art Book Library at Virginia Commonwealth University, and elsewhere.
Elena Ailes (she/her) is concerned with the encounters, intimacies and discordances found between human (actions, bodies, histories) and nonhuman (thing, being, astral) worlds. She has presented her texts, videos, and installations widely, including at Apparatus Projects, the SculptureCenter, Randy Alexander Gallery, Sector2337, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and 4th Ward Project Space. She received her MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute. She is interested in what makes her a better person and a worse person, especially in theory. In reality, she currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
hiba ali (they/them) is a producer of moving images, sounds, garments and words. they use principles of game design, 3d animation, and immersive installations to create liminal spaces where they engage in world building, storytelling, and digital poesis. in their practice, this term means a way to call forth more loving and healing into our world. they use virtual reality, 3d animation, and augmented reality to slow down time and create portals of solace and care. they are an assistant professor at the college of design in the art & technology program at the university of oregon in eugene and they teach on decolonial, feminist, antiracist frameworks in digital art pedagogies. their work has been presented in chicago, stockholm, vienna, berlin, toronto, new york, istanbul, são paulo, detroit, windsor, dubai, austin, vancouver, and portland.
Christen Baker (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the complex relationships between attention and desire, and the physical and digital economies that emerge from it. Baker earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts in Glass from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, where she was awarded the Assistantship for Tyler Information Technology and Digital Services. Baker’s interests have led her to glass, neon, sculpture, photography, and 3D scanning. She has utilized these mediums to create a new visual lexicon that speaks to the ways in which attention and desire shape our perception of material use, physical space, and information hierarchies. Baker has completed residencies and exhibitions at Belger Arts, the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary, UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, and was awarded the Summer
Fellowship in Glass at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency. Most recently, she was awarded the Neon as Soulcraft residency in collaboration with SheBends at the Museum of Craft and Design.
Devin Balara (she/her) received a BFA in sculpture from the University of North Florida in 2010, an MFA in sculpture from Indiana University in 2014, and has been pretending to be a geologist since 2020. Her work has notably been exhibited at Atlanta Contemporary, Ortega Y Gasset and Spring Break in New York, Roots & Culture in Chicago, the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey, and most recently at Coco Hunday in Tampa, Florida. She has worked for over a decade as a metal shop manager for various institutions including eight years at Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan. She currently is working as a freelance stained glass artist and educator.
Chase Barney (he/him) works with clay to create vases adorned with flowers, animals, and bright colors. The narrative in his work is loose, a mish-mash of Mormon dogma, fairy tale, and fable, as well as a deep love for cliché, pop culture, and family lore. Barney graduated with a BFA from the University of Minnesota and his MFA at the School of the Art Institute Chicago in 2022. Barney has exhibited across the United States and received numerous grants and scholarships supporting his work, including a 2020 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant and the New Artist Full Merit Scholarship from SAIC.
Sarah Belknap (they/she) and Joseph Belknap (they/ he) stretch and play with pareidolia and imagemaking, their work draws on conspiracy theories, science, and sci-fi. Working as a team since 2008, their art has been exhibited in artist-run exhibition spaces in Springfield, Brooklyn, Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and St. Louis. In addition, they have presented performances at institutions throughout Chicago, including the Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Links Hall, and the MCA. Their work has been shown in group exhibitions at SFAI Galleries, the Columbus Museum of Art, The Arts Club of Chicago, the Chicago Artists’ Coalition, Western Exhibitions, and solo shows at The Arts Club of Chicago and at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Their work was included in the book ‘Weather as Medium’ by Janine Randerson in the Leonardo Series through MIT Press.
Chris Bogia's (he/him) work—spanning works on paper, textile compositions, and sculpture—incorporates materials and strategies from professional design fields including interior design, fashion, and videogames. Recently, Bogia has been considering public spaces, creating outdoor sculptures and permanent institutional commissions. Recent exhibitions include the Dallas Art Fair with Mrs., a solo exhibition with Hermès in Los Angeles; a two-person exhibition at Halsey McCay, East Hampton; and a group exhibition at Ortega Y’ Gasset, Brooklyn; and Perrotin, Paris. Recent public works include a project with the Public Art Fund at LaGuardia Airport, a mural at the Knockdown Center in Maspeth, Queens; sculpture installations with The Lighthouse Works on Fishers Island, New York and Foreland in Catskills, New
York; and a permanent work in the Bronx with the NYC School Construction Authority. Bogia is represented by Mrs. and teaches sculpture at New York University. He is the cofounder and former executive director of Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR), the first LGBTQ artist residency in the worldword. His writing has appeared in a Artforum.
Travis Boyer (he/him) holds a BFA in Fibers from UNT and he received his MFA with a concentration in painting from Bard College in 2012. Boyer’s practice employs a range of media and methods: from painting, textile, sculpture, photography, and is known for making sumptuous paintings using dye on silk velvet. While diverse in form, this body of work is fundamentally grounded in textiles to explore the nature of desire. Boyer’s paintings are in the permanent collections of The High Museum, Atlanta; the Portland Museum of Art; and the Hood Museum. Boyer has exhibited internationally at museums and galleries including The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The New Museum, New York; Kunstverein, Amsterdam; High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, California, Palais des Beaux-Arts, France; CAMH, Houston; False Flag Gallery, New York; Johannes Vogt Gallery, New York; Participant Inc., New York;Noon Projects, Los Angeles; The Valley, Taos, and Peter Kilchmann, Paris; among others
Maria Burundarena (she/ her; Paris, France/Buenos Aires, Argentina) Maria has developed work as a textile designer and photographer, printing different narratives onto garments, sculptures, installations, and LED screens. Her current work explores large-scale installations using print media, light projection and reflective materials. Maria has exhibited in ZAZ 10 Times
Square, New York; Hope College, Holland, Michigan; Mayfield, the Franklin; MdW Mana Contemporary, Chicago; Athletic Association, Chicago; Heaven Gallery, Chicago; Compound Yellow; Oak Park, Illinois; and the Cleve Carney Museum of Art, Chicago. In 2024, Maria was named one of Chicago’s Breakout Artists and received the IAP grant from DCASE. Maria holds a BFA from la Universidad de Buenos Aires (FADU) and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she is currently a lecturer in the Contemporary Practices department.
Edward Cabral (he/him) is a sculptor and chef. His research-based practice encompasses traditional art, edible sculpture, performance, and impermanent objects. He received his BA in Visual Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. He has exhibited at Williams College Museum of Art, Massachusetts; Roots and Culture and Heaven Gallery, Chicago; Alexander Gray Associates, The Drawing Center, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and Superhouse, New York. He has been interviewed in Mold Magazine, Architectural Digest, and CakeZine, and has appeared on the History Channel, Disney+, and The Food Network.
Jessica Campbell (she/her) works predominantly in textiles, drawing, and comics. Drawing on a wide range of influences, including science fiction, art world politics, and her evangelical upbringing, Campbell explores ways to reflect heterogeneity through a combination of disparate media, subjects, and tone. Whether through cartoony depictions or the use of unorthodox material, her work often wields humor as a device
for managing trauma. She is the author of three graphic novels, including the recent Rave (Drawn and Quarterly, 2022), and her comics have been published by MoMA, the New Yorker, Hyperallergic and the Nib, among other publications. She has had solo exhibitions at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia; The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; The Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Western Exhibitions in Chicago; and Field Projects in New York. She is an Assistant Professor of Expanded Drawing at York University in Toronto.
Feather Chiaverini (he/ they) explores how queer theory, horror, class, and pop culture shape our identities and how these tools can be used flexibly to shape the self. Inspired by the theater and everyday hustle of their family’s costume shop, they use costumes as material, rather than adornment. They make sculptures out of trash and trash out of sculptures, all mingling in a teeming mass, creating immersive installations, soft sculptures, and digital environments that reimagine our horizons. Feather received a BFA from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia. They have shown work nationally at Trout Museum of Art, N’namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Temple Contemporary, ROY G BIV Gallery, and more. Feather is currently the Residency Director of the Queer Materials Lab and adjuncts at Tyler School of Art and Architecture.
Su Kaiden Cho (he/him) is a Korean-American artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, and installation, exploring the intersections of Eastern
and Western diaspora. His work is deeply rooted in phenomenology, engaging with the interplay between the visible and invisible, often through material studies and spatial explorations. Recently, his focus has shifted toward post-minimalist approaches, experimenting with monochrome and colorfield compositions, with an emphasis on texture and dimensional surfaces. Cho’s practice reflects his ongoing investigation into absence, presence, and the uncanny. Cho earned his MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he now holds a teaching fellowship. His artistic achievements include prestigious residencies, fellowships, and awards, such as the International Center for the Arts in Umbria, Italy, led by Michelle Grabner, and the Ox-Bow Summer Residency. Cho hasexhibited both nationally and internationally. In addition to his artistic endeavors, Cho served as a first ambassador for Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency in 2024.
Dee Clements (she/her/ella) is a sculptor and designer whose practice uses the language of weaving and ceramics to explore her interests in materials, ethnography, and gender politics. She holds an MFA in 3D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Fiber and Materials Studies and Sculpture from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is currently represented by Nina Johnson Gallery in Miami, Florida.
Alex Bradley Cohen (he/him) utilizes painting to visualize the push and pulls of political life. Working with acrylic paint on canvas, he depicts friends, family members, and himself in scenes that foreground everyday moments. Materializing from personal photographs and
memories rather than direct observation, each painting serves as an exercise in imaginative world building. Recent group exhibitions include In Relation to Power: Politically Engaged Works from the Collection, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; State of the Art 2020, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AK; and Triple: Alex Bradley Cohen, Louis Fratino, and Tschabalala Self, University Art Museum at the University of Albany, New York. Other exhibitions include The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois; and The Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles; among others. He is an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and was an artist-in-residence at OxBow School of Art & Artists’ Residency.
Henry James Haver Crissman (he/him) thinks of his art as a means, not an end. Crissman earned a BFA in Craft from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan in 2012, and a MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University in 2015. He and his wife and fellow artist, Virginia Rose Torrence, founded and co-direct Ceramics School, a community ceramics studio and artist residency. He regards teaching as an integral aspect of his creative practice, and in addition to teaching at Ceramics School, he is currently an adjunct professor in the Studio Art and Craft Department at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.
Israel “Izzy” Davis plays between the boundaries of object and image in his work. He has taught numerous workshops and exhibited nationally and internationally. Izzy’s work ranges in content from personal narratives, observations, particulars,
and fun. He is a professor and head of ceramics at Central Michigan University.
Josh Dihle (he/him) With a hand for detail and an eye on the natural world, Dihle blends painting, carving, and drawing to open visionary portals into the heart. He is the co-founder of experimental art platforms Color Club and Barely Fair and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also created The Sugar Hole, an ice cream shop staffed by puppets. Solo exhibitions include M+B,Los Angeles; Andrew Rafacz, Chicago; 4th Ward Project Space Chicago; McAninch Arts Center, Chicago; and Valerie Carberry Gallery, Chicago; Dihle’s work has been exhibited in group shows, including Gaa Gallery, New York; MASSIMODECARLO Vspace,Milan, Italy; University of Maine Museum of Art; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Elmhurst Art Museum, Illinois; Essex Flowers Gallery, New York; Ruschman, Mexico City, Mexico; and Annarumma Gallery, Naples, Italy. His work and curatorial projects have been written about in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, New City, Artspace, The Washington Post, and The Art Newspaper, among others.
Mari Eastman’s (she/her) work emerges from a pictorial study of images from magazines and the internet which become intertwined with personal narratives, executed in an intentionally loose manner. Eastman holds an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited at Bombon Projects, Barcelona; Broadway Gallery, New York; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, The Orange County Museum of Art, the Berkeley Museum of Art, Cherry and Martin Gallery, Los Angeles; Spruth
and Magers, Munich; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York; and Maureen Paley, London; among other venues. Her work has been included in Modern Painters, The New York Times, Artforum.com and Contemporary Art Daily. Eastman is faculty at The University of Chicago.
Chris Edwards (he/him) makes work that focuses on practicing caring about things and being at home. He makes quilts and pottery in the pursuit of making art that depicts objects found in his space alongside pretend elements. His work reflects his interest in creating objects that become part of his environment and interact with the real objects and life they represent. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from SAIC in 2011 and his Master of Social Work from the University of Iowa in 2014. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and works as a psychotherapist in addition to his art practice. He lives in Chicago with his husband, dog, and two cats. He has exhibited work at Ox-Bow House, Wrong Marfa, Elephant Gallery, Adds Donna, Tusk, LVL3, Oggi Gallery, Dreamboat, Western Exhibitions, and Julius Caesar in Chicago.
Emily Endo (they/them) pulls from the disparate, yet conjoined, histories of science and mysticism. Using glass, organic media, and aroma molecules their work references the transformative relationships between body, material, and space. Within Endo’s work, the visual, cultural, kinesthetic, and chemical qualities of materials are considered so that they compliment and contrast one another in harmonious tension. Endo received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2010 and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006. Their work has
been exhibited at Somerset House, London; Massey Klein, New York; Marta, Los Angeles; Harkawik, Los Angeles; Neutra VDL House, Los Angeles; LVL3, Chicago; Bullseye Projects, Portland; and the Byre, Latheronwheel, United Kingdom. Recent press includes NY Times, Wallpaper, Architectural Digest, Variable West, Dezeen, Frontrunner Magazine, American Craft Magazine, LVL3, and MAAKE.
Douglas R. Ewart (he/ him; Kingston, Jamaica) is Professor Emeritus at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His life and his wideranging work have always been inextricably associated with Jamaican culture, history, politics, and the land itself. Professor Ewart immigrated to Chicago in 1963, where he studied music theory at VanderCook College of Music, electronic music at Governors State University, and composition at the School of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Professor Ewart’s varied and interdisciplinary work encompasses music composition, painting and kinetic sound sculpture, and multi-instrumental performance on a full range of instruments of his own design and construction for which he is known worldwide. His visual art and kinetic works have been shown at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Ojai Festival, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Institute for Contemporary Art, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
Brendan Fernandes (he/ him; Nairobi, Kenya) is an internationally recognized for working at the intersection of dance and visual arts. Brendan’s projects address issues of race, queer culture, migration, protest and other forms of collective movement.
Brendan’s projects take on hybrid forms: part Ballet, part queer dance party, part political protest...always rooted in collaboration and fostering solidarity. Brendan is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program and a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Fellowship. In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award, and is the recipient of a prestigious 2017 Canada Council New Chapters grant. Brendan is also the recipient of the Platform Award and the Artadia Award, among others. His projects have shown at the 2019 Whitney Biennial; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Modern Art; and The Getty Museum; among many others. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago and Susan Inglett Gallery in New York.
Nicola Florimbi (she/her) earned a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Group exhibitions include Orange Noise, The Capsule, Chicago (2024); Graduate Show I, SAIC, Chicago (2018); Until You Say So, Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles (2017); AHWA, Salafi Cowboy Collective, Los Angeles.
Michelle Grabner (she/her) is the Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she has taught since 1996. She has also held teaching appointments at The University of WisconsinMadison, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Milton Avery Graduate School of Arts— Bard College, Yale University School of Art, and the Skowhegan School of Painting
and Sculpture. Grabner is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, a 2018 National Academician in the National Academy of Design, and a 2024 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters Fellow. Major museum exhibitions curated by Grabner include the 2014 Whitney Biennial and the inaugural 2018 FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. In 2021 she co-curated Sculpture Milwaukee with Theaster Gates. In 2024 she curated 50 Paintings, a survey of contemporary international painting at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Grabner, along with artist Brad Killam runs the artist-run project spaces, The Suburban, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (est. 1999) and The Poor Farm, Little Wolf, Wisconsin (est. 2008).
Carrie Gundersdorf (she/her) has had solo exhibitions at La Loma Projects, Los Angeles; Korn Gallery, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at 106 Green, New York; Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, California; La Box, Bourges, France; Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles; and Loyola Museum of Art, Chicago. Gundersdorf’s work has been reviewed in Art Review, Artforum.com, Artnet, Art on Paper, Chicago Tribune, and Time Out Chicago. She was awarded the Artadia Award in Chicago and the Bingham Fellowship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Gundersdorf received her BA from Connecticut College and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Lin Hixson (director) (she/ her) and Matthew Goulish (dramaturg) (he/him) cofounded Every house has
a door in 2008, to convene diverse, intergenerational, project-specific teams of specialists, including emerging as well as internationally recognized artists. Drawn to historically or critically neglected subjects, Every house creates performance works and performance-related projects in many media. Every house has presented both nationally and internationally including Prague, Helsinki, Glasgow, London, New York, Austin, and Chicago. Their performance works in collaboration with Helsinkibased artist Essi Kauslainen include Scarecrow (2017), and the multi-year Carnival of the Animals project, dedicated to endangered and extinct species. Residencies have included The Bellagio Center, MANCC, and the Rauschenberg Foundation. Their collaboratively written essays have appeared in the anthologies The Creative Critic—Writing as/about Practice and The Twenty-First Century Performance Reader. In 2022, the company copublished Selected Plays of Jay Wright Volumes 1, 2, and 3 with Kenning Editions.
Maxwell Holden’s (he/him) career has included both time abroad and within industry, encountering highly creative engineers and artists embracing the sciences. The result has amounted to a passionate interest in the absurdity of modern life, and our quest to find meaning in endless abundance and scarcity. Maxwell is particularly interested in food after nearly a decade spent as a farmhand and many more years making a range of dinnerware, including a collaboration with Blue Hill.
Richard Hull’s (he/him) paintings, drawings and prints can be found in the collections of many museums, including, the Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago; the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C.; Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Smart Museum, Chicago. Hull has presented more than forty solo exhibitions dating from 1979 to 2023, along with countless group exhibitions. He has exhibited his work at the Minneapolis Institute of Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City; the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. He is represented by Western Exhibitions, Chicago.
Will Hutchinson (he/him) holds an MFA in sculpture from The University of Montana and BFA in drawing from The Art Academy of Cincinnati. He is a former smokejumper and all around adventurer. Invested in the truth of experience, his practice is mainly focused on functional objects that attempt to facilitate and enhance experiences from the mundane to the extraordinary. Currently Will works as a full time knife-maker and teaches glassblowing workshops.
Elnaz Javani (she/they) works across textiles, sculpture, and drawing. Her practice delves into personal and cultural memory, reflecting on migration and identity. Javani’s works frequently incorporate traditional textile techniques, exploring how material and process can serve as storytelling. Javani often addresses themes of displacement, the body, and the intersection of personal and collective histories through the lens of craft and fiber art. Javani holds an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Tehran University of Art. Javani is the recipient of the New Voices 2024 award from Print Center New York, a 2024 CSU
Professional Development award, a 2023 Chicago Individual Artists Program grant, and the 2023 Center for Craft Artist Cohort Grant. She was also named one of Chicago’s Breakout Artists of 2022 and has received a Spark Grant from the Chicago Artists Coalition, the Kala Art Institute Fellowship Award, and Residency Grant, the Define American Art Fellowship Grant, and the Hyde Park Art Center Flex Space Residency Award.
Paula Kamps (she/her; German, b. Cologne, Denmark) focuses on recollection, fabulation, and the perception of narrative. Unhinging the artist’s expected role as the operator of signification or meaning, her works joyfully dawdle in a space of transposition between what is read and what is seen, between what is felt and what is thought. From washes of pigment and inks across linen, Kamps’ builds strange reveries, often uncomfortable, often feeling incomplete. With figures hazy or obscured and a recurring, but arcane symbology, her works elegantly hint on subjects persistent throughout art history—the unreliability of memory, the evasiveness of meaning, and our continual desire to understand one another. She graduated from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Recent solo exhibitions include Word of Honor at M.LeBlanc, Chicago; Cold Customs at eastcontemporary, Milan; Shoot The Moon at Mou Projects, Hong Kong and At The Pawn Shop at Sans titre, Paris. She regularly publishes her poetry in the form of artist’s books and advises graduate students in painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
(collaborations with artist Michelle Grabner) and more than 60 group exhibitions since receiving an MFA from University of Illinois Chicago. In 1999 he co-founded (with Michelle Grabner) and currently co-directs The Suburban, an artist-run space in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2008 he co-founded (with Michelle Grabner) and codirects, Poor Farm Exhibitions and Press, an artist-run space in Wisconsin.
Nance Klehm (she/they) has been an ecological systems designer, consultant, and agroecological grower for more than three decades. Her approach is centered on instigating change by activating already existent communities, and her work demonstrates her lifelong commitment to redefining the way human populations coexist with plant, animal and fungal systems on this planet. Klehm is internationally respected for her work on land politics and soil heath. Her work has received extensive national and international media coverage and has been mentioned in over 30 books. She is the author of The Soil Keepers: Interviews with practitioners on the ground beneath our feet and The Ground Rules: a manual to reconnect soil and soul. She runs Chop Wood Carry Water Residency and cultivates and forages medicinal and edible plants, keeps bees and a fruit orchard, raises ducks and native quail, and grows for several indigenous seed banks.
The act of listening holds a central role in the work of Skooby Laposky (he/him). Laposky’s contributions have enriched numerous documentary films, bringing depth and resonance to their subjects. His DJing and music production for the club space delivers a visceral experience, igniting
communal movement and euphoria on the dancefloor. His uniquely designed sounds for consumer products infuse them with essential character, seamlessly integrating these devices into people’s daily lives. Laposky’s recent work in biodata sonification music has helped support environmental stewardship programs and the restorative practices of yoga and meditation. Recent projects include the public art project Hidden Life Radio and his ongoing site-specific project, Palm Reading, with Los Angeles-based guitarist Charles Copley. Palm Reading’s debut location releases were Malibu: Point Mugu and Joshua Tree National Park on the Myndstream wellness music label. Upcoming location releases include oases from Palestine and Israel. Hidden Life Radio was awarded NYFA’s Tomorrowland Projects Foundation Award in 2022 to support its 2023 broadcast location in New York’s Hudson Valley. Laposky is currently a Neighborhood Salon Luminary at the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum.
Emilia Lichtenwagner (she/ her) utilizes various media as a means to record, dissect, laugh at, refute, demolish, and love the world. Her work consists of small units of attention usually recorded as drawings and prints on paper. Through her work, she subverts relationships between time and space through suggestion, rejection, and reconfiguration of traditional narrative structures. Using sequencing, repetition and iteration, she experiments with motifs that embrace the unremarkable and evoke empathy for the insignificant. She studied Fine Art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Austria) and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Fulbright fellowship.
Brad Killam’s work has been featured in over 30 solo and two-person exhibitions
Hai-Wen Lin (they/them) is a Taiwanese-American artist based somewhere between the earth and sky. Their work explores constructions of the body and the attunement of one’s self to the environment, often working through metaphor, etymologies, sunlight, wind, and the way time passes perfectly when you are out walking on a beautiful day. Lin is an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and earned a MDes in Fashion, Body and Garment from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They are one of the American Craft Council’s 2024 Emerging Artists, a 2023 CFDA Fashion Future Graduate, and are a recipient of the Hopper Prize and fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, Lighthouse Works, and Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency. Lin has exhibited work at the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and the Pittsburgh Glass Center.
Abigail Lucien (they/them) is a Haitian-American interdisciplinary artist. Working across sculpture, literature, and time-based media, their work addresses themes of (be)longing, futurity, myth, and place by considering our relationship to inherited colonial structures and systems of belief/care. Lucien received the Sondheim Award, was named to the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, is a recipient of a Ruby’s Award, VMFA Fellowship and the Harpo Emerging Artist Fellowship. Past exhibitions include SculptureCenter; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; MoMA PS1; MAC Panamá; Tiwani Contemporary, London; Atlanta Contemporary; Frost Art Museum, Miami; and The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Residencies include Skowhegan School of Painting
& Sculpture; Amant Studio & Research Residency; the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts; The Luminary; Santa Fe Art Institute; and ACRE. Lucien currently teaches as an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Hunter College in New York.
Heather Mawson (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator that views process, layering, collage, and archiving as the foundation of her practice. She uses timebased media and everyday materials to investigate how U.S. economic and political systems shape personhood. Her current research looks at the history, techniques and semiotics of quilting within the United States to reexamine within her work the materials and images that are saturated in our day-to-day lives. Through the process of collecting, transforming, and organizing images and found materials, she questions where the system ends, and the individual begins. Mawson received her BFA in Fine Arts from The University of Texas at El Paso and an MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally with a focus on artist-run spaces. Mawson lives in Detroit and teaches at Wayne State University.
Devin T. Mays (he/him) uses sculpture, installation, performance and pictures to offer observation of what’s seen and unseen. The materials being used in his practice do not always present themselves as anything more than what they appear to be. There is not always a physical transformation at the hands of his facilitation. He often refers to his interdisciplinary practice as an exercise in wandering, a practice-in-practice, a place for things to become Things. Mays has exhibited at Sculpture Center, New York; Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago; The Driehaus Museum, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Belmacz, London; The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago; DePaul Art Museum; and The Gray Center for Arts & Inquiry, among others. Mays holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University and a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Chicago. He is currently a fellow with the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL) and the Art Department at Rice University.
Heather Mekkelson (she/her) uses all forms of art but finds sculpture to be the best for speculating on questions with no clear answers. She suspects it comes from thinking through her hands. The work Mekkelson makes has been exhibited throughout Chicago and places beyond, in a variety of spaces, like museums and galleries, but also on street poles and that one time in a medicine cabinet. Over the years people have written about what she does, and sometimes who she is. Some insightful ones can be found in print, in Art Journal and Aperture, and online at Artforum, Art21 Magazine, and Visual Art Source. To hear her speak about her work, podcast interviews with Bad at Sports and Studio Break are available for listening. Mekkelson has received support for her work with fellowships, grants and awards from Artadia, the Illinois Arts Council, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the institutions she has served.
Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez (she/her) combines poetry, images, glass objects, and neon light to create objects and installations that draw inspiration from
her Puerto Rican and Persian heritage. She is the inaugural winner of the Adele and Leonard Leight Award from the Speed Art Museum. She has been an artist in residence at Blue Mountain Center, Pilchuck Glass School and the Corning Museum of Glass, among others. Her work has been shown in dozens of museums and galleries in the US and abroad including the Museum of Craft and Design, Traver Gallery, Tacoma Museum of Glass, BWA Wrocław, and Glasmuseet Ebeltoft. Victoria is passionate about social change and arts education, and was previously the Director of The Bead Project at UrbanGlass, a program geared towards supporting people of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds as they learn how to work with the material. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Tyler School of Art, from which she received her BFA. She holds an MFA in Craft/ Material Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Danny Miller (he/him) utilizes woodblock, lithography, etching, painting, and drawing, he conjures works inspired by sci-fi and crime pulp illustration, film noir, vintage advertisements, comics and music. Miller has taught at Ohio State University, University of WisconsinMadison, School of the Art Institute, and retired from the SAIC Printmedia department in 2021 after 32 years, as the manager and technical coordinator. He received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked in professional print shops including Landfall Press, Normal Editions Workshop, and Four Brothers Press. Additionally, Miller taught fiddle and banjo music for 11 years.
In collaboration with the fluid processes of photography, Holly Murkerson’s (she/
her) work makes visible an emergent space where body and environment bleed into one another. Holly Murkerson received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Post-Baccalaureate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and her BFA from Florida Southern College. Past exhibitions include The East Wing at Goldfinch Gallery, 65Grand, Comfort Station, Rainbo Club, Heaven Gallery, Apparatus Projects, Roots & Culture, Julius Caesar, Andrew Rafacz Gallery (all Chicago); Rockford University Art Gallery, Rockford, Illinois; and Neiman Gallery at Columbia University, New York. She has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, The Ragdale Foundation, and Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency and has received grants from The Illinois Art Council and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. From 2011 to 2021, she was a Co-Director of the art-run space, Adds Donna.
Natalie Murray (she/her) is a sculptor and fabricator with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her time and talents have taken her from her Midwestern roots all the way to the largest women’s university in the world in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; building some of their first maker-space facilities. She is back in Chicago currently working in large-scale, custom metal fabrication serving a variety of different industries around the globe that include: rail, airlines, construction, aerospace, energy, infrastructure, art, and many more. Beyond manufacturing and collegiate instruction, she teaches welding classes, including the ‘Women in Welding’ course at the Arc Academy.
Turtel Onli (Mr/him/he) was a major-market illustrator for the likes of Holt, Rinehart &
Winston, Chicago Magazine, Capital Records, MODE
Avant-Garde Magazine, and more after graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in BFA in Art Ed & M.A.A.T. in Clinical Art Therapy. Onli taught Air-Brush on fabrics / textiles at the Textile Art Center and Fashion Illustration at Columbia College in Chicago plus had an amazing run producing limited-edition fashionably versatile wearable art and dynamic fashion shows at the Limelight Club. All due to the air-brush. Onli uses it still in doing Rhythmistic Fine Art for his thematic visual art gallery exhibitions, custom murals, and l Illustrations for his break-out limited edition Graphic Novels.
Minami Oya (she/her; b. Sado Japan) grew up surrounded by nature, art, and the ancestral consciousness. Her work that employs glass and mixed media as metaphorical instruments, installations, and works on paper have been shown in solo and juried exhibitions in the United States. She began her deep passion for glass in 2008 at San Francisco State University and has trained with maestros in studios such as Pilchuck Glass School, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Corning Museum of Glass, and D.F. Glassworks in Murano, Italy. Minami holds a MFA in Spatial Art from San Jose State University and has taught in several institutions including California College of the Arts, San Jose State University, and Public Glass in San Francisco.
Kristina Paabus (she/her; United States & Estonia) is a multidisciplinary visual artist and printmaker. Her work examines systems of power and control, with a focus on Soviet and post-Soviet histories. Paabus earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited throughout the US, Europe, and China; and her work can be found in numerous private and public collections. Recent solo exhibitions include Meanwhile at Hobusepea Galerii, Estonia; Something to Believe In at the McDonough Museum of Art, Ohio; and From the Edge at Ox-Bow House, Michigan. Paabus has participated in numerous international and domestic artist residencies, and was a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for Installation Art in Estonia, the Grant Wood Fellowship in Printmaking at The University of Iowa, and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Paabus is an Associate Professor of Reproducible Media and Chair of the Studio Art Department at Oberlin College.
Corey Pemberton (he/ they) received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. He has completed residencies at The Pittsburgh Glass Center; Bruket, Bodø, Norway; Alfred University, New York; as well as a Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina. He has exhibited work at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, California; The Contemporary Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina; and has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Art and Design New York’ The Boston Museum of Fine Art; and The Chrysler Museum of Art, Virginia. Pemberton currently splits his time between the nonprofit arts organization Crafting the Future, painting, and his glass practice. He strives to bring together people of all backgrounds and identities, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges; not only through his work with Crafting The Future but with his personal artistic practice as well.
Andrea Peterson (she/her) received her MFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently teaches paper arts and papermaking at The School of the Art Institute in the Fiber and Material Studies Program and from her studio Hook Pottery Paper. She co-operates Hook Pottery Paper with her husband, ceramic artist Jon Hook. She creates paper art works and relief printed images on handmade paper that utilize pulp-drawing techniques. She combines these efforts to make works that address human relationship to the environment. Her work has been collected by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and can be found in many private and corporate collections such as Hollister clothing, Chicago as well as exhibitions in Beer Shiva, Israel; Deggendorf Museum, Germany; Steyermuhl Paper Museum, Austria; Scoula di Grafica, Venice, Italy; and Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana. She has conducted workshops and lectures at Paper Museum in Steyermuhl, Austria; University Georgia Athens; Cortona, Italy; Scoula di Grafica, Venice, Italy; and University of Syracuse.
John Preus (he/him) works in a wide range of media and degrees of functionality. He is represented by Rena Bransten Gallery in San Francisco, and Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia.
Sophia Rauch (she/her) is focused on abstraction and artistic myth. Her practice is an interdisciplinary romp through a formalist empire rooted in material
experimentation. Rauch uses sculpture, drawing and printmaking to explore artistic authorship and originality. Her work celebrates the complexities of beauty with humor and curiosity. She has shown internationally and published her artist book Scans at Home with FLTFL. Rauch received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Yashodhar Reddy (he/him) is an Indian-American glass artist. His work focuses on the traditional aspects of glass craft and design from a functional viewpoint. He draws inspiration from the aesthetics of historical glass objects, with the intention of rendering his works with more relevant and personal styles. His education began at Harrisburg Area Community College where he was introduced to the medium and from there continued to travel the world to study with prestigious glass artists such as Raven Skyriver, Kelly O’Dell, Darin Denison, and Davide Fuin. He has worked at design studios such as Niche Modern and AO Glassworks and educational organizations such as the prestigious Corning Museum of Glass, where he has been on the team of many reputable artists such as Swedish maker, Fredrik Nielsen and Head of Glass at SIU, Jiyong Lee. He was previously working at the Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist’s Residency as Glass Studio Manager. He is continuing his education, working as an apprentice glassmaker in Venice, Italy for one of the last few living Masters in Murano, Italy.
Ché Rhodes (he/him/they) received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his BA from Centre College where he began his career under mentorship of Stephen Rolfe Powell. Formerly, he was an
assistant professor and Head of Glass Art at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Currently he is professor and Head of Glass Art at the University of Louisville, Allen R. Hite Art Institute. He is a former member of the Glass Art Society Board of Directors, and a current member of the Crafting the Future Board of Trustees and the Penland School of Crafts Board of Trustees. Rhodes has demonstrated at the 2006, 2010, and 2015 Glass Art Society Conferences and has taught at the Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Urban Glass, Brooklyn, New York; and at Scuola del Vetro: Abate Zanetti, in Venice, Italy. He is a recipient of the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award and is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Speed Museum of Art.
Mario Romano (he/him) graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago with his Master of Fine Arts. Mario has shown at galleries both nationally and internationally including Chicago, New York, Austin, and Germany. In addition to his dedicated teaching practice, Mario has continued his investigation into drawing and painting and often looks at his surroundings for inspiration. In addition to both his teaching and art career, Mario is also part of the College Art Association as well as the Scholastic Arts Association in Upstate New York.
Kellie Romany (she/her) is an abstract artist interested in bodies and systems. Using a color palette of skin tones, Romany creates objects that act as a catalyst for discussion about human connections, race, and the systems
surrounding these themes. She received a Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Romany has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including museum shows at the High Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and DePaul Art Museum.
Soo Shin (she/her; b. Seoul, South Korea) employs a diverse range of materials— ceramic, brass, concrete, wood, and seawater—to evoke themes of connection, spatial displacement, and longing. She is the recipient of the fellowship at Djerassi Artist Residency, Woodside, California; the individual artist grant at the Illinois Arts Council; and the Vilcek Foundation fellowship at MacDowell Artist Residency. Shin’s work has been presented at The Luminary, St. Louis, Missouri; PATRON Gallery, Chicago; Goldfinch Gallery, Chicago; Chicago Manual Style, Chicago; LVL3, Chicago, IL; and Chicago Artist Coalition, among others. She has completed residencies at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; Vermont Studio Center; Art Farm, Marquette, Nebraska; and Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency. She earned a Master’s in Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Master’s in Fine Arts, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
Manal Shoukair (she/her) is a Lebanese-American artist whose work in video performance, sculpture, and site-specific installations explore the complex intersectionality of her multicultural identity, Islamic spirituality, and contemporary
femininity. Manal has been featured in art publications, including Hyperallergic, Sculpture Magazine, and the Detroit Metro Times. Manal holds a BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and is a recent MFA graduate from the Sculpture and Extended Media Department at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a recipient of the Master’s Thesis Grant from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Gilda Award from the Kresge Foundation, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship and the MacDowell Fellowship.
William Sieruta (he/ him) can’t decide if he’s a painter, a sculptor, a writer, or an architect. Instead of committing to one discipline, his time is haphazardly divided between all of these pursuits. He studied Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he earned an MFA. He was also awarded a fellowship to Ox-Bow School of Art & Artist Residency, an experience he draws inspiration from to this day. After several stints as an artist assistant and studio manager in New York, William returned to his native Massachusetts where currently he teaches colorfocused painting classes and workshops. He was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant for his popular “Thinking in Color” studio workshop.
Jaclyn Silverman (she/her) thinks about the significance of place determined by the dynamics of family and community cultural relationships through environmental portraiture and landscape made by means of educational photographic projects. As Founding Artistic Director and piloting artist-in-residence with CPS Lives, Silverman maintained an independent
arts program and project on Chicago’s far southeast side with students from George Washington High School and residents of the Hegewisch neighborhood from 20172023. Commissioned by Theaster Gates, Silverman’s photographic installations of the Johnson Publishing Company archives were published in part of the exhibition, A Johnson Publishing Story at Stony Island Arts Bank. Collectively reinstating departmental portfolio exchanges, she co-curated the archive based exhibition Within the Portfolios 1968-2016; a History of Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Silverman is the Development Manager for the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago. She received her BFA from The Ohio State University and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Laurel Sparks (any/all) intersects queer craft, textile, occult and abstract histories. Esoteric correspondence systems are encoded in patterns and glyphs that reflect mysteries of macro and micro cosmologies. In tandem, elements of decoration and artifice pay homage to queer and feminist counterculture expressions. Exhibitions include recent solo projects at Kate Werble Gallery, New York; Knockdown Center, Brooklyn; and group shows at Cheim and Read Gallery, New York; Leslie-Lohman Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Hessel Museum of Art, Annandaleon-Hudson, New York; and DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts. Awards include a MacDowell Fellowship, Elizabeth Foundation Studio Intensive Program at Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Fire Island Artist Residency, SMFA Alumni Traveling Fellowship, Berkshire Taconic Fellowship, and an Elaine DeKooning Fellowship. Sparks holds an MFA from Bard College and a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston at Tufts University. Sparks
is an Associate Professor in painting at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn.
Fleming (they/them) is a queer multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of somatics, sound, politics, and new media. Throughout their multi-faceted practice they are exploring embodiment as a tool for collective liberation. In their immersive installations of expanded cinema, haptic components direct physical attention by means of vibrations, allowing the participant to move seamlessly through an expanding portal of digital reality while maintaining body awareness. In their live desktop performances, a guiding topic propels the viewer on a journey through a deep and eclectic media archive, illustrating political, emotional, and spiritual realities in the familiar intimacy of the personal screen, projected into the shared space. Collaboration and pedagogy are two important vectors of their practice, as a long term member of underground creative communities in which they are engaged in care work and organizing. They currently lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Ann Toebbe's (she/her) primary focus of her paintings is domestic life. Herprocess is labor intensive, employing freehand painting, flat geometry, geometric abstraction and intricate patterning. Her paintings are often multi-media works with furniture and objects collaged on the surface cut from paper the artist paints in her studio. Drawing on folk art and Indian Miniature paintings her compositions play with flatness and multiple points of views. Each painting can simultaneously have inside and outside views, views from above, and objects and figures portrayed from a straight on view.
Virginia Rose Torrence (she/ her) co-owns, operates, and teaches at Ceramics School with her partner and co-teacher Henry Crissman. The Ceramics School is a community ceramics studio and Artist Residency in Hamtramck, Michigan. Virginia’s art practice is sometimes making pottery, and sometimes making sculptures. She received her BFA in Craft/Ceramics from the College for Creative Studies (Detroit) and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University.
Falaks Vasa (they/she) works with a set of practices that move in and out of definition, but always through their body. Their practices span video, performance, fiber art, poetry, photography, 3D animation, stand-up comedy, and more. Falaks graduated with an MFA in Literary Arts from Brown University, and with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and currently teaches at Rhode Island School of Design as Lecturer and Critic. Falaks’s lived practice currently takes the roles of an artist, writer, and professor. As an artist, Falaks has attended residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture and ACRE, and shown their work internationally. As a poet and author of speculative fiction, her work has been published by Sybil Press and collected by the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection. As a professor, she enacts her pedagogy as creative practice, and has been awarded the Archambault Award for Teaching Excellence from Brown University. Falaks is from Kolkata, India.
Allison Wade (she/her) is a visual artist and educator whose practice is materialbased, intuitive, and formally focused. She combines ceramics, textiles, wood, and metal into unexpected arrangements that explore the intersection of flatness and form. Wade’s process, which she likens to syntax, is closely aligned with writing. Deploying an idiosyncratic visual language, she explores the structural and formal contingencies of her materials and sculptures. Wade received an MFA from the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a BA in English literature from Stanford University. She has been a visiting artist/ lecturer at Cranbrook Academy of Art’s Ceramics Department, Kansas City Art Institute, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Miami University, among others. Residencies include Ragdale, Loghaven, Watershed, OxBow School of Art & Artist Residency, ACRE, and the Vermont Studio Center, where she was supported by a John Mitchell Foundation Fellowship. Wade’s work has been shown internationally and nationally, notably at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and she is represented by Devening Projects. She is Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University.
Nate Watson is a visual artist and cultural organizer. Before pursuing his graduate degree at the California College of Arts, Nate received a BA in history from Centre College and was awarded grants from the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island Council For the Arts for his work investigating intersections between immigration, labor, and craft traditions. In 2012 Nate co-founded Light A Spark, a collaborative glass
focused arts program that provides rare opportunities and resources for youth in marginalized communities of San Francisco. Nate has lectured nationally and held teaching positions at San Francisco State University, The California College of Arts, and the University of Washington. Projects have been exhibited and supported by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wexner Center for the Arts, University of San Francisco Thacher Gallery, Berkeley Art Center, AnnaMaria and Stephen Kellen Gallery at Parsons School of Design, Southern Exposure Gallery, Chinese Cultural Center, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Tacoma Museum of Glass, The San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, and The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.
Oli Watt's (he/him) projects explore and undermine mass-produced but often unscrutinized objects and imagery that occupy a great portion of the shared urban and suburban American landscape. He currently serves as Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he teaches in the Printmedia Department. Oli has shown his work nationally and internationally including exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York; the International Center of Graphic Art, Slovenia, Michigan; La Band Art Gallery, Los Angeles; and Rocket Gallery, London. His work has been discussed in numerous publications including Art on Paper, Art US, the New Art Examiner and Village Voice. He runs a free range gallery and project space in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood.
Kaylee Rae Wyant (she/her) combines intuitive drawing with forms derived from nature and observation. Her paintings evolve from a backand-forth rhythm, blending quick, gestural mark-making and slow, thoughtful, composition. Wyant received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she is now an instructor in the Painting and Drawing department. She has exhibited work in galleries and project spaces across the US and in Europe including Real Tinsel Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco; Cleave Carney Art Gallery, Glen Ellyn, Illinois; SWDZ, Vienna, Austria; Comfort Station, Roots & Culture, and Julius Ceasar in Chicago, Illinois. From 20112023 she was the co-director of the artist-run gallery ADDS DONNA in Chicago.
bex ya yolk (they/them) is a visual artist, designer, book maker, and adjunct professor. yolk received a BFA in Graphic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts and an MFA in Visual Communication Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a full merit scholar. They have received grant endowment from the Atlanta Contemporary, Codex International Biennial Artists’ Book Fair and Symposium, the College Book Art Association, VCUarts Adjunct Faculty Research, and the Judith Alexander Foundation. yolk is currently a BOLT artist-in-residence at the Chicago Artist Coalition. yolk is the founder of an artists’ book bindery + publishing initiative––THUNGRY which focuses on disrupting what qualifies a Book, complicating traditional ways of book building + semantics through experimentation and queering praxis. THUNGRY explores historical research, sociology, and speculative theory into ‘the Maternal Complex’
made up of subgenres like care work, reproductive design, abortion access activism, reproductive justice and health care disparity, maternal identities, and the gestational state especially in queer folx exploring the intersectionalities between the Book + these kinds of bodies.
Molly Zuckerman-Hartung (she/her and they/them) attended the School of the Art Institute for graduate school. She is opening her attention to composting, depth psychology, differance, climate change, doppelgängers, permaculture, New England furniture, rural transfer stations, daily rhythm, the effects of soul lag on humans, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets, the color of sunlight through smoke from fires 3,000 miles away, and the emotional landscapes of the people around her. She has shown at The Blaffer Museum in Houston, TX, The MCA in Chicago, The Walker Art Center, and the 2014 Whitney Biennial. She is a frequent lecturer at schools across the country, including, Hunter College at CUNY, UCLA, The University of Ohio, Cranbrook, University of Alabama, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Low Residency Program, and Cornell College. Zuckerman-Hartung is represented by Corbett vs Dempsey in Chicago.
Anders Zanichkowsky (they/ them) is an artist, writer, and activist making work about grief, desire, and our longing for another world. They are equally at home in traditional craft and new media, working primarily in printmaking, textiles, video, and performance. Since 2021 their main studio practice has been the founding and running of their business, Burial Blankets, where they make handwoven shrouds for green burial meant for a
lifetime of enjoyment and reflection. Anders has been an artist-in-residence with The Arctic Circle sailing expedition in Svalbard, Røst AiR in Sápmi/Norway, and the Chicago Park District’s Cultural Asset Mapping Project. Their work has been exhibited across the United States, Europe, and Australia including the Wisconsin Film Festival, and featured in NewCity, the Chicago Sun Times, and on WBEZ. Awards for their research include a DCASE Individual Artist Grant, a SPARK grant from Chicago Artists Coalition, and a Temkin Award for their MFA thesis show You Are Running Into Danger. Anders has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from Hampshire College.
FULL CIRCLE
Year after year, participating artists return to campus to soak up another slice of summer at Ox-Bow. Meet a few of the faculty circling back this summer!
More often than not, when in conversation with Students, Faculty, and Artist (Residents & Visiting), I hear mention of their hopes to return to Ox-Bow. As the Engagement Liaison of Alumni efforts, this serves as music to my ears. It seems remarkably commonplace at Ox-Bow that an artist begins to chart their return to campus before they’ve even left. Ask a faculty member how long they’ve taught here, and the answer might very well be over a decade or they might tell you about their role last season as a Summer Fellow. The Summer 2025 faculty proves no exception to this tradition, many couldn’t even stay away for a single summer.
Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller
Brendan Fernandez
Performance artist Brendan Fernandez first came to Ox-Bow’s campus as a Visiting Artist in 2023. Since then, he’s staged two interactive dance routines inspired by Ox-Bow, one of which took place on the meadow for our Field of Vision: Summer of Love. This year, Fernandez returns to offer his first course on campus alongside creative collaborator Claire Staples. Learn more about their course “The Queer Body in the Landscape” on page 34.
Andrea Peterson
One of our most veteran faculty members, Andrea Peterson has taught at Ox-Bow for over two decades. Her papermaking course is highly immersed in the landscape, and students of Peterson often find themselves literally immersed in the Ox-Bow lagoon. As an expert in papermaking, Peterson also holds close ties to the Paper and Book Intensive (PBI), which has hosted its annual intensive on Ox-Bow’s campus nearly every year since 1997. Peterson brings the crowd favorite “Papermaking” course back to campus during Summer 2025. Learn more about the course on page 27.
Nance Klehm
A Visiting Artist during the summer of 2023, Nance Klehm brought new perspectives and insights to Ox-Bow during her time on campus. As a working ecologist, she paid special attention to the unique ecosystem that Ox-Bow positions itself in. “I really wanted to understand how the soils and plant communities transition between the lake and the river,” Klehm shared. The wetlands between the lagoon and lake especially fascinated Klehm for its undisturbed quality and unique plant communities. While on campus she also worked with the ceramics and glass studio; Klehm educated students on the geological history and soil composition of the materials they work with on a daily basis. Connecting to the material is core to Klehm’s own practice as an ecologist: “it’s a way for me to get grounded in a place,” she said. This summer, Klehm returns to teach Earth In Relation: Embodied Earthworks, learn more on page 32.
The Aguilars Ox-Bow’s campus holds a special place in the heart of artist and musician Madeleine Aguilar. She even wrote an EP about it. Its third track “summer 2020” recounts a family vacation to the deserted campus, which was closed during the first year of the pandemic. In the years following, both Madeleine and her father Alberto would return to campus in varying capacities. Following the family trend, Paolo Aguilar, younger brother of Madeleine, returned to spend part of his summer at Ox-Bow in 2024. He took the twoweek Blacksmithing course taught by Natalie Murray, which serendipitously coincided with Madeleine’s course. Once again, Madeleine Aguilar isn’t the only family member that will be on campus in 2025. Her father, Alberto Aguilar, will return to teach the Ox-Bow classic Party as Form.
The Aguilar family at the Crow’s Nest lookout. PHOTO
OUR TEAM OUR SUPPORTERS
OX-BOW BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Steven C. Meier, President
Scott Alfree
Evan Boris
Delinda Collier
Chris Craft
Chris Deam
Dawn Gavin
Keith Goad
Loring Randolph
jina valentine
Keith P. Walker
Shauna Wilson
OX-BOW TEAM: YEAR-ROUND STAFF
EXECUTIVE
Shannon R. Stratton Executive Director
DEVELOPMENT
Steven Berry Consulting Development Director
Molly Markow Grants & Relationships Manager
Kate Nguyen Community Engagement & Events Manager
FINANCE
Chris Kubik Consulting Business Manager
Karen Wentworth Bookkeeper
PROGRAMMING
Maddie Reyna Education Director
Bobby Gonzales Programs Manager
COMMUNICATIONS
Ashley Freeby Communications Director & Head Designer
Shanley Poole Engagement Liaison & Storyteller
Hannah Bugg Digital Communications Assistant
OX-BOW HOUSE
Maggie Bandstra Manager of Ox-Bow House
CAMPUS ADMIN
Claire Arctander Deputy Director of Campus Life & Operations
Rowan Leek Campus Manager
FACILITIES & GROUNDS
John Rossi
Facilities Manager
Aaron Whitfield
Housekeeping Manager
Please visit our website in May for a complete list of seasonal staff.
EFROYMSON FAMILY FUND This project was funded in part by a grant from the Efroymson Family Fund. The Efroymson Family Fund, a donor-advised fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, continues a long legacy of charitable commitment by the Efroymson family in central Indiana. The Efroymson Family Fund was established in 1998 by Dan and Lori Efroymson to promote the visibility of communities and to date has awarded more than $88 million in grants in central Indiana and beyond. We are grateful to the Efroymson Family Fund for their support of our Visiting Artists Program. For more information about the Efroymson Family Fund, visit: efroymsonfamilyfund.org
JOHN M. HARTIGAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR PAINTERS
John M. Hartigan was a life-long Chicagoan, an artist, a patron of the arts, and a dedicated family man. A gifted lawyer and an engaged community member, John was always interested in civic affairs, sitting on a number of Boards. Over the years he took courses at the School of the Art Institute, as well as Summer courses at Ox-Bow. John loved both the camaraderie and the artistic synergy of the campus. The Hartigan Endowment will be used to support the on-going education of artists-in-residence whose medium is acrylic and/or oil. This award is available to applicants for both the Summer and Fall Residency cycles.
