EDUCATION
2012 MA in Conflict and Resolution, Portland State University
2010 MFA Socially Engaged Art, Portland State University
2004 BA Participatory Community Development, Prescott College
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
2015 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Research Commission: Always Get On the Boat
2014 TED.com Global Fellowship
Southern Exposure Artist Commission, San Francisco
East Bay Fund for Artists, Oakland, CA
2013 Work MORE Artist Commission, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco
2013 Alternative Exposure Grant, Southern Exposure, San Francisco
2013 Individual Artist Project Grant, City of Oakland Funding Programs
PROJECTS & PRODUCTIONS
2015 You Make A Better Wall Than a Window, San Francisco, CA.
Produced, in partnership with Mills College and arts organization Southern Exposure, a performance and public installation about the public tidelands using simultaneous language translation receivers/headsets aboard a public ferry. The audience experienced the performance akin to a live, in-person radio show. This project also included the design and construction of a 20ft x 5ft neon billboard floated on boats in the bay and a website that brings to light the mismanagement of public trust lands in the bay.
2015 5th Avenue Open Studios, Oakland, CA.
This project was a response to displacement of a 60-year-old artist community on the Oakland Estuary due to commercial development. I brought together 30 elder sailors, mechanics, fabricators, painters, and new media artists to host a public art and performance event. Additionally, a photo-documentary book of the artist community will be produced. These strategic projects are targeting the mayor and city council of Oakland demanding the preservation of affordable art space in the rapidly gentrifying city.
2014 All These Darlings, San Francisco, CA
Created and produced a floating peepshow anchored in the San Francisco Bay comprised of 4 sailboats built into performance spaces for drag and sex shows. Supported by Southern Exposure, I curated and organized more than 25 performance artists, strippers, and drag queens, from two recently shuttered iconic queer businesses, The Lusty Lady and Esta Noche. And I brought in 5 boat captains to host more than 1000 people aboard their boats turn floating stage over the course of 4 nights.
2011 BOATEL, Queens, NY.
Created, founded and built a floating boat hotel and arts space made of refurbished salvaged vessels that hosted residents and art-goers for overnight visits and performances. Supported by NY’s Flux Factory, this project was an effort to reconnect New Yorkers to the waterfronts and urban waterways of their cities. I refurbished 6 pleasure crafts into individual floating hotel rooms and constructed a large floating performance platform and projection screen where dancing, lectures, and screenings took place on a nightly basis. The project hosted more than 5000 people over 3 months.
2011 Extremely Long Lecture, San Francisco, CA.
Built an installation of 3 large sailboats salvaged from the bottom of San Francisco Bay, cut into cross sections and mounted to the walls of the gallery—like ships barreling through the walls. This installation served as a performance space for my lecture on ocean crossings-- reflecting on the ownership of international waters through storytelling about human open-water journeys and the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.
2006-09 Swimming Cities + Rockaway Armada, Mississippi River, Hudson River, and the Adriatic Sea.
Captained a sculptural raft from Slovenia across the Adriatic, through the canals of Italy and crashed the Venice Biennale--in collaboration with the street artist Swoon, part of a traveling exhibition. In addition to captaining, over the course of the 4 year collaboration, I helped construct 4 sculptural art boats, as well as managed logistics, navigation, and safety for a crew ranging in size from 30-70 people.
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 A Cave Lecture; Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, CA
2012 Underwater Wrestling for Queers; INSTALL: WEHO, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Condensations; Smackmellon, New York, NY
The Making of a Gentle Person; Sea Change Gallery, Portland, OR
An Incomplete History of Rafts; Site Specific on Multnomah Channel, OR
Museum Museum, w/ Mark Dion; Portland State University, Portland, OR
Incidental Person; Apex Art, New York, NY
2009 Punkabestia; Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY
Shine A Light Symposium; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
From Portland With Love; Project Row Houses Para/site, Houston, TX
Swimming Cities Serrinesima w/ Swoon; Deitch Projects, Various Cities
Reply All; Autzen Gallery, Portland, OR
! The After Party; VIVO Media Arts Center, Vancouver, BC
SELECT LECTURES
2015
Tidelands; San Francisco, MoMA Meeting Points Speaker Series
2014
TED Global Conference; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Southern Exposure Artist Lecture; San Francisco, CA
2010
Guest Lecturer, Apex Art, New York, NY
Open Engagement Conference panel on: Implications of Socially Engaged Art
2009
Research Presenter, Encounters in the Socialverse, York University, Toronto
Panelist, Social Practice West, SF MoMA, San Francisco, CA
Invited speaker, with Harrell Fletcher, Camosun College, Victoria, BC
Invited speaker, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
Guest Lecturer, Zona Bandita, Venice, Italy
CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN
2015 Set construction for Yahoo.com TV; San Francisco, CA
2014 Commercial Remodel; Dreamers and Make Believers Salon, San Francisco, CA
2010 Commercial furniture design/installation; Arizmendi Bakery, San Francisco, CA