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Department of Art

Studio VU Lecture Series

The Vanderbilt University Department of Art annually invites national and international voices in  creative, curatorial and critical-thought fields to the Vanderbilt campus through the Studio VU Lecture series.  Each invited visiting lecturer has a recognized career in visual arts, performance art, art criticism and/or a combination of several. In addition to presenting a lecture, the visiting Studio VU speaker conducts one-on-one critiques with the Vanderbilt Department of Art senior major students.

The Studio VU Lecture Series began in 2007 and will open its 15th season beginning in Fall of 2021.

The Department of Art would like to thank all collaborators, cosponsors, and community (past and present) for their continued support for the Studio VU program.

All lectures are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted on promotional materials.

 Timeline Lecture Seasons

2021-2022

2020-2021

  • Cosmo Whyte
    • artist, Wednesday, March 17, 2021
  • Suzanne Lacy
    • artist, Wednesday, February 10, 2021
  • Liz Deshenes
    • artist, Thursday, October 1, 2020
  • Dawit L. Petros
    • artist, Wednesday, September 16, 2020

2019-2020

  • Nao Bustamante
    • artist, Wednesday, October 16, 2019
  • Amy Cutler
    • artist, Wednesday, November 6, 2019

2018-2019

2017-2018

  • Aki Sasamoto
  • Chloë Bass
  • Thenjiwe Nkosi
    • artist, January 10, 2018
    • cosponsored with The Africa at a Crossroads TIPs Program
    • in conjunction with Seed Space exhibition, The Beginning of Stories, December 2, 2017 – January 20, 2018
  • Ruth Erickson – Mannion Family Curator at Institute of Contemporary Art Boston
    • cosponsored with the Department of Theatre at Vanderbilt, the Cinema & Media Arts Program at Vanderbilt, The Ingram Commons, The Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery, and the Department of History of Art at Vanderbilt
    • in collaboration with the Chance Operations: Experiments in Art and Education at Black Mountain College (1933-1956) Symposium
    • in congestion with the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery exhibition, Looking Back (Looking Forward): The Black Mountain Experience, January 11 – March 2018.

2016-2017

  • Hrag Vartanian
    • editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic, October 26, 2016
  • Ian Berry – Dayton Director of The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College
    • curator, November 16, 2016
  • Regina Jose Galindo
    • artist, November 9, 2016
    • (cosponsored with the Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt and Space 204)
    • Communida, public performance, Vanderbilt Stadium, November 12, 2016
  • Pedro Barbeito
    • artist, February 8, 2017

2015-2016

  • Robert Todd
    • film maker and artist, November 18, 2015
  • Regina Agu
    • artist, January 20, 2016
  • Mahwish Chishty
    • artist, February 10, 2016
    • collaboration with The Red Arrow Gallery

2014-2015

  • Pablo Helguera
    • artist and writer, September 25, 2014
    • collaboration with the 42nd National Council of Arts Administrators Conference
  • Jon Rubin
    • artist, September 26, 2014
    • collaboration with the 42nd National Council of Arts Administrators Conference
  • Penelope Umbrico
    • artist, October 29, 2014
  • Phoenix Savage
    • artist, February 18, 2015

2013-2014

  • Leighton Pearce
    • experimental film maker, October 23, 2013
    • cosponsored with the Vanderbilt University Film Studies Program
  • Sanford Biggers
    • artist. November 20, 2013
    • cosponsored with The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center and the Program in African American & Diaspora Studies program at Vanderbilt.
  • Charles Long
    • artist, February 19, 2014
  • Lane Reylea
    • artist and art critic, March 19, 2014
    • cosponsored with the Vanderbilt University Department of History of Art

2012-2013

  • Antoni Muntadas
    • artist, October 27, 2012
  • Hung Liu
    • artist, September 19, 2012
  • Carrie Mae Weems
    • artist, September 22, 2012
    • in collaboration with The Frist Center for the Visual Arts
  • Obadike (M+K)
    • artist, March 20, 2013

2011-2012

  • Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
    • artist, October 10, 2011
    • public art installation, Imole Blue, Vanderbilt University.
  • Zineb Sedira
    • artist, November 3, 2011
  • Trenton Doyle Hancock
    • artist, February 22, 2012
  • Jens Hoffman

2010-2011

  • Barry McGee
    • artist, October 6, 2010
  • Dana Hoey
    • artist, November 3, 2010
  • The Art Guys
    • artist, January 26, 2011
  • The Yes Men
    • artists, March 16, 2011

2009-2010

  • Beth Cavener Stichter
    • artist, April 7, 2010
  • Oliver Hearing
  • Okay Mountain
    • artists, February 23, 2010
    • Mural installation in Rand Hall, Vanderbilt University

2008-2009

  • Michael Smith
    • performance and installation artist, October 1, 2008
  • Jules de Balincourt
    • artist, October 22, 2008
    • collaboration with the Fine Arts Gallery
  • Linda Weintraub
    • art critic and author, January 14, 2009
    • author of Art on the Edge and Over: Searching for Art’s Meaning in Contemporary Society 1970’s-1990’s
  • Enrique Chagoya
    • artist, February 18, 2009

2007-2008

  • Emma Amos
    •  artist, October 1, 2007
  • Teresa Hubbard & Alex Bircher
    • artist, January 30, 2008
    • cosponsored with the Film Studies Program at Vanderbilt (currently the Cinema & Media Arts Program at Vanderbilt)
  • Mark Dion
    • artist, February 27, 2008
  • Roger Shimomura
    • Artist, March 12 ,2008