Living and Working as an Independent Artist

A goal for many artists, according to the Pittsburgh Public Art Counts! survey is to live and work as independent artists. For this last session of Public Art Training Camp multimedia artist, filmmaker, and engineer Mikael Owunna and fiber and social practice artist Aram Han Sifuentes will present on how they have developed sustainable and independent art practices. Their presentations will touch upon how they transitioned to becoming independent artists and their strategies for doing so. Following their presentations will be discussion with the audience. Participants are encouraged to bring questions.

About Mikael Owunna

Mikael Owunna is a Nigerian American multi-media artist, filmmaker, and engineer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Exploring the intersections of visual media with engineering, optics, Blackness, and African cosmologies, his work seeks to elucidate an emancipatory vision of possibility that pushes people beyond all boundaries, restrictions, and frontiers.

Owunna’s work has also been featured in media ranging from the New York Times to CNN, NPR, VICE, and The Guardian. He has been commissioned for major public art installations by organizations including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Foundation, Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, Pittsburgh International Airport, and Orange Barrel Media.

About Aram Han Sifuentes

Aram Han Sifuentes is a fiber and social practice artist who creates participatory projects that center immigrant and disenfranchised communities. Solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (Chicago), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago), Pulitzer Arts Foundation (St. Louis), moCa Cleveland (Cleveland), and Skirball Cultural Center (Los Angeles). Aram has received numerous awards including 3Arts Award, 3Arts Next Level Award, Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Map Fund, and Joyce Award. She is currently a professor, adjunct, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tickets

Individual tickets are Pay What You Can ranging from $12, $15, or $20.

This registration link will redirect you to Eventbrite where you will complete your registration.