I’m an artist, librarian, and educator who is committed to creative, liberatory practice. I do this work by exploring:

wondering as a way of knowing and being

listening and attention as embodied, relational, creative practices

drawing and photography as practices that prompt one to imagine other ways of being with the world

Photobooks

In my photographic work, I engage with environments by offering mindful attention, documenting sites that have been cared for or repaired. I photograph piles of snow, concrete repairs, salt stained pavements, and small worksites cordoned off by caution tape, traffic cones, and improvised barriers. All of these subjects reside at the intersection of the built environment, human-influenced climate, and maintenance work. Critically engaging with these forms and sites prompts me to wonder what is possible when we give sustained attention to geographic peripheries. Something as routine as a snow pile along the edge of a freshly shoveled sidewalk is a record of humans’ relationship with natural and built environments in the Anthropocene.

Teaching and Pedagogy

I am wondering: what becomes possible when we support people in developing a practice of questioning while examining the power structures that shape our imaginations? I am interested in how people express and respond to questions, conceptualizing themselves as thinkers in relation to one another. I aim to co-create environments with students where we support one another in developing reflective practices, practice sitting with uncertainty, transforming it into questions. We practice slowness and generosity in responding to one another’s questions through a variety of group and individual exercises involving writing, drawing, dialogue, and conceptual-arts-based activities. Here is an abbreviated syllabus.

In my library-based teaching, I have developed methods that I call “curated browsing.” I designed these methods to cultivate idea generation among students in need of paper topics and project ideas. Creative and scholarly thinking becomes more visible and accessible, and provides students, faculty and librarians with a structure in which to discuss and practice idea-generation. I describe these methods in detail in “Building a Pedagogy of Idea-Generation and Embodied Inquiry” for Art History Pedagogy & Practice. I presented on this work at the Annual Conference for the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS), April 2022, as a part of a session titled, “Imagination, Collaboration, and the Social Production of Knowledge.”

Collaborative Provocations

I cultivate creative modes of discovery and build environments for idea-generation, where uncertainty is welcome. Examples of my work in this area are I’m Wondering if You Can Help Me With Something and the discussion series, What Does it Mean to be Curious? In all of these projects, I co-construct generative spaces with my collaborators and participants. We help one another build foundational thinking that enables us to ask authentic questions and imagine new futures.

Curiosity Archive is a long-term project based in my relationship with my daughter. We document the questions she asks me, exploring the depths and boundaries of this intergenerational knowledge we create together.

Library

In my past role as Head Librarian at the Frick Fine Arts Library at the University of Pittsburgh, I led my team in cultivating engagement with arts collections through teaching, curriculum development, individual research support, exhibitions, acquisitions, digital projects, as well as core services that reflect a deep understanding of the needs of students, staff, and faculty. I value creative discovery, and center this in all aspects of my library work.