News, April 7, 2026

Upcoming Events

Jordan Craig Talk: Swoon Artist-in-Resident

Monday, April 13th, 4:00 PM
Visual Arts Complex auditorium, 1B20 (lower-level)
Co-sponsored by the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies

Join us for a special talk with Jordan Ann Craig as she shares insights from her residency at Swoon Art House in Boulder.

Craig will speak about her experience during the residency, her creative process, and her journey as a Native artist. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation celebrating art, identity, and community.

Jordan Ann Craig is a Northern Cheyenne artist living and working in Pojoaque Valley, New Mexico. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received her B.A. from Dartmouth College. In 2017, Jordan was awarded the H. Allen Brooks Traveling Fellowship as well as the Eric and Barbara Dobkin Fellowship at the School for Advanced Research SAR). In 2019, Jordan was awarded artist residencies at the Institute for American Indian Arts (IAIA) and the Roswell Artist-in-Residence (RAiR) Program. Her work is shown nationally and internationally. Jordan is currently the Native Artist in Residency at Swoon Art House in Boulder, CO.

Art History Showcase

This exhibition celebrates the scholarship of Tylyn King (B.A. with Honors candidate), Bella Malherbe (M.A. candidate), and Felicity Wong (M.A. candidate).

Join us for the reception: Tuesday, April 14, 4:30-5:30pm, VAC 1st Floor Lobby

Refreshments will be served. All are welcome!

On view April 13 – 16, 2026.

Images (left to right): Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola, CAMOUFLAGE #077 (Franzia) (detail), 2021; Claudia Hermano, two to take my soul away (detail), 2024; Kent Monkman, The Deluge (detail), 2019.

Spring 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition: Group 2

Opening Reception: Friday, April 17, from 4-6 PM
Exhibition dates: April 18-May 2, 2026

Featured artists: Ethan Cherry, Brionna Garcia, Cal Young

CU Art Museum
Visual Arts Complex
Museum hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM-4 PM

Image: Ethan Cherry

Barbara Madsen: Visiting Artist Lecture Series

Monday, April 20th* at 4:00 PM
Visual Arts Complex Auditorium (lower-level 1B20)

*Please note the date of this lecture has changed!

Barbara Madsen is an artist and Professor at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Madsen’s practice is at the intersection of sculpture, prints, painting, ready-mades, and photography. Her vast collections of industrial matter -- spark plugs, machine parts, welding masks, light switches, rubber, plastic, prosthetics, artificial eyes, toys and much more – serve as the stimulus for the work. Her work is riddled with skeptical questions about society, civilization and collapse. Who is the Guardian and who is the Barbarian? Who enters the gate and who’s banned? She aims to lift the lid off canonical hierarchical art forms and queer space. Her work is an ever-evolving quest that picks out and unravels a new thread about greed and power to see how far she can push farcical realities from the primitive to the futuristic. Her explosive use of color is in the service of creating awkward, ridiculously sublime sculptures-works and installations that seem to infect, corrupt, and devour the universe. Yet, seeks joy and sustenance to find balance in an absurd world.

She has had solo exhitions the Blanc Gallery in NYC; Qi Fengge Musuem of Print History, Shenzen, China; MGalleries, NJ; New York Public Library, NYC; Scuola de Grafica, Venice, Italy; Sykes Gallery, PA; Lowry Lab Theater, MN; Palacky University, Czech Republic; Graphics Collective Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia; Recitation Gallery, DE; Pratt Studios Gallery, Brooklyn; Benedicta Art Center, MN; Sommers Gallery, MN; Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MN; and Tyler School of Art, PA, among others. Madsen has been included over 100 group exhibitions.

Black Queer Aesthetics: A Symposium

Tuesday, April 21, 2-4:30 pm

VAC 303

PRESENTERS

Wayne Thiebaud, Neapolitan Cupcake, 2009. Oil on cradled hardboard, 10 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches. Art © Estate of Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Art History Club

Please join the Art History Club for an End-of-Semester Social! Stop by for cupcakes, art history themed activities, conversation, and festivity. We hope to see you there!

Date: Thursday, April 23
Time: 2:00-4:00pm
Place: VAC 303

Questions? Please contact Christine Bachman: christine.bachman@colorado.edu

Image: Wayne Thiebaud, Neapolitan Cupcake, 2009. Oil on cradled hardboard, 10 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches. Art © Estate of Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Faculty News

Brianne Cohen, Associate Professor, Art History

Brianne Cohen's book Don't Look Away: Art, Nonviolence, and Preventive Publics in Contemporary Europe (Duke University, 2023) was a finalist for the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies through the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The description from their website states: "One of the preeminent prizes in European studies, and carrying an award of $10,000, the Laura Shannon Prize is awarded annually to the author of the best book in European studies that transcends a focus on any one country, state, or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole," and "the Laura Shannon Prize is recognized internationally as one of the leading book prizes in the field of European studies."

Kim Dickey, Professor, Art Practices

Exhibition Announcement:
And all the meadows wide

Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee Street, Denver
Exhibition on view: April 9-May 30, 2026

Opening reception: Thursday, April 9th, 6-8 PM

Megan O'Grady, Assistant Professor, Art Practices

O'Grady's book, How It Feels to Be Alive was listed as one of the New York Times most anticipated books for April.

New York Times New Books

Corrina Espinosa, Assistant Teaching Professor, Art Practices

Beamoca 2: Electric Boogaloo
Digital Art Exhibition
Facilitated by Corrina Espinosa

April 16, 7-9 PM
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th Street, Boulder

Free and open to the public

Department News & Announcements

The Cancer Journals Aloud

Friday, April 17th, 1:30-3PM

CU Art Museum

Join us at the CU Art Museum for a public reading of The Cancer Journals (1980) by Black, lesbian, warrior, mother, and poet, Audre Lorde, in conversation with Hollis Sigler's lithograph I Find Hope on the Horizons of my Tomorrows (1996). Following the event, the CU Art Museum will host a short reception in which participants may discuss the works while enjoying pastries and tea. This event is free, but we ask that interested persons RSVP online.

Art & Art History Department Graduation

Saturday, May 2, 2026 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Visual Arts Complex (VAC) Plaza
Reception will follow the ceremony from 2 - 3 p.m.

Contact: Jean Goldstein
No RSVP needed but if planning to join us come early to get a seat

Link to more information about the AAH recognition ceremony.

Monday coffee in the VRC

Stop by the VRC on Mondays between 10am and 3pm this semester for free coffee. Feel free to stay for a relaxing break with an art-themed jigsaw puzzle.

The Visual Resources Center offers images, imaging, and a gathering space. Room 310, Visual Arts Complex. www.colorado.edu/artandarthistory/vrc

Search

Other ways to search: