(updated Aug. 2023)
EDUCATION
2020 MFA, Art and Social Practice, Portland State University (PSU), Portland, OR
2008 Performance Studies, Graduate from the Goat Island Performance School, School of the Art
Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Chicago, IL
2006 Post Baccalaureate, Fiber and Material Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Chicago, IL
2004 BA, Studio Art, Macalester College, St Paul, MN
2002 Fine Art & Dance Studies, University of Ghana. Accra, Ghana, West Africa
COLLECTIVES AND LONG TERM PROJECTS
2022-pres Co-founder & Director, DeepTime Collective (www.deeptimecollective.com)
2021-pres Co-founder & Director, When the River Becomes a Cloud
(tiakramer.com/#/when-the-river-become-a-cloud/)
2020-pres Co-founder & Director, The Listeners Project: Queremos Escucharte (www.tlpww.org)
2020-2022 Co-founder, The Ships in the Night (www.theshipsinthenight.com)
2018-pres Founder & Director, Colectivo de Arte Social of Walla Walla Immigrants Rights Coalition
SOCIALLY ENGAGED & PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS
2023 We Have Songs To Sing: Collective Storytelling Walks co-authored with Colectivo de Art Social.
Walla Walla, WA. Social practice walking project hosted by the Walla Walla Public Library
2021 This Will Not Be Forgotten, co-authored with Colectivo de Art Social. Walla Walla, WA
Social practice project created with YWCA Survivors Group for Spanish speakers
2019 The Limitless Potential of Clay, Assembly 2019, East Portland, OR
Social practice project co-created with Eric Olson, Stefan Kovatchev, Artist Michael
Bernard Stevenson Jr., Zeph Fishlyn, Roz Crews, Amanda Leigh Evans, Artist Matoska
Hear Here, Walla Walla, co-authored with Colectivo de Art Social, Walla Walla, WA
Social practice project, story phone line and touring community installation
2018 Orbiting Together, Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, WA
Social practice project & performance series co-created w/ Eric Olson & Tamin Totzke
Sculptures for a Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle, WA
Social practice project co-created w/ Eric Olson
In Step, Assembly 2018 Assembly, Portland, OR
Social practice project created w/ Shoshana Guggenheim
Speaking, Speaker, Assembly 2018, Portland, OR
Social practice project created w/ Jessica Cerullo, Anke Scheuttler & artists at the
Columbia River Correctional Institution
2015 Legacy Assignment Series, The Project Room, Seattle, WA
Participatory event and workshops created in collaboration with Seattle artists
2012 Within Constructions, Women's Studio Workshop. Rosendale, NY
Participatory and interactive site specific installation
2006-2012 Unperformed Events, Chicago, IL and Seattle, WA
Intimate participatory public works installed throughout Chicago & Seattle
PERFORMANCES
2022 Embodying the River, Prescott PreK-12 School, Prescott, WA
Participatory performance created with Amanda Leigh Evans and 300+ members of
the Prescott School Community. Launch event for When The River Becomes a Cloud
Four Beacons, La Grua Art Center, Stonington, CT
Performative lecture and participatory event created with The Ships In The Night co-authors
Some Stranger Somewhere, Online, hosted by International Michael Chekhov Association
Participatory performance featuring The Ships In The Night project
2021 What You Touch You Cannot See: Performance for Phil, Walla Walla, WA
Performance from the For You (and Us), Performance Series for an Audience of One
2020 Three Larks: Performance for Laurie, Whitman College Spring Studio Series, Walla Walla, WA
For You (and Us), Performance series, co-authored w/ Katherine Padberg
2019 At Dusk We Walk Home Together: Performance for Guillermo, Walla Walla, WA
For You (and Us), Performance series, co-authored with Sabina Rogers
2018 Because You Are Here, Harper Joy Theatre, Whitman College. Walla Walla, WA
Devised black box theatre production ideated and directed w/ Jessica Cerullo
2017 Each Other, MadArt Studio. Seattle, WA
Performance & open rehearsal series choreographed w/ Tamin Totzke
2015 Study of Time and Motion, Site-specific performance series featuring three separate works
Connect/Reposition, Georgetown Steam Plant. Seattle, WA
Immersive final performance co-authored w/ Tamin Totzke
Connect/Reposition (durational performance), Georgetown Steam Plant, Seattle, WA
Interactive durational group performance co-authored w/ Tamin Totzke
Rest/Forward, T108 Park, Duwamish River. Seattle, WA
Interactive durational group performance co-authored w/ Tamin Totzke
2014 Five Silent Structures, Fort Lawton. Seattle WA. Public group performance
2007-2008 Ritual, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Solo site-specific performance
2008 Lima, Mike, November, Goat Island Institute. Chicago, IL. Solo performance
Streamline for Victory, Goat Island Symposium. Chicago, IL. Collaborative group performance
Bureaucracy & Bliss, McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Group Performance
2007 Embedded Thread, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Solo Performance
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024-2025 When The River Becomes a Cloud, Eastern Washington University Gallery of Art, Cheney, WA
2022-2024 Roots of Resistance, Participatory touring exhibit traveling to high schools across North Carolina
(Curators: Anne Parsons & Adam Carlin)
2023 Failure, Vestibule Gallery, Seattle, WA
2017 How Can We Work Better Together, AB Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
2016 Six Weeks, In Time, Henry Art Gallery. Seattle, WA (Curator: Nina Bozicnik)
2015 Xenia, Inhabitable exhibition, Seattle, WA (Curator: Rob Rhee)
Function, North Seattle College Gallery, Seattle, WA (Curator: Amanda Knowles)
2014 Lo-Fi Arts Festival//Ad Hoc, Smoke Farm, Arlington, WA
It is a Door and Window that Make a Room Useful, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Opaque Quiet, MAAG Exhibition, McMurdo Station, Antarctica
2006 Last Stand, G2 and Project Space, Chicago, IL
Contingere, SAIC Sharp Building, Chicago, IL
Habituating, G2 and Project Space, Chicago, IL
GRANTS, AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
2023-2025 ArtWA, Arts in Education (AIE) Grant, for When the River Becomes a Cloud ($25,500)
2023-2024 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grant for Artist Project, for Deep Time Collective Project at
Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY ($15,000)
2022-2023 SEL in Action, Social Emotional Learning Grant, for When the River Becomes a Cloud ($27,000)
Sherwood Trust Impact Grant, for Queremos Escucharte ($12,000)
2020-2021 Washington State Library Digital Heritage Grant, for Queremos Escucharte ($10,000)
2018-2021 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grants, for Queremos Escucharte ($15,000)
2020 Walla Walla Immigrant Rights Coalition Project Grant, for Queremos Escucharte ($5,000)
2017-2020 Laurels Fellowship for Community Commitment ($10,000)
2018 Eichholz Foundation Grant, for Orbiting Together ($3,500)
2017 COTA Fellowship School of Art & Design Graduate Studies Award (tuition remission)
Simon Benson Award ($1,000)
2016 Artist Trust Gap Grant, Project Award, for Silent Structures ($1,500)
2015 4CULTURE Historic Site Specific Grant, for Study of Time and Motion ($15,000)
Duwamish Revealed Artist Grant, for Study of Time and Motion ($10,000)
2014 City Arts Award, for Study of Interiors
2011 Emerging Artist of Distinction/ Philadelphia Museum Craft Show
Artist in Excellence Award, Bellevue Arts Museum
2005-2006 Presidential Scholar, SAIC Department of Fiber and Material Studies (full tuition remission)
2004 Highest Academic Honors, Macalester College
2003-2004 Keck Research + Public Art Fellowship, Macalester College ($5,000)
SELECTED PRESS
2022 Shelia Hager, “Massive, immersive art project incorporated every student in Prescott School District,”
Walla Walla Union Bulletin, June 19, 2022
Melissa Perez, “A Sense of Unexpectedness: An Interview with Tia Kramer” Social Forms of Art Journal (SOFA), Fall
2022 Marissa Tomero, “The Michael Chekhov Association to Stage Some Stranger Somewhere,”
Broadway World, March 22
2019 Elissa Favero, “Tethers” Social Forms of Art Journal (SOFA), Winter 2019
2018 Chelsea Werner-Jatzke, “Encountered in Orbit,” SAM BLOG (Seattle Art Museum blog), February 21, 2018
2017 Elissa Favero, “Stepping, In Time,” Critical Reads. November 16, 2017
2015 Maureen O’Hagan, “Tour an Electrrical Time Machine: The Georgetown Steam Plant,”
Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Magazine. May 14, 2015
Mara Silvers, “CONNECT/REPOSITION: Dancers Take Over the Georgetown Steam Plant,”
Seattle Weekly. November 11, 2015
2014 Jen Graves, “The Empty, Locked Buildings on Magnolia Bluff,” SLOG (Blog), August 29, 2014.
SELECTED WRITING & PUBLISHED WORK
2022 Tia Kramer, Jessica Cerullo and Lisa Birman, “Some Stranger Somewhere,” Light Rail Press, CT
Tia Kramer, “What You Touch You Cannot See: Performance for Phil,” Outlet PDX, Portland, OR
2020 Tia Kramer and Sabina Rogers, “For You (and Us),” Outlet PDX, Portland, OR
Tia Kramer and Sabina Rogers, “At Dusk We Walk Home Together: Performance for Guillermo.”
Outlet PDX. Portland, OR
2020 Tia Kramer and Sabina Rogers, “ASSEMBLY 2020,” book published by the PSU Art and Social
Practice MFA Program
2019 Tia Kramer, “Create More Space Than You Take Up: An Interview with Maria del Carmen Montoya,”
Social Forms of Art Journal (SOFA), Winter 2019
Tia Kramer, “Physical Acts for the Imagination,” Social Forms of Art Journal (SOFA). Spring 2019
LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS & FACILITATION
2023 Listening Session, “Walking Stories, Embodied Education: Counterstories of the Walla Walla Valley,” Oral History
Association, Baltimore, MD
2022 Panel, “Unpacking Socially Engaged Projects in Rural Communities,” Portland State University
MFA Art & Social Practice Program Site Visit, Walla Walla, WA
Discussion, “Collaborative Projects with Youth,” SEL in Action Conference, Albuquerque, NM
2021 Lecture, “Queremos Escucharte: Peoples’ History in Community,” Whitman College
Anthropology Department, Walla Walla, WA
Panel, “Socially Engaged Artist Residencies,” Radically Rural Conference, Keene, NH
2020 Online Artist Talk, “A Social Practice with Artist Tia Kramer /Una práctica social con la artista Tia Kramer,”
Walla Walla Public Library, Walla, Walla, WA
2018 Presenter, “Artists’ Needs Statewide,” Washington Cultural Congress, Ellensburg, WA
2017 Artist Talk, “Approaching Proximity: Performing Efficiency,” Whitman College Art Department, Walla Walla, WA
2016 Artist Talk, “Performing in Community,” University of Washington, School of Art, Art History & Design, Seattle, WA
2014 Panel, “Performing the City” Creative Time Summit Live Screening. Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
RESIDENCIES & INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS
2023-2024 One Year Artist Residency, Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY (Jun 2023-Jun 2024)
2022 Residency, Stonington Historical Society, New London County, CT. (Mar-Jun)
2021-pres Long-Term Residency, Rural Arts Initiative at Prescott School, Prescott, WA. (Dec 2021-present)
2020 Intensive Workshop with Maria del Carmen Montoya (Ghana Think Tank), Portland, OR (Apr 4-6)
Residency, Whitman College Department of Dance & Theater, Walla Walla, WA. (Feb-Mar)
Intensive Workshops with Sarah Loose and Fanny May, Walla Walla, WA (Feb 17-20 & Nov 17)
2019 Intensive Workshop with Chloe Bass, Portland, OR. (Feb 21-22)
Intensive Workshop with Amy Franceschini (Future Farmers), Portland, OR (Feb 12-14)
2019-2020 Long-Term Residency, Artist Residency in Motherhood, mentor Lenka Clayton (Sep 2019-Oct 2020)
2018 Intensive Workshop with Lenka Clayton, Portland, OR. (Apr 18-21)
Online Workshop with Caroline Woolard (Nov 1)
2016-2017 Residency, MADART, Seattle, WA (Oct 2016 - Jan 2017)
2014 Residency, Smoke Farm Artist Residency, Darrington, WA (Jun)
2012-2013 Residencies, Libby Central High School, Libby, MT (Feb-May 2012 & Jan-Feb 2013)
2012 Residencies, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY (May-Jun 2012 & Nov 2012)
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2015 The Project Room, Seattle WA
Curated interdisciplinary projects that inform our understanding of creativity in contemporary life
2014 It is a Door and Window that make a Room Useful, SOIL Gallery, Seattle WA
Curated exhibition of craft practices that meditate on the everyday w/ Venetia Dale
Inside, Seattle American Institute of Architects Gallery, Seattle, WA
Curated exhibition of works inspired by interior spaces, containers and vessels
2013 Seaworthy Art Center, co-founded w/ Devon Midori Hale & Eric J. Olson, Seattle, WA
Curated events & exhibits that support social engagement and experimentation
2011 Exhibition in Motion: Objects Performed, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
Co-curated & directed a performance w/ Stefano Catalani, Venetia Dale & Amelia Reeber
BOARD & COOPERATIVE SERVICE WORK
2021-present Carnegie Picture Lab, Walla Walla, WA
Board of Directors, Executive Committee (2023-present)
Board of Directors, Development Committee (2021-present)
2019-present City of Walla Walla Arts Commission, Walla Walla, WA
Chairperson (2021-present)
2018-2019 Commitment to Community (C2C), Walla Walla, WA
Advisory Board
2017-present Walla Walla Immigrant Rights Coalition, Walla Walla, WA
Coordinating Committee (2020-2022)
Rapid Response Committee (2017-2021)
Media & Messaging Committee (2017-present)
2018 Washington State Penitentiary, Prison Sangha, Walla Walla, WA
Educator in Medium and Minimum Security
TEACHING & MENTORSHIP
2023 Instructor, Portland State University School of Art & Design, Portland, OR
Taught Ideation Course in the Art Department CORE Foundations Program
2022 Visiting Artist, Whitman College Art Department, Walla Walla, WA
“Morning Monuments” Workshop with Art & Social Practice Course
Visiting Artist, Portland State University School of Art & Design, Portland, OR
“Performance & the Ethics of Care,” Online Workshop & Artist Talk in Space Course
Undergraduate Thesis Advisor, Whitman College Art Department, Walla Walla, WA
Advised graduating senior art major (painting, social practice, installation)
2021-pres Instructor, Prescott School as part of When the River Becomes a Cloud project. Prescott, WA
2020-pres Guest Lecturer & Mentor, Whitman College and Northwest Archives, Walla Walla, WA
Teach ongoing workshops on socially engaged art and oral history
Mentor project interns for The Listeners Project: Queremos Escucharte
2018 Instructor, Whitman College, Department of Theatre & Dance. Walla Walla, WA
Co-taught Devised Theatre & Socially Engaged Art Course with Jessica Cerullo
Undergraduate Thesis Advisor, Whitman College, Department of Theatre & Dance. Walla, WA
Advised two graduating theatre majors (theater, socially engaged performance)
Guest Lecturer, Whitman College, Department of Theatre & Dance. Walla Walla, WA
“Socially Engaged Art Intensive,” Workshop in Theatre & Performance Theory Course.
Visiting Artist, Living School of Art. Portland, OR
“Manifesting the Impossible,” Movement Workshop presented at Superhero College
2017 Visiting Artist, Whitman College, Art Department. Walla Walla, WA
Senior Seminar lecturer & individual critiques for graduating seniors
2016 Visiting Artist, University of Washington, School of Art, Art History & Design, Seattle, WA
“Participatory Performance & Socially Engaged Practices,” Workshop in Interdisciplinary
Art Course
2010-2015 Instructor, Adult and Teen Programs. Pratt Fine Arts Center. Seattle, WA
Courses taught: Jewelry Techniques for Sculpture, Mastering Wire & 3D Drawing
2014 Practicum Instructor, Cornish College of the Arts Materials Lab, Seattle, WA
Visiting Artist, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Metals Department, Boston, MA
“Translation & Accumulation: Adapting Conceptual Fibers Processes for Metal,”
Workshop in Fibers Processes for Metals Course
2012-2013 Instructor, Libby Central Alternative High School, Libby, MT
Courses taught; Contemporary Art History, Performance & Sculptural Wire
2007 Guest Instructor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fibers Department, Chicago, IL
“Sculptural manipulation techniques for handmade paper,” Workshop in Permeable
Membranes Course
2005 Guest Instructor, Macalester College, Department of Art, St. Paul, MN
“Beginning & Advanced Book Arts” Intensives and “Historical & Conceptual Book Arts”
Lectures in Beginning and Advanced Fibers Courses
RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022-pres Outreach Specialist, Walla Walla Immigrant Rights Coalition (WWIRC,) Walla Walla, WA
Director of the Colectivo de Art Social and coordinator for general WWIRC outreach
Facilitate and advocate for ongoing WWIRC funding with Board of Directors
Consultant and Facilitator, Emerging Bilingual Collaborative
Develop and facilitate a network hub for higher education institutions, and district
and local community offices of education in California’s Central Valley and LAUSD
Advocate for teacher training pipelines that center and elevate multilingual learners
2019 Pedagogy Research Assistant, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Devised somatic and participatory curriculum for students in the School of Art & Design
Core Program
2015 Director, The Project Room, Seattle, WA
Managed public events programming, produced literary journal, created monthly podcasts.
2012-2015 Independent Artist Consultant, Seattle, WA
Advised working artists on business strategy, long term development, PR & finances
2012-2014 Business Manager & Programs Assistant, The Project Room, Seattle, WA
Managed finances, facilitated organizational outreach/marketing & assisted event planning
2004-2018 Founder & Designer, Tia Kramer, LLC. (tiakramerjewelry.com)
Designed & produced contemporary jewelry exhibited at museums & galleries
Internationally including SFMOMA, The Getty & Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago
Managed three interns and produced unique collections for up to 30 galleries a year.