Carolyn Sickles is a contemporary arts leader and artist living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As Executive Director of Tulsa Artist Fellowship, a cultural initiative of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, she supports a multidisciplinary community of creative practitioners and mobilizes diverse audiences with the transformative power of art. Her sculptural objects are site responsive, often identified by landscape interventions with fibers-based materials. Current investigations include the perception and negotiation surrounding uninhabitable territories; looking closely at dual sided adaptation; actions that echo a specific place; the subtle differences between identification, temporal marks, and imperfections; and how textual compositions can suggest transitory terrain.
Studio-based works have been exhibited at EFA Project Space and Abrons Arts Center (New York, NY), Brandt Gallery (Boston, MA), H&R Blockspace (Kansas City, MO), Living Room Gallery (Miami, FL), and Whitespace at The Mordes Collection (Palm Beach, FL). Select artist residencies include SHIFT Residency, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (New York, NY ) and Artists-in-Landscape Residency, Pine Jog Environmental Center (West Palm Beach, FL). Upcoming projects include an installation at Material Art Fair 2019 (Mexico City). She received a National Association of Women Artists Emerging Artist Award. Curatorial projects include Hidden in Plain Sight, Projekt722 (Brooklyn, NY), Paper Piracy, Northwood EG2 Gallery (Riviera Beach, FL), A Trump in the Dark, Armory Art Center & Trump International (West Palm Beach, FL).
As an independent educator, Carolyn has taught workshops for New Museum, Dia Art Foundation, Guggenheim Museum, Textile Arts Center, and e-flux; served as a visiting critic at NARS Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NURTUREart, The Wassaic Project, Residency Unlimited, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, Department of Art and Art Professions at New York University, and Hunter College at City University of New York; guest lectured for Teachers College Columbia University, The New School at Parsons School of Design, Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Development at New York University and University of Tulsa; and facilitated presentations at The Conference for Community Arts Education and New York City Museum Educators Roundtable (NYCMER) annual conferences.
Academic accomplishments include Carolyn receiving her MSEd in Museum Leadership at Bank Street Graduate School of Education and BFA in Sculpture, BA in Art History, and Certificate in Gender Studies while attending programs at Florida Atlantic University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Kansas City Art Institute. Previous arts leadership positions include Director of Visual Arts & Engagement at Abrons Arts Center (New York, NY) where programs received praise from The New York Times, Modern Painters, Village Voice, and PBS Art21.