Beverly Naidus (born 1953) is an American artist, author and current faculty member of

University of Washington Tacoma The University of Washington Tacoma (UW Tacoma) is a campus of University of Washington in Tacoma, Washington. The UW Tacoma campus opened in leased space in 1990 and opened its permanent campus in 1997. History Following the establishment of T ...

. She is the author of several artist books including ''One Size Does Not Fit All'' (1993) and ''What Kinda Name is That?'' (1996) which has been discussed by academics in the field including Paul Von Blum,

Lucy R. Lippard Lucy Rowland Lippard (born April 14, 1937) is an American writer, art critic, activist, and curator. Lippard was among the first writers to argue for the " dematerialization" at work in conceptual art and was an early champion of feminist art. ...

and reviewed by contemporary journals. She has received multiple grants including the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist's Grant in Photography (2001) to fund her art creations and teaching. She was also a finalist in the Andy Warhol Foundation and Creative Capital's Art Writers Grant Program (2007). Her most recent book ''Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame'' (2009) is her personal pedagogy on teaching and creating socially engaged art. She also provides suggestions on engaging students in what is most important to them.

Life and career

Born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, Naidus grew up in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She completed her undergraduate degree in Studio Arts at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

in 1975, followed by a Master of Fine Arts degree in InterMedia Art from

Nova Scotia College of Art and Design NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design or NSCAD, is a public art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution that offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The uni ...

, Canada in 1978. Gaining recognition in New York City, Naidus has presented artwork across a wide platform, in the community, including city streets, subways and buses. For example, her artwork in "Subculture", curated by Group Material, was presented in the IRT Subways, NYC in 1983. Another piece "Not for Sale II", curated by PADD, was presented at the Lower East Side Streets, NYC in 1984. Her piece ''This is not a test'', was in the exhibition ''The End of the World: Contemporary Visions of the Apocalypse'' at the ''

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...

'' in 1983-1984 Naidus' teaching career started during her fellowship program at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. After being an educator at several museums in New York including the Jewish Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, she is currently a faculty member of the University of Washington, Tacoma and has created an interdisciplinary curriculum in art for social change and healing.

Topics of interest

Naidus is especially focused on environmental crises that create problems for humans. Her works address social issues such as racism, consumerism, body image, nuclear threats, cultural identity etc. One of her recent art projects, ''Eden Reframed,'' is an ecological and community art project on Vashon Island near Seattle, WA.

Selected works

* ''Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame.'' Oakland, CA: New Village, 2009. * ''What Kind of Name is That? A Bookwork.'' Venice, CA: Beverly Naidus, 1995. * ''One Size Does Not Fit All.'' Littleton, CO: Aigis, 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naidus, Beverly 1953 births Living people American women artists American art writers Jewish American artists Jewish American writers University of Washington faculty Carleton College alumni NSCAD University alumni American contemporary artists American women academics 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women