Christopher Robbins is an American artist that focuses his art practice in the realm of

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

and

social sculpture Social sculpture is a phrase used to describe an expanded concept of art that was invented by the artist and co-founder of the German Green Party, Joseph Beuys. Beuys created the term "social sculpture" to embody his understanding of art's potential ...

. Robbins works internationally, using physical and conversational processes to create interactions between strangers in order to build community and problem-solve.

Education

Robbins received a BA from The

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and attended

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

(RISD) and

Pratt Pratt is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: A–F * Abner Pratt (1801–1863), American diplomat, jurist, politician, lawyer * Al Pratt (baseball) (1847–1937), American baseball player * Andy Pratt (baseball) (bor ...

for his Masters.

Career

Robbins has also worked at RISD, as well as a volunteer for the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

and West Africa. He currently teaches at The

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was fo ...

as a Professor in the Visual Arts Conservatory.

Exhibitions

Christopher Robbins has exhibited at

Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center The Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center ( da, Nikolaj Kunsthal, formerly (from 2006 - 2010) ''Kunsthallen Nikolaj'' and (until 2006) ''Nikolaj Udstillingsbygning'') is an arts centre in Copenhagen which occupies the former St. Nicholas Church ( da, ...

, the

Queens Museum of Art The Queens Museum, formerly the Queens Museum of Art, is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States. The museum was founded in 1972, and has among its p ...

Eyebeam Art and Technology Center Eyebeam is a not-for-profit art and technology center in New York City, founded by John Seward Johnson III with co-founders David S. Johnson and Roderic R. Richardson. Originally conceived as a digital effects and coding atelier and center for ...

, CCS Bard, the Dumbo Arts Festival,

chashama ChaShaMa is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City. ChaShaMa nurtures artists by transforming unused property into affordable work and presentation space. __NOTOC__ Description Since being founded in 1995 by Anita Durst, daughter ...

20 West 53rd Street, and LAND/ART New Mexico. The Ghana Think Tank, which Robbins co-founded in 2006, has exhibited at the

Venice Biennale of Architecture Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...

, ZKM , Museum of Contemporary Art, New Museum Festival of Ideas, FACT - the Foundation for Arts and Creative Technology, Museum Arte Util, the

Shenzhen and Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

, the

Art Museum of the Americas Art Museum of the Americas (AMA), located in Washington, D.C., is the first art museum in the United States primarily devoted to exhibiting works of modern art, modern and contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean. The museum was forma ...

, and the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Organizations

As part of his art practice, Robbins has founded several organizations: In 2006, he co-founded the Ghana Think Tank, a growing network of think tanks from Ghana, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Iran, Afghanistan, Serbia and the US prison system, who work to solve problems in the “developed” world. While initially developed as an art project, the Ghana ThinkTank has begun to have influence outside the art world as well. In 2010, he founded WPA 2010 as a response to the US Government’s failure in the face of the 2008 economic crisis. WPA 2010 was a functional but illegitimate Work Projects Administration, in which US citizens took over the US Government’s WPA brand to pay unemployed people to complete public works projects.

Awards

Robbins has been awarded residencies/ fellowships from

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...

Skowhegan Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, commonly called "Haystack," is a craft school located at 89 Haystack School Drive on the coast of Deer Isle, Maine. History Haystack was founded in 1950 by a group of craft artists in the Belfast, Maine area, ...

Penland School of Crafts The Penland School of Craft ("Penland" and formerly "Penland School of Crafts") is an Arts and Crafts educational center located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, about 50 miles from Asheville. History The school was ...

and Anderson Ranch Arts Center. He has received grants/awards from the

Puffin Foundation The Puffin Foundation, established in 1983, is a non-profit organization that aims to amplify the voices of minorities who may underrepresented due to their race, gender, social philosophy, etc. The foundation achieves this mission of fostering ...

, CEC Arts Link, and the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996), ...

. The Ghana ThinkTank, which he co-founded in 2006, has won awards from

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

, Black Rock Arts Foundation, CEC Arts Link, and

Creative Time Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1974 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged artworks in the public realm, particularly in vacant spaces of historical and architectura ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Christopher American contemporary artists Living people 1973 births Rhode Island School of Design alumni University of Virginia alumni State University of New York at Purchase faculty