AUSTIN GARDNER
Artistic, Curatorial, & Educational Intentions
I am a multi-modal collage artist with a curatorial approach to gathering and arranging movement, sounds, textures, and images. I work across multiple mediums, including creative writing, photography, video, performance, ink, graphite, crayon, and markers, to create publications, short films, curated exhibitions, public programs, and more. I am particularly interested in exploring Afrofuturism, worldbuilding, identity development, belief system formation, and unrefined joy and pleasure through my work.
As an educator, I apply learner-centered pedagogy to create workshops, presentations, curriculum, and interactive making opportunities. Through these, learners explore the histories, contexts, methods, and concepts in the artwork and curated projects of myself and others. I then support them in harnessing art and creative expression to imagine their own alternative futures and build a better tomorrow.
As an artist, curator, and educator, I believe the intersection of these three lenses is important in creating art experiences and learning environments that inspire people to dream.
Education
2025 MSEd in Learning Sciences, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Evanston, IL
2023 Certificate in Museum Studies, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies, Chicago, IL
2020 BS in Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, School of Education and Social Policy, Evanston, IL
Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies
2026 Micro-Publishing Residency, Possible Worlds, Ottawa, Canada [August 20-26]
2025 Teacher Fellowship, Intuit Art Museum, Chicago, IL [Sept. 2025 - May 2026]
2021 Jordan Schnitzer Black Lives Matter Artist Grant, Jordan Schnitzer Foundation, Portland, OR
Exhibitions, Screenings, and Performances
2026 Teacher Fellowship Student Exhibition, Intuit Art Museum, Chicago, IL, Displaying Teacher/Artist (curated by Lisa Lindvay, COO and Director of Learning and Engagement, Intuit Art Museum, Chicago, IL)
2026 Friday Night Mass, Boyfriend Material at Charlie’s Chicago, Chicago, IL, Performer (curated by Pb, producer of Boyfriend Material, Charlie’s Chicago, Chicago, IL)
2025 The Super Magnus Pup, MIR International Rubber Weekend, Rosemont, IL, Performer
2024 Wearable Art and Kink, MIR International Rubber Weekend, Skokie, IL, Co-Curator (curated in collaboration with Rubber Riley, Curator, MIR Intl’ Rubber Weekend)
2024 Get Back, Spjork’s Circus at Nola Bar and Kitchen, Chicago, IL, Performer (curated by Spjork, producer of Spjork’s Circus, Chicago, IL)
2024 Reflection as Art Practice: A Performance and Workshop, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL, Displaying Artist, Performer, and Educator
2024 Who Will I Be, Spjork’s Circus at Ravens Room, Chicago, IL, Performer (curated by Spjork, producer of Spjork’s Circus, Chicago, IL)
2024 Friday Night Mass, Cage Fight at Charlie’s Chicago, Chicago, IL, Performer (curated by Matthew Cage, producer of Cage Fight, Charlie’s Chicago, Chicago, IL)
2023 Worldbuilding, and Kink, MIR International Rubber Weekend, Skokie, IL, Co-Curator (curated in collaboration with Rubber Riley, Curator, MIR Intl’ Rubber Weekend)
2023 Snow Stories, Queeriod at Charlie’s Chicago, Chicago, IL, Performer (curated by Luc Ami, producer of Queeriod, Charlie’s Chicago, Chicago, IL)
2022 Joy in Kink, MIR International Rubber Weekend, Chicago, IL, Co-Curator (curated in collaboration with Rubber Riley, Curator, MIR Intl’ Rubber Weekend)
2022 Juneteenth: Black Queer Futures, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL, Displaying Artist (curated by Kitty Rauth, Interim Executive Director, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL)
2022 Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Exhibition, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU, Portland, OR, Displaying Artist (jurors: Leroy E. Bynum, Jr., Dean of the College of the Arts, PSU; Lisa Jarrett, Assistant Professor, Art Practices, PSU; Ethan Johnson, Associate Professor and Department Chair, Black Studies, PSU; Arvie Smith, Portland-based Artist; and Master Artist Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr., MFA in Art and Social Practice, PSU)
2020 Friday Night Mass, B. Burlesque Blossoming and Blazing, Evanston, IL, (performance in collaboration with Izzy Dobbel)
2018 Documentary Filmmaking for Social Justice, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, Displaying Artist
Lectures, Presentations, and Workshops
2026 Worldbuilding, Creative Writing, and Kink Workshop, MIR Int’l Rubber Weekend, Chicago, IL, November Date TBD [Upcoming]
2025 Worldbuilding/Forming New Understandings of Pleasure and Intimacy through an Art & Reflection-Based Microworld, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, June 5th
2025 Learning through Affective, Afrofuturistic, & Time-Based Artwork, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy Masters Research Presentation, Evanston IL, June 3rd
2025 Guest Lecture “Analysis and Performance of Text,” Northwestern University Performance Studies, Evanston, IL, May 7th
2025 Worldbuilding and Kink Workshop, Austin Rubber Roundup, Austin, TX, Feb 22nd
2024 Reflection as Art Practice: A Performance and Workshop, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL, May 11th
2024 Guest Lecture “Embodying Home Through Reflection and Collage - a Presentation and Workshop,” Northwestern University Latinx Studies, Evanston, IL, May 7th
2024 Creative Writing Through a Black Queer Lens, Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL, Feb 7-8th
Relevant Professional Experience
2021 - Present, Program Assistant (Learning and Development Specialist), Northwestern University Multicultural Student Affairs, Evanston, IL
2022 - 2024, Art Exhibit Curator, MIR International Rubber Weekend, Chicago, IL
2019, Performance & Public Practice Intern, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL