I am an art enthusiast who believes that the creation of art and scholarship about art practice are crucial to connecting communities though critical thinking and dialogue. I currently live in Madison, Wisconsin where I am work as Programming and Community Engagement Coordinator at Overture Center for the Arts. In this role I manage three educational and community programs: Kids in the Rotunda, a free weekly performance series for families; the OnStage field trip series for PreK-12 students; and International Festival, a once yearly celebration of our local cultural diversity.
In May 2017 I completed a second masters degree in Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an emphasis on art librarianship. Through this program I learned to organize, locate and use information in all its forms. Part of my coursework included the Library & Information Literacy Instruction (LILI) program, which provided me with the opportunity to develop my teaching skills through assisting and teaching library instruction workshops to undergraduate students. During this program I also worked as a database intern for the City of Madison selecting and developing a digital collection management tool to make the public art collection more accessible.
My visual art research has explored public artwork and sites of art production that are immersed into the landscape. I have completed a historical analysis of the City of Madison art programs, and argued for the need for a percent for art ordinance. I have written on the site-specific sculptures of Nancy Holt, the immersive environments of James Turrell, and the picturesque works at Hic Terminus Haeret: The Garden of Daniel Spoerri. My thesis for the Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) explored the role of the past in the present through an investigation of the pedagogical institution Mildred's Lane in the upper Delaware River Valley of Pennsylvania.
Follow me on Instagram @meriroselee to see what I've been up to recently.