Faythe Levine
FAYTHE LEVINE
b. 1977
Minneapolis, MN
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Arts/Industry Program Director
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan WI, 2017 – Current
Responsible for the development and administration of the Arts/Industry program founded in 1974 that currently hosts 12 international artists annually. Job duties include acting as a liaison between the Arts Center, Kohler Co. corporate management and factory production facilities where the artist studios are situated, managing departmental team members, managing onboarding new residents including travel and contracts, curating related exhibitions, writing exhibition copy and marketing plans, developing and executing annual resident applications and jury process, and managing annual budget.
Additionally, the director position includes overseeing any special departmental projects. During my tenure, this included the successful management of the production, budget and installation of the artist-designed-washrooms (2018-2021) produced within the Kohler Co. Arts/Industry factory studios and installed at the Art Preserve, the new home for the JMKAC collection of artist-built environments opening in June 2021.
Exhibitions:
2021 TBD: Woody de Othello
2020 Tokens of Appreciation: Personal collection of “Brass” Bob Halfmann and works from the Arts Center’s Arts/Industry collection
2019 Beauty Surplus: Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels
Collection Highlights: Yoko Sekino-Bove
2018 Dark Matter: Joel Otterson
Mary Nohl and the Walrus Club: Cecelia Condit, Sheila Held, Robin Jebavy, Anne Kingsbury, Sarah Luther, Kim Miller, Maggie Sasso, and Sonja Thomsen, and works by Mary Nohl from the Arts Center’s collection
Tale of Two: Iris Haussler
Artists-in-Residence:
2021 Raven Halfmoon, Rebecca Belmore & Osvaldo Yero, Ryan Scalis, Daniel Baird, Rosemarie Fiore, Harold Mendez, Emily Duke
2020 Kate Klingbeil, Woody De Othello, Martha Poggioli, Mimi Jung, Alex Lukas
2019 Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Serra Victoria Fels, Nicki Green, Kim Faler, Bobbi Meier, Talia Mukmel, Yumiko Ono, Angie Piehl, Julia Randall, Yasmin Spiro
2019 Art Preserve Washroom Commission (in addition to our residency program): Beth Lipman, Michelle Grabner, Joy Feasley and Paul Swenbeck.
2018 Andrea Chung, Lauren DiCioccio, Yuni Kim-Lang, Jayden Moore, Rebecca Morgan, Joel Otterson, Will Pergl, Risa Puno, kenya robinson, Soo Shin, Fo Wilson, Saya Woolfalk
Independent Curator
2008 – Current
Select Exhibitions:
2020 Living Within the Play, Poor Farm, Manawa, WI – Cancelled due to Covid
2019 Ruffles, Repair & Ritual: Aay Preston-Myint, Chris E. Vargas, Corinne Teed, E.T. Russian, JR Uretsky, Kate Klingbeil, Macon Reed, Monica Canilao, Xara Thustra, Edie Fake, among others, Wedding Cake House Project, Providence, RI
2017 For Hire: Contemporary Sign Painting in America: Remy Chwae, Forrest Wozniak, Ira Coyne, Norma Jeanne Maloney, Shelby Rodeffer, among others, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
2016 Counter Craft: Voices of the Indie Craft Community: Elaine Bay, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, Tracy Bull, Liz Collins, Betsy Greer, Heidi Kenney, Xander Marro, New Craft Artists in Action, Erin Riley, and Caitlin Rose Sweet, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
2008 Craftivism, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Lawton Gallery, Green Bay, WI
Gallerist
Sky High Gallery, Milwaukee WI, 2010 – 2014
Responsible for 4-6 exhibitions annually. Duties included working intimately with artists to realized exhibition goals, managing exhibition budgets, arranging travel and marketing, buying and merchandising for annual holiday retail pop up that focused on artist made goods. Developed and oversaw the Temporary Mural Project (2012 – 2014), a community outreach program collaborating with local artists in public space.
Exhibitions:
2014 Crystal Cavern: Serra Bothwell Fels
2013 Experience in the 22nd Dimension: Corrine Loperfido
Getting by in the Foreverscape: Colin Matthes
Out of the Wild: Cassandra Smith
2012 When To Say Nothing: Daniel Arnold
The Bricks are Dipped in Marble Dust: Makeal Flaminni
2011 What’s Lost Is Safe: Monica Canilao
Jail Bait: Erin M. Riley
Self-titled: Stacey Rozich
Healers: Katy Horan
Lend Us Your Everything: Sofia Arnold
The Things They Do: Catherine Ryan
Director
Art vs Craft, Milwaukee WI, 2004 – 2014
Founder of Milwaukee’s first artist forward shopping experience focusing on artist made objects and promoting the importance of handmade. Responsible for overseeing the application process, marketing and branding of the event, and production elements of the show including location scouting, volunteer sign up, local sponsorships and media endorsements. The event drew 5000 unique visitors each year and received national attention.
Gallerist
Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery, Milwaukee WI, 2005 – 2009
Responsible for retail and curatorial duties including managing a consignment roster of over 150 national artists in our retail space focusing on jewelry, housewares, clothing, and stationery. Curatorial duties included selecting artists for 6-8 exhibitions annually, managing artists’ budgets, travel, marketing and press for events.
Exhibitions:
2009 Bullies: Mica O’Herlihy
2008 Self-titled: Erin Rosenthal & Leif Goldberg
Sunset Scavengers: Bill Daniels
Life in Wondermountin: Lisa Congdon
2007 Bed of Knives, Xander Marro
Self-titled: Michelle Blade
Self-titled: Diem Chao
The Roots The Shit: Monica Canilao & Mike Brodie “aka the polaroid kid”
Asteroids & Prayer Beads: Veronica de Jesus
The New Witch: group exhibition
Grey Matter, Stephanie Syjuco
2006 Self-titled: Keith Shore
Self-titled: Merrilee Challiss
2005 Queen of Hearts: group exhibition
Self-titled: Jenny Hart
Designer
Flying Fish Design, 2001 – 2007
Flying Fish design was an independently produced line of handmade goods ranging from accessories, plush objects and stationary that grew from a hobby to a full time job for 4 years. Responsible for all design work, material sourcing, pattern cutting, production and wholesale accounts to 30+ retailers. Managed a small team of seasonal help, marketing, and online sales in addition to traveling to 10+ national craft fairs annually.
FILMS | VIDEOS
2015 Love Under the Will of Hags of Longtoooth by Mica O’Herlihy; producer, analogue rotoscopic animation, hand inked using SUM-E brushwork, 3 minutes
2013 Sign Painters, co-director/producer, documentary, 80 minutes; color
2012 Family Band, art director, music video
2011 Cave Singers, production designer, music video; Jagjaguwar Records
2010 Decibully, production designer, music video;Polyvinyl Records
2009 Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft and Design, director/producer, documentary, 60 minutes; color
BOOKS | PUBLICATIONS
2016 Bar Dykes, collaboration with Merril Mushroom, Pegacorn Press, sixth edition 2020
2012 Sign Painters, Co-author, Princeton Architectural Press, second edition 2013
Have You Any Provision For the Journey, Hamburger Eyes
2008 Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft and Design, Co-author, Princeton
Architectural Press, second edition 2009
ADDITIONAL PUBLISHED WORK
2021 Art Preserve Reader, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, catalog contribution
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L Nohl Fellowship for Individual Artists Catalog, artist essay
2020 BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, Hilowbrow.com, essay
2019 Monograph; Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Volume #33
2013 Crafting a Continuum: Rethinking Contemporary Craft, published by Arizona State University Art Museum and the Windgate Charitable Foundation, essay
2012 Handmade Holiday Cards from 20th-Century Artists by Mary Savig, published by Smithsonian Books, foreword
2011 Craft Activism: People, Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade by Joan Tapper, published by Potter Craft, foreword
Erin Riley, FiberArts Magazine, print article
Small Offerings: Canang Sari, HandEye Magazine, print article
2010 Indie Craft by Jo Waterhouse, published by Laurence King Publishing, foreword
2009 Let Me Tell You About A Dream I Had by the Miss Rockaway Armada, published by The Philadelphia Art Alliance, essay
LECTURES | SCREENINGS | RESIDENCIES | WORKSHOPS
PROGRAMING DETAILS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
2021 Virgin Commonwealth University School of the Arts, Richmond, VA
Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
2020 Mt. Royal Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Arts at MICA, Baltimore, MD
Tyler’s Fibers & Material Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Milwaukee School of Art and Design + 2019, 2015, Milwaukee, WI
2019 Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
Lawrence University, Appleton, WI
UW Madison-Wisconsin Art Department + 2015, 2009
2018 Sculpture Milwaukee, WI
Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
ACRE Residency + 2016, Wisconsin
2017 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts + 2016, Deer Isle, ME
AIR Teaching Residency, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
2016 Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Brooklyn Art Museum, NY
2015 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
2014 Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum + 2011, Washington DC
Portland State University, Portland, OR
TYPO International Design Talks, San Francisco, CA
Dundee Contemporary Art, Dundee Scotland + 2011
2013 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Artist Now Lecture Series
Emerging Designers Symposium AIGA Design Conference, San Francisco, CA
Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden
National Swedish Handicraft Council, Stockholm, Sweden
Dundee Contemporary Art, Dundee, Scotland
Alaska Design Forum, Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage, AK
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA
2012 Surface Design Association Conference, Minneapolis, MN
The New Apprenticeship Project Craft Think Tank, Center for Craft, Asheville, NC
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Bellevue Arts Museum, WA
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, TX
2011 Patravadi Theatre, Bangkok, Thailand
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR
American Craft Council Conference, Minneapolis, MN
2010 School of Design and Craft, Göteborg University, Sweden
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL
Craft Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Savannah College of Art and Design, SCAD Style, GA
IFP's Producers Series-Focus on Documentaries, Chicago, IL
Columbia College Chicago, Cultural Studies Colloquium, IL
2009 The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council & New Hazlett Theater, PA
AIR Teaching Residency, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
SELECT ARTIST EXHIBITIONS
2018 Nohl @ 15, Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI
2017 Folk & Fable: Levi Fisher Ames & Albert Zahn, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan WI
2015 Alchemy, Inner State Gallery, Detroit MI
Alien She, traveling exhibition 2013 – 2015, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach CA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco CA, Vox Populi, Philadelphia PA, Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University
2012 Sleeping Inside our Bodies, Union Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Craftwerk 2.0, Jönköpings läns Museum, Jönköping, Sweden
Mary L. Nohl Fellowship established artist exhibition, INOVA Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
2011 Connecting Communities Collaboration DIY, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, WI
2010 IN:SITE Temporary Public Art Project, Milwaukee, WI
Pass It On: Connecting Contemporary Do-It-Yourself Culture, A + D Gallery, Chicago, IL
2009 Mary L. Nohl Fellowship emerging artist exhibition, INOVA Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
COLLECTIONS
2018 Bar Dykes, Whitney Museum of American Art Special Collections, New York, NY
Craftifesto, silk-screened edition of 100, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
2011 Handmade Nation production archive, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR
Handmade Nation transcripts, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, permanent core collection, Los Angeles, CA
AWARDS | ACHIEVEMENTS
2020 Historic Preservation Committee Chair, Sheboygan Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Initiative.
2019 Active board Member, Moonlight Retreat, Wisconsin
Fosters camaraderie, the arts, play, experiential learning, and a deeper connection with nature, for artists and non-artists alike, within an accessible, inclusive summer camp environment.
2012 Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists, Established Artist
2011 Center for Craft Creativity and Design, Center Craft, Research Fellowship
2010 Mary L. Nohl Fund for Individual Artists, Suitcase Export Fund
2007 Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists, Emerging Artist
2005 Mary L. Nohl Fund for Individual Artists, Suitcase Export Fund
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019 ` A Feminist Art Collective Gets a Historic Home, Hyperallergic.com, [cited]
2018 Best of 2018: Our Top 20 Exhibitions Across the United States, Hyperallergic.com [exhibition review]
2015 Got a Girl Crush Magazine, Issue 4, 2015 [artist interview]
Levine's Impact on Milwaukee's Cultural Landscape is Unequaled, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, [review]
2012 The Believer Magazine, [interview]
2011 Sewing Notions- Craft and Commerce, ArtForum, [cited]
2010 Making It Handmade! Documentary directed by Anna Brownfield, [video interview]
2009 Film & Fiber Favorites, Fiberarts Magazine, Vol. 35, Issue 5, [review]
Girl on Film, ReadyMade Magazine, [featured artist]
2008 Buying In by Rob Walker, Random House, pg.239, 240-241, 244, [cited + interview]
The Ambassador of Handmade, The New York Times, home section cover story, Vol. CLVII, Issue 54, 2008 {featured interview]
Email to request PDF of CV