Aaron Lish
BIO
Born in San Diego, California, 1971
Live in Bend, Oregon, USA; work world-wide
EDUCATION
2013 MFA in Visual Art, The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Boston, Mass., USA
1995 MS in Exercise Science, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Mich., USA
1993 BS in Sport Science, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Mich., USA
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
2015 Sweet Nothings and Other Stories, Public project for “A Day in Paradise,” Commissioned and curated by
Fallen Fruit, Portland, Ore., USA
2015 glacierquilt, Ongoing public project via social media, K-12 classes, nature centers, and college / university
outdoor programs (http://glacierquilt.org)
2015 Caldera Arts Center, In Praise of Profanation, Participatory project, Blue Lake, Ore., USA
2014 Shangyuan Art Museum, The Mother Well, Solo exhibition, Beijing, China
2014 Shangyuan Art Museum, Primal Histories (Qu Shui Liu Shang), Public project, Shayouko Village, Beijing,
China
2014 Caetani Cultural Centre, Think Like an Animal, Public project, Vernon, B.C., Canada
2014 Mobius, What’s Next Boston? A participatory performance, Boston, Mass., USA
2014 The Pallet Pavilion, What’s Next? (line by line), A participatory performance,Christchurch, New Zealand
2013 Do It DIY, Ongoing participatory project via the web (http://doitdiyart.blogspot.com)
2013 The Art Institute of Boston, HD 499 Seminar: A Survival Kit for the 21st Century, Dialogue-based project,
Boston, Mass., USA
2013 Pence Gallery @ Central Oregon Community College, Play-time and an Open Office Culture, Participatory
gallery space, Bend, Ore., USA
2013 Mobius, AN UN-INTERPRETED EXPERIENCE Version 2.0 (Just another day), Dialogue-based project,
Boston, Mass., USA
2012 Bend Fall Festival, This Is Exchange (Sorry, no cash, check or charge payment), Public project, Bend, Ore.,
USA
2011 tbd community gallery annex, Coming of Age in a Pre-Apocalyptic Post-Modern World (Life is a fishbowl),
Participatory project, Bend, Ore., USA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS, PROJECTS AND PERFORMANCES
2016 Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Painter’s Studio 99, Kolkata International Art Exhibition, Invitational
Exhibition, Kolkata, India
2015 ArtPrize Seven, International Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Mich., USA
2015 Warehouse XI, Re: CLASSIFIED, Invitational Exhibition, Somerville, Mass., USA
2015 Provincetown Conservation Trust, Appearances, International Juried Exhibition, Provincetown, Mass., USA
2015 Schuylkill Center, Open Spaces, Invitational Exhibition, Philadelphia, Penn., USA
2014 Lincoln Center, Incite Insight, National Juried Exhibition, Fort Collins, Colo., USA
2014 Shangyuan Art Museum, Inter-national, International Juried Exhibition, Beijing, China
2014 Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Art in the Open, National Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia, Penn., USA
2014 Provincetown Conservation Trust, Appearances, International Juried Exhibition, Provincetown, Mass., USA
2013 1010 Church Gallery, RiTUAL (book show), Philadelphia, Penn., USA
2013 The Art Institute of Boston, MFA Graduate Show, Boston, Mass., USA
2012 tbd community gallery, Have | Have Not, Regional Juried Exhibition, Bend, Ore., USA
2012 Pence Gallery @ Central Oregon Community College, Art Faculty Show, Bend, Ore., USA
2012 tbd community gallery, HAVOC | HARMONY, Local Juried Exhibition, Bend, Ore., USA
2012 tbd community gallery, Consume | Preserve, Local Juried Exhibition, Bend, Ore., USA
2012 PoetHouse Art, Seeds of Capitalism, Local Invitational Exhibition, Bend, Ore., USA
2011 tbd community gallery, Transcendence, Local Juried Exhibition, Bend, Ore., USA
COMMISSIONS, AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2015 Public Art Commission, Fallen Fruit, Portland, Ore., USA
2015 Ford Family Foundation, Golden Spot Artist Award
2015 Caldera Arts Center, Artist-in-residence, Blue Lake, Ore., USA (invited)
2014 United Nations Water for Life artist
2014 Shangyuan Art Museum, Artist-in-residence, Beijing, China (juried)
2014 Caetani Cultural Centre, Artist-in-residence, Vernon, B.C., Canada (juried)
2013 Public Art Commission, Bend Winterfest, Bend, Ore., USA
PANELS AND LECTURES
2015 Ithaca College, Artist talk, “The Mani Project and the Expanded World of Drawing,” Ithaca, N.Y., USA
2015 Central Oregon Community College, Artist talk, “A New Look at Landscape,” Bend, Ore., USA
2014 Shangyuan Art Museum, Artist talk, “The Mani Project,” Beijing, China
2014 Allen Brooks Nature Centre, Artist Talk, “From Nature’s Perspective,” Vernon, B.C., Canada
2014 Shangyuan Art Museum, Artist talk, “Empowering Water,” Beijing, China
2013 The Art Institute of Boston, MFA graduate presentation, “The Aesthetic Experience of Generative Dialogue,”
Boston, Mass., USA
2013 Atelier 6000, Artist talk, “Dialogue as Both Art Form and Art Process,” Bend, Ore., USA
2013 Pence Gallery @ Central Oregon Community College, Artist talk, “The Re-mix and the Loss of Subjectivity,”
Bend, Ore., USA
2012 The Art Institute of Boston, Student presentation, “The Strip Tease and the Creation of New Knowledge
Through Encounters with Relational Art,” Boston, Mass., USA
2012 PoetHouse Art, Guest Artist Talk, “Participation in Art,” Bend, Ore., USA
2012 PoetHouse Art, Guest Artist Talk, “Tactics in Political Art,” Bend, Ore., USA
PUBLICATIONS
"Arts Op-Ed: AIB Alum Records Final Prayers of Ancient Pilgrim Trail in Tibet,” www.openmediaboston.org. Open
Media Boston, Sept 12, 2014. Web.
“Thoughts on this summer’s immersive art environment in New York City.” www.cascadeae.com. Cascade A&E
Weekly, July 24, 2013. Web.
“The Aesthetic Experience of Generative Dialogue.” Graduate Thesis. The Art Institute of Boston. June 2013. Print.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Water for Life, 2005-2015. A United Nations publication, 2015. Print.
“Art Watch,” The Source, Oct 15, 2015. Print.
“Aaron Lish – Participatory Art and Asking What If,” www.lesley.edu, Lesley University College of Art and Design, 2015.
Web.
“Shangyuan Art Museum 2014,” Documentary film, Shangyuan Art Museum, 2014. Web.
"Local Artist Records Final Prayers of Ancient Pilgrim Trail in Tibet..." Cascade A&E, Oct 2014, p. 24. Print.
“Artist Gets Close With Nature,” The Morning Star, July 6, 2014. Print.
Barr, Sarah. "Art in the Open in the Park on the River," www.hiddencityphila.org, Hidden City Philadelphia, May 12,
2014. Web.
"Aaron Lish Creates Self Portraits of the Natural World," Cascade A&E, Feb 2014, p. 10. Print.
CURATING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
2014 Curator, Nature (Self) Portraits, Allan Brooks Nature Centre, Vernon, BC, Canada
2014 Instructor, Portraiture and Nature, Workshop, Caetani Centre, Vernon, BC, Canada
2012 Artist assistant for Cesare Pietroiusti, Transitory Possession (a participatory project), Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum Grand–opening of the new contemporary wing, Boston, MA, USA
2010- Curator, An Emotional Response to Eight Days in the Wilderness, Annual show,
2014 Central Oregon Community College Campus Center, Bend, OR, USA