Harrell Fletcher (born 1967 in Santa Maria, California) is an American

social practice Social practice is a theory within psychology that seeks to determine the link between practice and context within social situations. Emphasized as a commitment to change, social practice occurs in two forms: activity and inquiry. Most often appl ...

and relational aesthetics

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and professor, living in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

Biography

Harrell Fletcher was born in 1967 in Santa Maria, California and attended

Santa Maria High School Santa Maria High School (SMHS) is a public comprehensive high school in Santa Maria, California, United States. Located in the heart of the city, Santa Maria High School is the second oldest Californian public high school still functioning on it ...

. Fletcher received his B.F.A. in 1990 from the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...

(SFAI) and his M.F.A. in 1994 from

California College of the Arts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened a second campus in ...

(CCA). At CCA, Fletcher studied under

Suzanne Lacy Suzanne Lacy (born 1945) is an American artist, educator, writer, and professor at the USC Roski School of Art and Design. She has worked in a variety of media, including installation art, installation, video art, video, performance art, perform ...

. In 1995, Fletcher completed an apprenticeship at UCSC at the farm, studying ecological horticulture. In 2007, Fletcher founded the Art + Social Practice Program in the School of Art + Design at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

, where he is still on faculty.

Projects

His fellow CCA student

Jon Rubin Jon Rubin is a contemporary artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Projects Fruit and Other Things ''Fruit and Other Things'' (2018-2019) is a project created in collaboration with artist Lenk ...

, and Fletcher collaborated for several years in the Bay Area following the completion of his M.F.A., and together creating ''Gallery Here'' in nearby Oakland. ''Gallery Here'' was in a vacant storefront in their Oakland neighborhood and it hosted neighborhood centered art exhibitions for a year. The artists produced collaborative projects that occurred in non-traditional and municipally-managed art spaces. Fletcher became known for making projects in collaboration with strangers and non-artists.

''Learning to Love You More''

With artist

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She wrote, di ...

, Fletcher founded the online arts project called ''Learning to Love You More'' (2002–2009). The project's website offered assignments to artists whose submissions became part of "an ever-changing series of exhibitions, screenings and radio broadcasts presented all over the world". In addition to its internet presentations, ''Learning to Love You More'' has been compiled for exhibitions for the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...

, and other hosts. A book version of the project's online art was released in 2007. The project is now part of the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

(SFMOMA) Collection."Learning to Love you More, Collection Page"
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Accessed 12 October 2016

People's Biennial

From 2010–2017, Fletcher co-curated with

Jens Hoffmann Jens Hoffmann Mesén (born 1974 in San José, Costa Rica) is a writer, editor, educator, and exhibition maker. His work has attempted to expand the definition and context of exhibition making. From 2003 to 2007 Hoffmann was director of exhibit ...

the People's Biennial. The People’s Biennial explored and presented the creative activities of individuals and collectives as expressions of society’s cultural diversity that would otherwise be overlooked, neglected, or even actively repressed.

King School Museum of Contemporary Art

Starting in 2014, Fletcher co-founded with Portland State University (PSU) faculty Lisa Jarrett, the King School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMOCA), located within a preK-8 grade public school in northeast Portland, Oregon. The museum opens to the public several times a year during art exhibition openings and special events, such as public lectures and an annual art fair. KSMOCA had its first International Art Fair in 2017. Tender Feelings Press During his residency at Marin Headlands Center for the Arts, Fletcher unpacked 33 years worth of accumulated refuse salvaged from his parents' attic, and invited anyone who stopped by his studio to take a piece of his past with them. He also collected sundry stories written on scraps of paper by his friend Jess Hilliard, which he collated into the book, "Hi, Friend." (Alternate title: "Remember When We Used To Make Out.") So far, "Hi, Friend" is the only book published by Fletcher's ''Tender Feelings Press''.

Awards and honors

In 2002 he won the

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 co ...

award. He was a participant in the 2004

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...

. In 2005 he won the

Alpert Awards in the Arts The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts was established in the 1994 by ''The Herb Alpert Foundation'' in collaboration with the California Institute of the Arts. The Herb Alpert Foundation, which included then-present Kip Cohen, and benefactors Herbert ...

and a residency at

ArtPace Artpace (also known as Artpace San Antonio) is a non-profit contemporary art foundation located in downtown San Antonio, Texas that is free and open to the public. Founded by artist, collector, and philanthropist Linda Pace, Artpace opened its d ...

. In 2011, he was an

artist in residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

Exploratorium The Exploratorium is a museum of science museum, science, technology museum, technology, and art museum, arts in San Francisco, California. Founded by physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer in 1969, the museum was originally located in the ...

, and won an award from

Americans for the Arts Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit organization whose primary focus is advancing the arts in the United States with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to repre ...

for Outstanding Public Artwork. He has been in residence at

Capp Street Project Capp Street Project is an artist residency program that was originally located at 65 Capp Street in San Francisco, California. CSP was established as a program to nurture experimental art making in 1983 with the first visual arts residency in the ...

at the

Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts is a nonprofit contemporary art center and research institute in San Francisco. It is part of the California College of the Arts. The institute holds exhibitions, lectures, and symposia, releases publica ...

in 2011. In 2014, he was an artist in residence with his Portland-based art collective Public Doors and Windows (PDW) which includes artists Molly Sherman, and Nolan Calisch, at Institute of the Arts and Sciences (IAS) at University of California, Santa Cruz.

Museum collections

Fletcher's work is held in the following permanent collections: *''The American War'' (2005),

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York City, New York *''Learning to Love You More,'' (2002–2009) co-created with Miranda July,

, San Francisco *''This container isn't big enough'' (2004) art book, SAIC Digital Collections, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) *FRAC Bretagne Fond Régional d'Art contemporain (Regional Fund for Contemporary Art), Rennes, France

Notes

External links

*
Harrell Fletcher
at

Kadist Art Foundation KADIST is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. KADIST hosts artist residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. Founded by Vincent Worms and Sandra Te ...

Interview with Harrell Fletcher
by

Allan McCollum Allan McCollum (born 4 August 1944) is a contemporary American artist who lives and works in New York City. In 1975, his work was included in the Whitney Biennial, and he moved to New York City the same year. In the late 1970s, he became especial ...

, July 2005
Learning to Love You More
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Harrell 1967 births Living people California College of the Arts alumni San Francisco Art Institute alumni Artists from San Francisco Artists from Portland, Oregon Santa Maria High School alumni