Robin Holder
Robin Holder in her studio
Robin Holder's work has been presented in numerous institutions including: The Parish Gallery, Washington DC; The Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta; The Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans; The International Print Center, New York City; Hammonds House, Atlanta and Kent State University, Ohio. Her recent retrospective An American Consciousness: Robin Holder’s Mid-Career Retrospective travelled the nation and was on view at The David C. Driskell Center in Maryland, the Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts in Georgia, and the Mobile Museum of Art in Alabama.
She has completed several large scale site specific public art projects for The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Connecticut State Arts Commission and New Jersey Transit.
In 2006, Holder joined Elizabeth Catlett, Louis Delsarte, David Driskell, Faith Ringgold and Sam Gilliam as the sixth Atlanta National Black Arts Festival Collectors Guild Artist. She was awarded a grant by The Brooklyn Arts Council to create Behind Each Window a Voice, a series of works inspired by oral histories of residents in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
Holder's work is included in significant collections, including The Library of Congress, Shore Bank, Xerox Corporation, Clark Atlanta University, Yale University, Queens Borough Public Library, United Parcel Service, The Washington State Arts Commission, and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Art Commission of the City of New York and Yale University. She has been sought after as a panelist, lecturer, and consultant by a variety of cultural and educational institutions, such as Pratt Institute, New York State Council on the Arts, The High Museum of Atlanta, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Natural History, Cooper Union, Manhattan Community College, The Center for Arts Education and Parsons School of Design.
Robin Holder on her experience as a STUDIO artist/instructor and its impact on her work:
I really, really, really like kids. They are stimulating, energizing, truthful, welcoming, and loving souls. I enjoy working with them, listening to, and teaching them. I am also thankful for the opportunity of learning from them. Young people have an invigorating, innate sense of adventure, exploration, and magic. They are precious and unquestionably society’s most sacred and valuable resource.
Because my life and my artwork are so interconnected with a quest to define identity in contemporary culture and society, working as a STUDIO artist/instructor is a fluid, natural experience for me.
The networks with which I interact in the professional visual arts arena are a very specific culture with many assumptions of motivation and content. Strangely, it is a world that can, at times, be insular and rigid. By working in the NYC public school system I keep in touch with another layer of society. The fundamental kindness, humility, and compassion in the schools are refreshing and nurturing. Because of my relationships with my students and their families, I am more aware of the ever-changing culture and socialization of young people. My ability to communicate ideas, concepts, and techniques has been greatly enhanced by my interactions with the school administrative, custodial, cafeteria, and teaching staff.
Teaching has trained me to be a better listener.
Artwork by Robin Holder:
She has completed several large scale site specific public art projects for The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Connecticut State Arts Commission and New Jersey Transit.
In 2006, Holder joined Elizabeth Catlett, Louis Delsarte, David Driskell, Faith Ringgold and Sam Gilliam as the sixth Atlanta National Black Arts Festival Collectors Guild Artist. She was awarded a grant by The Brooklyn Arts Council to create Behind Each Window a Voice, a series of works inspired by oral histories of residents in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
Holder's work is included in significant collections, including The Library of Congress, Shore Bank, Xerox Corporation, Clark Atlanta University, Yale University, Queens Borough Public Library, United Parcel Service, The Washington State Arts Commission, and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Art Commission of the City of New York and Yale University. She has been sought after as a panelist, lecturer, and consultant by a variety of cultural and educational institutions, such as Pratt Institute, New York State Council on the Arts, The High Museum of Atlanta, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Natural History, Cooper Union, Manhattan Community College, The Center for Arts Education and Parsons School of Design.
Robin Holder on her experience as a STUDIO artist/instructor and its impact on her work:
I really, really, really like kids. They are stimulating, energizing, truthful, welcoming, and loving souls. I enjoy working with them, listening to, and teaching them. I am also thankful for the opportunity of learning from them. Young people have an invigorating, innate sense of adventure, exploration, and magic. They are precious and unquestionably society’s most sacred and valuable resource.
Because my life and my artwork are so interconnected with a quest to define identity in contemporary culture and society, working as a STUDIO artist/instructor is a fluid, natural experience for me.
The networks with which I interact in the professional visual arts arena are a very specific culture with many assumptions of motivation and content. Strangely, it is a world that can, at times, be insular and rigid. By working in the NYC public school system I keep in touch with another layer of society. The fundamental kindness, humility, and compassion in the schools are refreshing and nurturing. Because of my relationships with my students and their families, I am more aware of the ever-changing culture and socialization of young people. My ability to communicate ideas, concepts, and techniques has been greatly enhanced by my interactions with the school administrative, custodial, cafeteria, and teaching staff.
Teaching has trained me to be a better listener.
Artwork by Robin Holder:
