Skip to content

Educating

Cinema Olanda: Live Event

Discussion with Wendelien van Oldenborgh (artist), Lucy Cotter (curator), Avery Gordon (University of California, Santa Barbara), Sarat Maharaj (Lund University, Sweden); Gloria Wekker (University of Utrecht). Dutch Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale.

23 June, 2017

Educating and Engagement

I have been a passionate educator for 20 years. In the US my teaching has included adjunct lecturing in Critical Theory on the MFA Art and Social Practice at Portland State University; I have taught the Contemporary Art seminar for Critical Studies and Visual Arts program, and mentored on the Design Systems and MFA programs at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). I am currently teaching a custom eight-week seminar on artistic research at PNCA, Willamette University. I give ongoing guest lectures and workshops (online and in person) in the US, Canada, Europe, and worldwide.

The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague invited me to develop one of Europe’s first MAs in Artistic Research, creating an experimental practice-led curriculum. My program created space for artists engaged with other fields to delve into in-depth research in material, embodied, and theoretical forms. Working in collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire, the MA also nourished artists, composers and musicians working in expanded and cross-genre performance. Wanting to create experimental formats of presentation and curatorial possibility, we forged collaborations with several like-minded institutions on a dynamic program of exhibitions and performance. (See curating for further details.)

I spent several years teaching at Amsterdam’s prestigious Gerrit Rietveld Academie, where I furthered the academy’s vision of an integrated practice-theory program by creating a new art theory curriculum, editing academy-wide readers, and initiating the first-ever research into cultural diversity in the academy, including workshops and lectures on whiteness, the dynamics of social and cultural capital, and the decolonization of art discourse. I supported Fine Art students’ studio work, and guided artists to find new writing formats and voices that resonated with their practices. During the same period, I tutored artists, designers, and architects at the postgraduate Sandberg Institute. I subsequently participated in national debates on establishing a PhD in Fine Art, and my co-supervision of the first-ever cohort of the new doctoral program in the Netherlands at the University of the Arts, Leiden.

Leadership

Faculty Teaching

  • Pacific Northwest College of Art, Willamette University

    MFA and MA Critical Studies, MA Design Systems

    2018, 2020, 2025
  • Portland State University

    MA Art and Social Practice

    2018–2022
  • The Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam

    MA Fine Art, MA Interior Architecture

    2010–2013
  • University of the Arts, The Hague

    Co-supervision, PhDArts program

    2008–2013
  • Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam

    BA Fine Art

    2005–2013

Guest Teaching

My guest work includes lectures, workshops, seminars, mentoring, and PhD assessment, both in-person and remotely. Some of my current topics include “art as embodied and material knowledge”, “writing as an artistic medium”, “artistic practice and oral knowledge”, “artistic research and decolonizing knowledge”, “practice-led curating”, and “artistic research in a world on fire.” As well as visual artists, socially engaged artists and writers, I often teach practitioners in architecture, design, dance, music, and theatre, many of whom work at the borders of their disciplines.

My guest teaching includes recent seminars, talks and studio visits at The New School, New York (2024); Staedelschule, Frankfurt, Germany (2023); University of Malmö, Sweden (2023); EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam (2023); Lewis and Clark College, Portland, US (2022); Queen’s University, Belfast, UK (2021); Royal Danish Art Academy, Copenhagen (2021); DASARTS, Amsterdam University of the Arts (2021); Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam (2021); University of Amsterdam (2020); Portland State University, Oregon (2020); European Cultural Academy, Venice (2020); HKU Academy of the Arts, Utrecht (2020); School of Visual Art, New York (2019); Minneapolis College of Art & Design, MN (2019); Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2018); Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, (2018); Sofia University, Bulgaria (2018); European Cultural Academy, Venice (2018); Linneaus University, Växjö, Sweden (2018).

I have been an external assessor for graduate and undergraduate work, an advisory expert for staff research, and an opponent in PhD defenses for institutions and organizations, such as Aalto University, Finland; the Austrian Science Council; the Irish Arts Council; Malmö Art Academy, Lund University, Sweden; Artez Academy of Art, Arnhem, The Netherlands; St Joost Academy, Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, and Loughborough University, UK.

Public Speaking

I love to give public talks, always wanting to connect with others in a shared space. People often comment on my ability to forge bridges between artistic and academic discourses and address complex topics in an accessible manner. PowerPoint is a kind of sketchbook for my thinking. I rarely read from a paper, preferring how the act of speech and its live human connection makes my thoughts go further than a linear text. The joy lies in finding new pathways for thinking.

I always seek to create space for engaged discussion, embracing the collective moment as something precious. Zoom talks have their own rhythm. I appreciate the possibility of creating wider access through this technology. I am committed to incorporating ASL and closed captioning in public talks as often as possible. A good talk always feels like a song. It leaves something hanging in the air, creating an environment for new thinking, and an opportunity for human connection. I care about orality as a medium, and not only a means to an end. This interest in reflected in my recent writing.

Public Talks (SAMPLE)

  • In Conversation: Lucy Cotter and Lucy Kim on Artistic Research

    Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 23 January, 2025

    2025
  • Artists in Academia: Artistic Research as Practice

    Panel with Luis Arnías, Lucy Cotter, and Lucy Kim, moderated by Laurel McLaughlin

    Artadia and Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston, 16 April, 2025

    2025
  • Curating Access: The Agency of Artists, Curators, and Institutions – A Dialogue with Amanda Cachia

    Stelo Arts and Culture Foundation, Portland

    21 May, 2025
    2025
  • Between Language– A Long Song

    Public reading (with Jordan Isadore and John Niekrasz), Public Nature series, Ramona Street Art Farm, Portland

    09 June, 2025
    2025
  • Between Language– A Love Song

    Public Reading (with Dur e Aziz Amna and Rana Tahir), Tin House, Portland

    18 April, 2025
    2025
  • Linda Austin: In Preparation for Disappearances to Come

    Moderator, panel discussion with dancer/choreographer Linda Austin, Allie Hankins, Danielle Ross, Chris Cochrane, Kevin Bud Jones, Nan Curtis and Amanda Leigh Evans

    Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, 07 February, 2025

    2025
  • Artistic Research: Reimagining Knowledge in a World on Fire

    Public lecture, Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art and Thought, held at The Marigny Opera House, New Orleans, 14 January, 2025

    2025
  • Brian Maguire: In the Light of Conscience

    Panel with Brian Maguire, Lucy Cotter, and Kate Shanley (Nakoda Nation)

    Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, Montana, 07 June, 2025

    2025
  • Artistic Research in a World on Fire

    Informal lecture, and public dialogue with Cannupa Hanska Luger, official book launch, Reclaiming Artistic Research, e-flux, New York, 3 June

    2024
  • Access and Artistic Research: Lucy Cotter and The Curiosity Paradox

    Stelo Arts and Culture Foundation, Portland, Oregon, 09 December, 2025

    2024
  • Artistic Research in a World on Fire

    Keynote lecture, Capstone Symposium, The New School, New York, 3 May

    2024
  • Between the Curatorial and the Artistic: Lucy Cotter with Aram Lee

    THIRD series, DAS, University of the Arts, Amsterdam, 12 January, 2023

    2023
  • Art as Material and Embodied Knowledge

    Max Planck Institute for Aesthetics, in conjunction with INHABIT exhibition, Museum voor Aangewandte Kunst, Frankfurt.

    2023
  • A More Perfect Union

    Conversation with artist Tannaz Farsi in conjunction with “A More Perfect Union” exhibition, Holding Contemporary, Portland.

    03 December, 2022
    2022
  • Curatorial Reflection on Turnstones season

    in conversation with Bart Fitzgerald, Oregon Contemporary.

    10 November, 2022
    2022
  • Curatorial Roundtable

    With Summer Guthery (Canal Projects), Suzi Halajian (JOAN, Los Angeles), and Rachel Adams (Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts), Oregon Center for Contemporary Art.

    20 September, 2022
    2022
  • Undocumented: Unlearning Imperial Plunder

    Conversation with artist, filmmaker, scholar, curator Ariella Aïsha Azoulay on “Undocumented: Unlearning Imperial Plunder”, in conjunction with Unquiet Objects exhibition, Oregon Center for Contemporary Art.

    2021
  • Timelines for the Future

    Conversation with artist Christine Howard Sandoval in conjunction with the Timelines for the Future exhibition, Oregon Center for Contemporary Art.

    2021
  • The Future of Artistic Research

    Knowledge Sharing in the Digital Era: Data Management in Creative Research, Emily Carr University, Vancouver BC.

    10 November, 2020
    2020
  • Reclaiming Artistic Research – Telemetrics lecture series

    National Sculpture Factory, Ireland, organized by David O’ Brien.

    10 September, 2020
    2020
  • Reclaiming Artistic Research – National Academy of the Arts, Oslo

    National Academy of the Arts, Oslo.

    06 October, 2020
    2020
  • Reclaiming Artistic Research – Zoom lecture

    Staedelschule, Frankfurt, Germany.

    10 May, 2020
    2020
  • Reclaiming Artistic Research – School of Visual Art, New York

    Introduction and panel discussion with Christian Nyampeta and Kate Newby. Moderation by Henry Madoff, director MA Curating.

    24 October, 2019
    2019
  • The Aesthetics of Gentrification

    Session chair, organized by University of Oregon, Eugene, held at Portland State University.

    5–6 April, 2019
    2019
  • Reclaiming Artistic Research – Looiersgracht 60 in conjunction with De Appel, Amsterdam

    Introduction and panel discussion with invited contributors Sher Doruff, Katarina Zdjelar, and Katayoun Arian.

    August 2019
    2019
  • Reclaiming Artistic Research – Research Pavilion, 58th Venice Biennale

    Lucy Cotter in dialogue with Michael Schwab, book launch Reclaiming Artistic Research.

    September 2019
    2019
  • Adela Demetja & Collaborators with Lucy Cotter

    Public dialogue, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in conjunction with TBA Festival

    10 September, 2019
    2019
  • Artistic Research and the Future

    Studie Dag: Artistic Research, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam.

    24 March, 2018
    2018
  • Cinema Olanda – A Curatorial Reflection

    Museum of Contemporary Art, Sofia, Bulgaria.

    October 2018
    2018
  • Art Knowledge: Unknowing the Known

    Unfinished Systems of Non-Knowledge, De Appel and Society for Arts, Trippenhuis, Amsterdam.

    8–10 February, 2018
    2018
  • The Future of Museums

    City Gallery, Varna, Bulgaria.

    20 October, 2018
    2018
  • The Future of Artistic Research

    Artistic Re: Search,* organized by Sophie Krier, as part of Dutch Design Week, Onomatopee, Eindhoven.

    23 October, 2018
    2018
  • Art as an Open-ended Question

    White Horse/Twin Horse: Rehearsing an Exhibition, One-day symposium in conjunction with curatorial experiment by Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen, De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam.

    26 January, 2018
    2018
  • Cinema Olanda: Between the Aesthetic and Social Imaginary – The Stedelijk Museum

    Public lecture, Amsterdam, Stedelijk Statements series.

    30 June, 2017
    2017
  • Cinema Olanda: Live Event

    Discussion with Wendelien van Oldenborgh (artist), Lucy Cotter (curator), Avery Gordon (University of California, Santa Barbara), Sarat Maharaj (Lund University, Sweden); Gloria Wekker (University of Utrecht). Dutch Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale.

    23 June, 2017
    2017
  • Imprinted Mater

    Introduction and respondent Q&A, with artist Aimée Zito Lema, in conjunction with Imprinted Mater exhibition, Looiersgracht 60, Amsterdam.

    23 September, 2017
    2017
  • Conditions for Criticality

    Introduction and moderation, as part of Cinema Olanda Platform, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam.

    17 June, 2017
    2017

Teaching is a form of conversation, a moment-specific embrace of the conditions for opening things up.

The joy of public speaking lies in finding new pathways for thought, tracing ways in which artists challenge conventional thinking to venture further into the unknown.