Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture: Vanessa German

Vanessa German is a visual and performance artist based in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood—the community that is the driving force behind her powerful performance work, and whose cast-off relics form the language of her copiously embellished sculptures. German’s online lecture is supported in part through funding from the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Diversity: Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program.

As a citizen artist, German explores the power of art and love as a transformative force in the dynamic cultural ecosystem of communities and neighborhoods. She is the founder of Love Front Porch and the ARThouse, a community arts initiative for the children of Homewood. Her work is in private and public collections including Everson Museum of Art, Figge Art Museum, Flint Institute of Arts, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, David C. Driskell Center, Snite Museum of Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. German’s fine art work has been exhibited widely, most recently at the Figge Art Museum, The Union for Contemporary Art, The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Flint Institute of Arts, Mattress Factory, Everson Museum of Art, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Studio Museum, Ringling Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Her work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and NPR’s All Things Considered, as well as in The Huffington Post, O Magazine, and Essence Magazine. She is the recipient of the 2015 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant, the 2017 Jacob Lawrence Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2018 United States Artist Grant, and most recently the 2018 Don Tyson Prize from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.