Kristin McWharter

EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES

2025

• Voltaje, Curated by Juan Ricardo Rincon Gaviria, Bogotá Colombia
• other others // rehearsals in the skin, Zine Contribution, Curated by Nina Sarnelle and Selwa Seidan, Human Resources, Los Angeles
• Surface Tension screened in the Evergreen series hosted by Roman Susan Gallery, Chicago
• Center for Concrete and Abstract Machines (CCAM) presents [We Don’t Know Yet] What A Cinema Can Do 2.0, an evening of Expanded Cinema presented in partnership with Onion City Film Festival at Public Works Gallery (Producer)

2024

• Immersion Retrospective Exhibit, Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington
• I Want an AI for President, DEMOCRAZY DNC counter programming, Co-Prosperity, Chicago
• Vitrine Series, Solo Exhibition, Plexus Projects, Online & New York curated by Laura Splan
• How to be A Good Sport, Squeaky Wheel, Buffalo NY
• [We Don't Yet Know] What a Cinema Can Do, 34th Onion City Experimental Film Festival curated and organized by the Center for Concrete and Abstract Machines (CCAM), Chicago
• Piano, Alone in a Room, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, curated by Sam Hyman
• I Want An AI For President, collaboration with Garrett Laroy Johnson and Doug Rosman, Hammy Whammy Chicago
• How to be A Good Sport, Worlds in Play Summit, ASU Media and Immersive eXperience Center

2023

• Gumming the Gridiron, featured in the VR Salon, Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington
• Screen Test curated by Roman Susan, Berger Park Cultural Center, Chicago
• Ripples Across The Latent Space, Juried exhibition as part of the The 16th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction (VINCI 2023), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou, China
• Anthropo-Digitalism exhibition curated by Keiko Hart for Vector Festival, Toronto
• OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project, Curated by DCASE for  EXPO Chicago, Chicago
• Light Ekphrastic, Curated by Jenny O'grady for the February Issue, Online

2022

• Football Practice, presented by VGA Gallery for the Hyde Park Arts Center Jackman Goldwasser Catwalk Gallery as part of Artist Run Chicago 2.0, Chicago
• Football Practice, Presented by VGA Gallery for the Bitbash Interactive Art Festival at Steppenwolf theater, Chicago

2021

• Anything Can Be A Dragon and Anything Can Be A Snake, Two Person Exhibition with Kristin Abhalter-Smith, NorthEastern Illinois University, Chicago
• RARA, Window Gallery installation with Buddy Chicago for Terrain Biennial
• Game Day, Resident Artist Work In Progress presentation, High Concept Labs, Chicago
• Tiger by the Tail, Athens Digital Art Festival, Athens
• Deep Feel, Curated by Caleb Foss, Wrong Biennale, Online

2020

• RARA, Online solo Exhibition with Langer Over Dickie Gallery, Chicago & Online
• [Dis]Position, Curated By Duncan Bass, Bopha Hul, Patrick O’Shea and Doug Rosman, Ars Electronica Festival, Online
• Phenomenology of Hope: Curated by Eli Joteva, Khang Nguyen, and Kio Griffith, Super Collider Gallery, Los Angeles & Online
• a2p, a2p.bitmark.com/v2 Curated by Casey Reas, Iris Long, and Carol Sabbadini, Online
• What Remains: Chapter 2 Merge, Curated by Ieke Trinks & Joseph Ravens, DFBRL8R, Chicago
• SOLO, Exhibition and performance, MONO Gallery, Lisbon Portugal

2019

• Friend Roulette, Curated by Scarlett Kim and Anthony Storniolo for The Wrong Biennial, LA
• Tête à Tête, Curated by Kat Buckley, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago
• Handmade by Robots, Curated by Ali Seradge, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago
• Sticky Apples, Interactive Installation, Curated by Kate Parsons, Sharsten Plenge, Janna Avner, Dahn Gim, Eva Aguila and Richelle Gribble for FemmeBit Festival, Civic Center Studios, LA
• FILE Electronic Language International Festival, Curated by Paula Perissinotto & Ricardo Barreto, FIESP Cultural Center, São Paulo Brazil
• Locating Form in Virtual Spaces, Curated by Richelle Gribble, Nook Gallery, Los Angeles
• Refest, Curated by CultureHub, Navel Gallery, LA
• Performative Computation Symposium, Curated by Selwa Sweidan, Navel LA, Los Angeles ]
• AutoBodies and Other Human Factors, Curated by Thuangkamol Thongborisute and Jonathan Fletcher Moore, Open Plan Collective, LA
• Latitudes International Performance Art Festival, Curated by Hector Cononge, Museo Altillo Beni, Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivia

2018

• Cyber Arts, Prix Ars Electronica Honorable Mention, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz Austria
• Vibrant Matter, Curated by Eli Joteva, Beacon Arts Building, Los Angeles
• Weak or No Signal, Curated by Casey Reas, UCLA New White Gallery, Los Angeles

2017

• Game Art Festival, Curated by Eddo Stern, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
• Fall Preview, Curated by Victoria Vesna, UCLA New White Gallery, Los Angeles
• Gather All, Part of Hack the Music LA, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
• Interactive Art: The Relationship of Humans and Technology, Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center
• Far Bazaar, Curated by Lee Tusman, Cerritos College, Los Angeles

2016

• Prime, Solo Exhibition, UCLA EDA Gallery, LA
• Characters Welcome, Curator, Make Studio, Baltimore Maryland
• Lumen, Supported by Kaiser Permanente, Light City Festival, Baltimore
• Electronic + Technologic Semiotics of the Bodily, Performancy Forum, Panoply Performance Lab,
• Pulse, Curated by Carly J. Bales, EMP Collective, Baltimore Maryland
• Sondheim Semi Finalist Exhibition, Meyerhoff Gallery, Baltimore
• Borders Boundaries, Barricades Performance Art Review, Curated by Labbodies, Space Camp, Baltimore Maryland

2015

• SpaceCamp Opening, Curated by Labbodies, Space Camp, Baltimore
• YES PLEASE THANK YOU, Benefitting Baltimore Youth Arts, Platform Gallery, Baltimore
• EMINENT DOMAIN, Curated by Carly J Bales, Mondo Festo at EMP Collective, Baltimore
• The Raft on Lazy River, Curated by Melissa Webb and Maggie Villegas, Artscape, Baltimore
• Borders Boundaries Barricades, Curated by Labbodies, Gallery CA, Baltimore

2013

• You Are My Sunshine, Curated by Jen Hitchings, Associated Gallery, Brooklyn
• SuperNova Performance Festival, Curated by Eames Armstrong, The Pink Line Project, Rosslyn
• In the Round, Collaborative Solo Exhibition with Morgan Frailey, School 33, Baltimore

2012

• Push, Don’t Pull, Solo Exhibition, MICA Station Building, Baltimore Maryland
• Spines, Presented by Maryland Institute College of Art,  Fox 3rd floor Gallery, Baltimore

2011

• Grid, Solo Exhibition, Gateway Gallery, Baltimore
• TV Dinner, Curated by Sarah Doherty, In/Flux Gallery, Baltimore Maryland
• Opus, Curated by Pat Alexander, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore
• Road Block, Curated by Sarah Doherty, Area 405, Baltimore Maryland
• The Intimacy Project, Solo Exhibition, Pinkard Gallery, Baltimore Maryland

2010

• Sea Dogs III, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Scotland
• Wishing You the Happiest Day Under the Sun, Gambetta Gallery, Glasgow Scotland

RESIDENCIES

• Squeaky Wheel Workspace Residency, 2024
• Roger Brown Residency, 2024
• Touch Praxis at Performing Arts Forum, 2023
• School of Making & Thinking, Immersion 5.0, 2023
• High Concept Labs, 2020/21
• Banff Behavior, Swarm Residency, 2019
• Crosstown Arts, 2019
• Culture Hub LA, 2018
• Vermont Studio Center Residency 2013, 2015

GRANTS and AWARDS

• Chicago DCASE Individual Artist Grant, 2023
• SAIC Diversity Infusion Grant 2022
• SAIC Faculty Enrichment Grant 2021, 2022
• Envision Grant, Chicago Artist Coalition, 2020
• Mary E. Hofstetter Scholarship for Excellence in Visual Arts, 2020
• Crosstown Arts Fellowship, 2019
• Prix Ars Electronica, Honorable Mention, 2018
• UCLA Clifton Webb Scholarship, 2017
• UCLA Regents Fellowship, 2016-2018
• Sondheim Award, Semi Finalist, 2016
• Light City Project Grant, 2015
• Maryland State Arts Council Micro Grant, 2015
• RMAR Artists Helping Artists Grant, 2015
• Vermont Studio Center Artist Grant, 2013
• Vermont Studio Center Artist Grant, 2015
• Ignite Baltimore Grant 2013
• Maryland Institute College of Art Dean’s List 2008-2012

TALKS, PRESENTATIONS, & WORKSHOPS

• Visiting Artist Talk, Virginia Commonwealth University: Critical Issues Class, 2025
• Game Studies: Play(ing) Politics, Society for Literature, Science and the Arts, Dallas 2024
• Floating Point Precision, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago 2024
• Artist Talk for SUNY Purchase College, New Media Department, New York 2024
• Artist Talk for University of Michigan, Performing Arts Technology Department, Ann Arbor 2024
• “Football Practice” Worlds in Play Summit, ASU Media and Immersive eXperience Center, 2024
• “How to be a Good Sport: Protocols of Collective Contribution”, panelist with Zhenzhen Qi, Stacey Kalkowski, Chase Niesner, and Lee Tusman for the “3D Worldbuilding: Contexts, Narratives and Pedagogies” Session organized by Matthew Doyle and Yuehao Jiang, CAA Conference, 2024
• “Who Made This? Navigating the Intersection of AI and Artistic Pedagogy”, panelist, organized by Delinda Collier, SAIC, Chicago 2023
• “Gestures of Opposition”, workshop presented for Performing Arts Forum: Summer University, France, 2023
• “How to be a Good Sport”, Talk presented for [in]formal [in]formations hosted by Center for Concrete and Abstract Machines at New Inc, NY 2023
• “RARA”, Demo & Artist talk as part of Ready Avatar One conference, co-presented by McMaster University and Virginia Commonwealth University, 2023
• “Football Practice” Demo and Artist Talk for Villa Albertine’s Night of Ideas, Chicago, 2022
• Artist Talk for University of Oklahoma, Art Technology & Culture Department, Norman, 2022
• “Reimagining the Third Space: New Metaphors for Online Creative Communities”, Panelist with Lajune McMillian and Lauren Gardner, organized by Lee Tusman and Alice Yuan Zhang, CAA Conference, 2021
• Artist Talk for West Suburban Art Society, Glen Ellyn, 2021
• “Game Day”, artist talk hosted by High Concept Labs, Chicago, 2021
• “RARA”, Artist Talk for Interlude Chicago, Online 2021
• “How to be a Good Sport”, Artist Talk for SAIC ATS Remote Talks, Online 2020
• Praksis Residency 16, Visiting Artist Talk, Online 2020
• Femmebit Twitch Takeover, Panel Curator, featuring the work of Zhong Ren, KT Duffy, Ava Wanbli, AM Darke, Phazero, Jackie Turpin, and Chen Wang.  Online, 2020
• “Dematerialization of the Art Experience”, Panelist with Nadav Assor, Jon Chambers, Richard Haley, Agatha Sunyoung Park, Chelsea Thompto, Nick Bontrager, Meredith Drum, Mona Kasra, Kate Parsons, and Brenda Lopez, organized by Tom Burtonwood and Rachel Clarke for the New Media Caucus Round Table, CAA Conference, Chicago 2020
• Artist Talk for Virtual & Alternate Reality Storytelling, Northwestern University, Chicago 2019
• “Experimental VR” Visiting Artist Talk, for Reality Remix Class, Brown University 2019
• Howlround Digital + Performance Convening, Invited participant, Kingston Ontario 2019
• Resident Artist Talk, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, 2019
• Pecha Kucha Artist Talk, Invited by Chandler McWilliams, Processing Community Day, LA, 2018
• Resident Artist Talk & Workshop, CultureHub, Los Angeles, 2018
• Visiting Artist Talk, Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center, 2017

CURRENT POSITION

Associate Professor, Art & Technology / Sound Practices, 2019- present

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

EDUCATION

MFA, UCLA Design Media Arts 2018

BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, 2012