Dr. Grant Vetter

 
 
 

CURRICULUM VITAE

 

RESUME

 

2019-2020, Post-Doc in Curatorial Studies.

International Curators Program (ICP) at the Node Center for Curatorial Studies.

 

2016-2019, Post-Doc in Professionalization for the Arts and Arts Administration.

Praxis: The Center for Aesthetic Studies

 

2009-2014, Ph.D., Philosophy, Art & Critical Thought, graduated Summa cum laude.

Europäische Universität für interdisziplinäre Studien, (European Graduate School - University for Interdisciplinary Studies).

 

2006-2009, Master of Fine Arts, with an emphasis in critical theory.

University of California, Irvine (UCI), and the Critical Theory Institute (CTI). 

 

2005-2007, Master of Arts in Media and Communications, graduated with distinction.

Europäische Universität für interdisziplinäre Studien, (European Graduate School - University for Interdisciplinary Studies).

 

2000-2005, Bachelor of Fine Arts, graduated with honors.

Art Center College of Design (ACCD).

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORK RESUME – Employment History

 

2022

  • Senior Gallery Director, Mesa Community College

The core competencies associated with being the Senior Gallery Director at MCC Art Gallery include planning exhibitions in the main gallery, organizing installations across the campus including public art commissions, and coordinating installations from the permanent collection throughout the ten Maricopa County Community Colleges and the Drachler Art Library. The main duties of the position include developing diverse curatorial initiatives, promotional campaigns, working on exhibition design, and coordinating shows for teachers, students and outside proposals throughout the year. The Senior Gallery Director also produces content for the school of art website and social media channels as well as promoting our curatorial projects through various arts organizations and partnerships. In addition to these duties the Senior Gallery Director also trains and oversees two associate curators and works with artists in our residency program. 

 

  • Moderator: “Redefining the Creator / Greater Economy” at Mesa Community College. Artists on the panel: Chris Trueman, Rembrandt Quiballo and Lindsay Scoggins.
  • Workshop: “How to Create Digital Art” at Mesa Community College. 
  • Moderator: “Art and Transnational Identity” at Mesa Community College. Artists on the panel: Swapna Das and Shachi Kale.
  • Host: MCC Creative Conversations with Antionette Cauley and Sam Fresquez.
  • Host: The “Artists of Promise” Gala, an all-district Maricopa Community College event.
  • Art Reviewer: Art + Cake, an on-line arts journal. “Larry Madrigal and the Aesthetics of Relief” at Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles.
  • Catalog essayist: Erin Lawlor at Miles McEnery Gallery, New York. “Saving the Spaces of Painting: 24 Notes on the Recent Work of Erin Lawlor”, by Grant Vetter. 
  • Catalog essayist: “Mike Jacobs: The Interstice”, by Grant Vetter

 

 

2019-2022

  • Instructor, Arizona State University, Curatorial Department, MFA Capstone, Art & Entrepreneurship.

The core competencies associated with teaching curatorial practice in the Art Department included developing online content for the following courses: Curatorial Histories: 1800-Present, the Philosophy of Curatorial Practice, Curation and Globalization, Contemporary Issues in Curatorial Practice, and Art and Design Criticism. 

-       Curatorial History: 1800-Present takes a critical look at the rise of different exhibition practices in the pre-modern, modern, postmodern and contemporary periods. Students in the course learn about different institutional methodologies, the innovations of singular figures and have discussions about landmark exhibitions that shifted the way curatorial practice has developed throughout the ages. 

-       The Philosophy of Curatorial Practice takes a critical look at the principles and methodologies that curators have used to organize exhibitions form 1800s to the Present. Students in the course learn about different institutional contexts, how these are being challenged by institutional critique, “the new institutionalism”, decoloniality, and other models for how we can organize institutions to be anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, etc. 

-       Curation and Globalization takes a critical look at the history of art exhibitions with a special focus on World’s Fairs, Art Biennials and Post-Biennial Platforms as well as what the changing definitions of Modern, Postmodern, Contemporary and Global Art mean in a 21stcentury context. 

-       Contemporary Issues in Curatorial Practice takes a critical look at the most innovative methods that curators have used to organize exhibitions since the birth of Postmodernism. Students learn to question colonialism, institutional biases, systemic racism, white privilege, and other hegemonic models of power that exist within curatorial practice today. 

-       Art and Design Criticism takes a critical look at the values and determinations of art critics from the 1800s to the Present. Neo-Classical, Romantic, Modern, Postmodern and Pluralist models of art criticism are subject to a rigorous critique eurocentrism, phallo-centricism, white privilege, and other models of critical inquiry.

 

  • Art Reviewer for JAVA Magazine. 

The duties of being an art critic included writing reviews of significant local, national and international artists exhibiting throughout Arizona. This position also required pitching ideas for stories, meeting with artists and other arts professionals, documenting works and exhibitions and working on tight deadlines with a quick turn-around. 

                     Reviews

-       “The Politics of Presence and Presentment: New Works by Angela Ellsworth, Merryn Alaka, and Sam Fresquez” at Lisa Sette Gallery.

-       "James Angel: Painting Between the Logics of Series and Succession" at the Mood Room.

-       “Caroline Estelle: A New Image of American Beyond Repressive Desublimation” at Step Gallery.

-       “He Gong and Mark Pomilio: An Intersection of Idioms” at Mesa Center for the Arts.

-       “Oracles of the Other” at Modified Arts.

-       “Protected Vulnerability: On the New works of Carry Merrill” at Lisa Sette Gallery.

-       “Art & Legend” at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

-       “Curating Counter-Landscapes” at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA)

-       “Mary Meyer and an Art of Conscience and Consequence” at Mesa Center for the Arts.

 

  • Curatorial Coordinator for Artlink Phoenix, Media and Communications Specialist.

The core competencies associated with being the Curatorial Coordinator at Artlink included organizing, promoting and helping to develop open calls for exhibitions, public art projects and special art events throughout the city. This included working on social media, analytics, and advertising campaigns to grow engagement and awareness about the opportunities for artists throughout Arizona. Graphic design, photography and writing promotional copy were essential aspects of the job along with note taking at meetings, professional correspondence and multi-tasking. 

 

 

2016-2019

  • Galleries Director, Fine Art Specialist, Arizona State University.

The core competencies associated with being the Galleries Director at Arizona State University included overseeing three separate galleries on two different campuses as well as arranging exhibitions for display cases in the art building. The main duties of the position included organizing the exhibition schedule, promotion, installation and de-install of our diverse curatorial initiatives, as well as coordinating the MFA thesis exhibitions, BFA thesis exhibitions, ASU club exhibitions and proposed shows for the gallery system throughout the year. In addition to these curatorial duties, the Galleries Director also teaches two courses, one on the history of curatorial practice (ARA 460: Gallery Exhibitions) and a professionalization course (ART 482: Senior Projects) as well as serving on MFA thesis committees and guided independent studies with graduate students (ARA 592: Independent Research). In addition to these duties, the Galleries Director also produces content for the school of art website and social media channels as well as promoting our curatorial projects through various arts organizations and advertising partnerships. The position also included hiring, training and overseeing three T.A.'s, a photography team, and thirty plus student workers who participate in our galleries system as docents, art installers, lighting technicians, etc. Beyond these on-campus duties, the Galleries Director also acts as a stakeholder for the interests of the ASU galleries system at the state capital, throughout the greater metro Phoenix area, at Tempe city council meetings, warehouse district meetings, innovation district meetings, artlink meetings and various special events throughout the year.

-       Gallery Exhibitions examines the history of curatorial practice through a different topic each week. These topics included: Introduction to Curatorial Histories, Curation and Globalization, Curatorial Methodologies, Feminism and Curatorial Practice, Curating LGBTQAI+ Art, Curating Black and Post-Black Art, Curating Latinx Exhibitions, Curating Indigenous Art, Curating and Relational Aesthetics, Curating New Media Art, Curating Earth, Land and Environmental Art, Curating Bio-Art, Sci-Art and Posthumanism. 

-       BFA / MFA Graduate Thesis Capstone and Professionalization was designed to prepare students to engage in the professional art market as well as how to best utilize their skills in order to acquire gainful employment upon graduation.

 

 

2014-Present

  • Program Director, Fine Art Complex.

The core competencies associated with the Program Director of Fine Art Complex including being responsible for the day-to-day operations of a non-profit arts organization dedicated to gaining wider exposure for under-represented artists and underserved communities. This includes organizing exhibitions, writing press releases, updating the website, holding board meetings, participating in financial planning and fundraising as well as organizing the documentation, transportation, installation and the insurance of artworks. The Program Director is responsible for programming four separate spaces at Fine Art Complex which includes a main gallery, a project room, the new media arts center and a public works space that is on view 24/7. Programming often involves collaborating with visiting curators, visiting artists, and other key members of the arts community to create events and exhibitions that benefit emerging, unrepresented and under-represented artists.

Catalog Essays

-       "Craig Randich: Derivative." 60 pgs.

-       "New Works by Janet Diaz: Thinking about the notion of "US" in the UndercommonS and US Politics today." 70 pgs.

-       "Jonathan Marquis: Living Life after the Reign of the Eather Eaters." 105 pgs.

-       "Shiva Alibadi: Abshar / Cascade." 50 pgs.

-       "Rossitza Todorova: Distance is Measured in Time." 75 pgs.

-       "Molly Koehn: Support Systems." 60 pgs.

-       "Lisa von Hoffner: Kaleidiscopia." 45 pgs.

-       "Erika Lynn Hanson: Wave." 40 pgs.

-       "Peter Bugg: Once Removed." 80 pgs.

-       "Cydnei Mallory: Accumulation." 45 pgs.

 

2014-2016

  • Art Reviewer for ArtsBeacon, an on-line arts journal.

The duties of being an art critic included writing reviews of significant local, national and international artists exhibiting throughout the greater Phoenix Metro area, Tempe and Scottsdale. This position also required pitching ideas for stories, meeting with artists and other arts professionals, documenting works and exhibitions and working on tight deadlines with a quick turn-around. 

                    Reviews

-       “Thinking about Civilization and its Creaturely Discontents: New works by Laura Strohacker and Kendra Sollars” at Five Fifteen Arts.

-       “Mala Breuer: A Retrospective Review in Four Parts” at Bentely Gallery.

-       “Clarita Lulic and Inter-Relational Aesthetics: Intimacy, Inquiry and the Interpersonal Refrain” at Night Gallery.

-       “Abstract Reverberations: A Review of Carrie Merill’s New Works” at Lisa Sette Gallery.

-       “Geometric Abstraction as a Matter of Scale and Refrain: A Review of Recent Works by Dion Johnson” at Bentely Gallery.

-       “Bruce Munro” at Lisa Sette Gallery and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA).

-       “Tales on the Horizon: Kelly Richardson’s new work” at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA)

-       “Speaking in the Name of Minimalism at Bentley Gallery” at Bentely Gallery. 

 

2011-2014

  • Program Director and Head Curator of Autonomie Arts, a non-profit arts organization.

The core competencies associated with being the Program Director and Head Curator of the day-to-day operations of a non-profit arts organization included developing exhibits that supported emerging and under-represented artists. The duties of the Program Director and Head Curator included organizing exhibitions, writing press releases, updating the website, participating in financial planning and fundraising as well as organizing the documentation, transportation, installation and insurance of artworks.  In addition to these duties the Program Director and Head Curator was also responsible for supporting community outreach programs and traveling exhibitions that work to build intercultural dialogue. During my time as Program Director and Head Curator I was able to move Autonomie Arts into two larger spaces, curated over forty exhibitions, and organized The Arts Resource Center in order to connect artists with greater career opportunities.

I was elected to the board of FAR to assist in organizing exhibitions, distributing awards, holding meetings and furthering the mission of the organization through strategic outreach initiatives. This included hosting the famous ATA (artist talk art) series, developing fund raising strategies for special projects through grant proposals and partnering with other institutions, curators and artists to develop challenging and innovative exhibition programming. 

  • Panelist: "Art & Social Media" with Kio Griffith, Sharon Butler and Julia Schwartz at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).
  • Guest Speaker: "Art and Professionalization" with John Millei at the Art Center College of Design (ACCD). 
  • Guest Speaker: "Art and the Architecture of Control" at the Torrance Art Museum.

 

2012

  • Author, The Architecture of Control: A Contribution to the Critique of the Science of Apparatuses. Published by Zero Books. 

The focus of my first book was broadening the scope of the Foucaultian project of understanding social control through an in-depth analysis of the micro-physics of power. This lead me to develop an entirely new lexicon for thinking about the process of subjectivation in relation to architecture, culture and capitalism. The book spent more than a year as a top seller in its genre and was endorsed my major figures in the field of surveillance studies, philosophy and critical theory, including Mark Poster and William Bogard. It was reviewed in Interstitial Journal and is often cited as an important contribution to thinking about how governmentality operates in both the east and the west through architectural forms. 

-       Back Cover: Through six meditations on the ideology of architecture, Grant Vetter is able to give us an entirely new set of coordinates for understanding social control in the twenty-first century. Moving between historical precedents in the east and the west, Vetter's work reveals a hybrid order of architectural power that acts on subjectivity from within rather than without. Whether characterized as a process of indo-colonization, social ionization or a sub-atomizing social physics, Vetter's account of architectural subjectivation requires a complete rethinking of power/knowledge as invested in producing perfected subjects rather than normative ones. This new paradigm can be described as a sovereign power in as much as it acts directly on the body through enterrogatory discipline, inferrogatory infomatics, modulated (in)dividualism, auto-affective attunement and incentivizing injunctions. As a critical rejoinder to the discourse of Panopticism, The Architecture of Control is essential reading for everyone who is interested in new modes of resistance to the designs of biopower and imperial democracy.

  • Finalist: The William and Dorothy Yeck Award for Painting.
  • Published: Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, Volume 15, Issue 3. Review of Non-Stop Inertia by Ivor Southwood. Pgs. 487-489.

 

2010-2012

The core competencies of teaching the Philosophy of Agency and Action in Cultural Production included providing a critical overview of the architectural philosophy from the 18th century to the present with a specific focus on agency and action within architectural practice. My duties included lecturing, assigning weekly, mid-term and final projects as well as providing feedback on student projects in both individual and group critiques. I also sat on Graduate committees and contributed programming to the gallery and guest lecturer series. 

  • Winner: M.F.A. NOW, International Painting Competition.
  • Catalog: Pitzer College, "Capitalism in Question", Essays by Daniel Joseph Martinez, Daniel A. Segal and Ciara Ennis.
  • Panelist: Pitzer College, Pitzer Art Galleries, "Capitalism in Question" with Daniel Joseph Martinez, Ian Arenas, Matthew Brandt, James Melinat, Gabie Strong, Kara Tanake, and Bill Anthes.

-       Held in conjunction with talks by Aviva Chomsky on "Capitalism in Question: Rethinking labor and environmental histories", Marshall Sahlins on "Infrastructuralism", Ching Kwan Lee on "The labor question of Chinese capitalism in Africa", Ellen Harper and Stuart McConnell on "Songs of work and resistance", Sherry Ortner on "The darkness of American films: Late capitalism, 'Generation X' and the global impact of the American dream", J. Phillip Thompson on "Capitalism in transition: From competition to cooperation", Juliet Schor on "From ecocide to plenitude: From capitalism to sustainability", and Richard Parker, "If we're all Keynesians (Again), just what sort of Keynesians are we?".

 

2007-2012 

The core competencies of being the Assistant Director/Coordinator for the West Coast Group of students at EGS included organizing and leading discussion groups with graduate students residing in Southern California who were pursuing a Ph.D. or masters in philosophy and communications. The main duties of the Assistant Director/Coordinator for the West Coast Group included facilitating the peer review process, giving feedback in on-line forums, and helping students to prepare for their thesis defense. Other duties associated with this position included helping to coordinate travel, working on orientation day, and helping students with the enrollment process.

I was selected to represent the interests of the Alumni of the Art Center College of Design in searching for a qualified candidate to oversee the Humanities and Design Sciences department at ACCD. My main duties were to help develop the screening questions for potential candidates for hire, promote the public presentations of candidates who were currently under review and making sure that we followed the university guidelines throughout the selection process.

  • Winner: Orange County Arts Grant for Drawing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking and Sculpture.
  • Catalog: Constant Gallery, "Ab-Extradition". Essays on my work by Jacques Rancière, Christabel Wiebe and Marko Zlomislic. 

 

2008-2009 

  • Instructor at UCI (University of California, Irvine), Painting.

The core competencies associated with teaching introductory painting classes to undergraduate fine art students at UCI included lecturing on topics from the use of artistic materials to the exploration of ideas from modernism to the present. The painting instructor was also responsible for assigning weekly, mid-term and final projects as well as leading class critiques. Additionally, the instructor was expected to give live demonstrations of different paintings techniques, organize an open painting lab based on classical and contemporary themes and promoting an atmosphere of inquiry, growth and self-expression.

The core competencies of being an instructor at the Norton Simon Museum of Art included lecturing to students and the general public on the technical aspects of drawing as well as providing brief informal lectures on the historical context of twentieth century art. The conclusion of each days instruction ended with providing individual feedback on in-class assignments, a group critique and the distribution of additional handouts or resources that could help students improve their drawing skills.

  • Teaching assistant for Michael Hardt at EGS, Political Activism: Multiplicity and Empire and Fred Ulfers for Nietzsche in Contemporary Thought.

As a T.A. I was tasked with helping to distribute selected readings, facilitating class discussions, grading assignments and running an on-line forum for students questions and concerns. 

  • Interviewed: Art Forum: Contemporary Issues in Art & Architecture, Vol 29. Number 2. Fall.
  • Reviewed: New University Press, Feb, "Dos, Duo, Double". By Elizabeth Watkins.
  • Reviewed: Direct Art Magazine, Fall-Winter issue. By Sam Keith.

 

2006-09

  • Awarded: The UC Irvine Teaching Assistant Fellowship.

 

2006-08

  • Teaching Assistant for David Trend at UCI for Everyday Culture: Art, Media and Technology and Martha Gever for Introduction to Documentary Film.

As a T.A. I was tasked with distributing class materials, providing the teacher with technical support in the lecture hall and grading class assignments. This included screening films for the class, leading group discussions on film and cultural theory, and tutoring students during office hours. 

  • Winner: Orange County Arts Grant for Drawing, Painting and Printmaking.
  • Reviewed: Orange County Weekly, "Decadence Conference", Wonderoom. By Nardine A. Saad.

 

2002-2007

The core competencies for this position revolved around teaching introductory level art classes to high school students. This included lecturing on the fundamentals of color, composition, form, anatomy and visual storytelling. The instructor was also responsible for developing curriculum and organizing a final presentation of the student work that was completed in the course. During my time in this position I introduced comic book story-telling, storyboarding and figure invention classes to the program, as well as regularly teaching a one-week intensive course on illustration techniques in the summers.

 

2004-2007

  • Assistant for Jim Shaw L.L.C.

The core competencies of this position included working on large-scale mural works, easel painting and various drawing projects that were shown in both national and international exhibitions as well as the L.A. Weekly.

 

2005-2006 

  • Instructor at CAAM (California African American Museum), Afterschool Programs.

The core competencies for this job revolved around teaching art classes to high school students. This included teaching the fundamentals of visual storytelling for comic books and other illustration techniques. Duties included curriculum development, class demonstrations and a final presentation of student works completed in the course.

  • Reviewed: Art Forum Picks, Art Forum on-line, JSA (Jim Shaw's Army).
  • Interviewed: DOT Magazine, Issue 11.
  • Inker: L.A. Weekly, Nov. 18th-24th, Vol 27. No. 52, Jim Shaw's Comics.

 

2002-05

  • Awarded: The Bradford Hall Arts Scholarship.
  • Awarded: The San Marino League Arts Scholarship.
  • Awarded: The Pasadena Art Alliance Scholarship.
  • Awarded: The Art Center Scholarship.

 

2001-04 

  • Instructor, Art Center College of Design, Kids Program.

The core competencies of this position revolved around teaching students from 4th through 8th grade basic drawing and painting skills. Duties included curriculum development and a final presentation of the student works completed in the course.

 

2001-2002

  • Founded the 'Master Class' in Drawing at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena.

I organized and served as a teacher’s aid for Glen Villpu, Steve Houston and john Watkiss. My duties included videography, tutoring, and assisting with the distribution of class materials.

 

1997

  • Interviewed: The State Press, Vol. 81. No. 117. Friday, April 4, 1997. "Comic Character: ASU Student creates own funny business for artists", By Cadonna Peyton.

 

1996-1999

  • Founded Uncut Comics.

I founded a comic book company where I oversaw the art production of eight issues and one card set of the Uncut Comics characters. My job included working with ten artists per an issue, attending conventions, doing roundtable discussions, and leading drawing workshops. I also gained experience working with printing companies, distributors, and advertisers.

 

1996

  • Winner: The Drafting Olympics, State, Bronze Metal in Orthographic Projection. Invitation to speak at the state capital.

 

 

 

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