Who is she?
Morgan Chandler Bouldes is an Educator, Interdisciplinary Artist and Writer. Presently, her thoughts are heavily centered around the invisible web & connective tissue of Humankind that are shared experience & emotion. The foundation of her practice is deeply rooted in sharing her personal narrative through experimental storytelling. Her works include, but are not limited to: photography, performance, film, audio & spoken and written word, installation and quilting. Embracing the Ethereal, she meditates heavily on connectedness, spiritual identity, ancestry & the passing of time.
Morgan is a recent graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art, obtaining a MFA in Photography as well as holding a BFA in Photography from Wayne State University. In 2021 she was a recipient of the AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship. Following her 2 year term as a Teaching Fellow she now serves as a full time faculty member at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Statement
The Human Condition is my playscape. At the foundation of my practice is a drive to understand the incomprehensible that is the Ethereal. I am fascinated by the complexities of the relationship between human flesh, faith & spirituality, psychology & lived experience and how they intermingle metaphysically through time. I am drawn to non-linear narratives and have shaped my art practice to reflect that attraction. In my execution I am a curator of experience, often with visuals in accompaniment with audio. Having taken form through digital and analog photography, performance, sight specific mixed-media installation, written and spoken word and quilting. As a whole, my work is focused on telling a subliminal meta-narrative through interdisciplinary experimental storytelling. That meta-narrative is rooted in the philosophy of how I go about art making — enabling vulnerability as a catalyst for human connection and sustaining documentation and observation through the passing of time. Not isolating a single body of work but allowing all of my works to be in conversation with one another; aiming to open up a new realm of understanding not just for the work but in the hearts of my audience. I am a storyteller and my work seeks to unite.
CV/RESUME
WORK EXPERIENCE
July 2024 | Art Residency Program Manager
ACRE Residency | Stueben, WI
Program coordination, management , organization & facilitation
Aug 2023 - Current | Assistant Professor
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design | Milwaukee, WI
Instructor of Digital 2D, Digital 4D Narrative & Experimentation
Freshman Year Experience
Aug 2021 - May 2023 | Teaching fellow
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design | Milwaukee, WI
Instructor of Digital 2D, Digital 4D & RPC:Excavation, Narrative & Experimentation
Freshman Year Experience
Sep 2020-May 2021 | Graduate Diversity Programer
Cranbrook Academy of Art | Bloomfield Hills, MI
Facilitator/liaison for BIPOC Students on campus
President of BIPOC Student Union
Sep 2020-May 2021 | Photography Department Assistant
Cranbrook Academy of Art | Bloomfield Hills, MI
Responsible for department schedule and calendar
Mentor to 1st year students
Responsible for department-wide communications, updates and memos
EDUCATION
Cranbrook Academy of Art , Birmingham, MI — Master of Fine Art, Photography
SEP 2019 - MAY 2021
Wayne State University, Detroit, Mi — Bachelor of Fine Art, Photography
SEP 2015 - MAY 2019
SKILLS
Technical: Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, Digital and Analog Photography, Commercial Printing, Sewing, Graphic Design, Video editing, Gallery Installation, Woodshop & Intermediate Construction, Textiles
Professional: Mentorship, Collegiate level instruction, Facilitation, Quick Learner, Strategic Planning, Communicative, Detail and Goal Oriented, Excellent Customer Service Skills, Team Building, Leadership, Public Speaking, Equanimity
GROUP SHOWS | TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025 Fem-utility: Cohabitate, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO
2022 Carr Center 30th Anniversary, Detroit, MI
2021 Art Mile, Carr Center, Detroit, MI
2021 Art Mile, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
2021 After Effects, Marcellus, MI
2021 Cranbrook Academy of Art Graduate Exhibition, Birmingham, MI
2021 The Stories We Carry, Birmingham, MI
2021 A Way of Escape: Reflections on Ritualism, Carr Center, Detroit MI
2019 Transparency, Whitdel Arts, Detroit, MI
2018 Black Independence Day, Baltimore Gallery, Detroit, MI
2017 VISUALS, Beal Building, Detroit, MI
2016 Girl Gaze, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Yellow Wall, Detroit, MI
AWARDS
2024 The Mountaintop Legacy Award
2021 AICAD Post Graduate Teaching Fellowship
GRANTS
2024 Gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix
PRESS
2024 Urban Milwaukee, “Seven Milwaukee artist accepted to gener8tor art X Sherman Phoenix Fall cohort”
2024 Milwaukee Magazine, “Meet the Local Artists Making Waves in the Gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix 2024 Fall Cohort”, Lilianna Fannin
2024 Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, “MIAD alums, professors receive MCT Black Excellence Awards”
2023 e-flux, “Virtual graduate degree exhibition 2021”
2022 Detroit Free Press, “Detroit Arts and music things to do this weekend, Oct. 28-30”
2022 PBS, “Detroit Performs | Curated By: Sabrina Nelson | Season 11 | Episode 3”
2021 Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, “MIAD WELCOMES THREE AICAD TEACHING FELLOWS THIS FALL”, Dana McCullough
2021 BLAC Magazine, “Artist Morgan Bouldes Works to Create an Immersive Experience”, Nick Pizana
2016 Teen Vogue, “These 18 Instagram Photographers Were Just Featured in the #GirlGaze Art Exhibition”,Amanda De Cadenet
WORKSHOPS
2024-2025 Quilt Club, Glen Hills Middle School, Glendale, MI
2023 Big Brothers Big Sisters Workshop, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2022-Present “Black Quilters Union”, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
2019 Camera basics workshop, Alternatives for Girls, Detroit, MI
RESIDENCIES
2022-2023 ACRE Artist Cooperative Residency, Steuben, WI
PERFORMANCE
2021 Detroit Performs Live from Marygrove - PBS
SYMPOSIUMS
2020 28 Days of Excellence, Detroit International Academy for Young Women
ARTIST TALK
2023 RPC 121: Photography & Storytelling
2021 A Way of Escape: Reflections on Ritualism, Roundtable Discussion, Detroit, MI
VISITING ARTIST
2022 RPC: Photography & Storytelling, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2021 Philosophy of Art, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
2019 Philosophy of Art, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
2019 Philosophy of Art, Wayne State University , Detroit, MI
VISITING CRITIC
2023 NSP Senior Thesis Class
2022-2023 BLAC Exhibition Juror
2022 Photography Department, Cranbrook Academy of Art
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2024 Gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix Accelerator
2023 AICAD Fellow gathering, CCAD, Columbus, OH
2022 ACAD Fellows gathering, SAIC, Chicago, IL
SERVICE TO THE COLLEGE (MIAD)
2024 Greeter, Welcome Back Street Festival
2024 Guide, Admitted Students Day
2023 Volunteer, Welcome Back Street Festival
2023 Photographer, MIAD Defines
2022-2024 Panelist, Senior Thesis Panel
2022 Food server, Welcome Back Street Festival
2021-2023 Reviewer, Portfolio Day
MENTORSHIP
2023 Gener8tor Arts X Sherman Phoenix, Milwaukee, WI
2023 Gener8tor Arts X Sherman Phoenix, Milwaukee, WI
2022-Ongoing Black Leaders Artist Coalition, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2024-2025 NSP2205: Connective Storytelling and Manifested Poetry, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2021-2024 FYE150: Digital 2D, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2021-2024 FYE150: Digital 4D, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2023 FYE121 RPC:Excavation, Narrative & Experimentation, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
COURSE DEVELOPMENT
2024-2025 NSP 220 : Connective Storytelling and Manifested Poetry, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2023 FYE121 RPC:Excavation, Narrative & Experimentation, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
2022 Research Process & Connection, MIAD
2021 Philosophy of Art, Wayne State University
2019 Philosophy of Art, Wayne State University
2019 Philosophy of Art, Wayne State University
RESIDENCIES
2022 ACRE Artist Residency, Steuben, WI