Kendra Paitz is Director and Chief Curator at University Galleries of Illinois State University. She has organized solo exhibitions of work by Terry Adkins, Jen Bervin, Stephanie Brooks, Kendell Carter, Juan Angel Chávez, Bethany Collins, william cordova, Jess T. Dugan, Adam Farcus, Dianna Frid, Aram Han Sifuentes, Alice Hargrave, Erin Hayden, Oliver Herring (co-curated with Barry Blinderman), Gina Hunt, Stanya Kahn, Caroline Kent, Wonsook Kim, Irena Knezevic (Irena Haiduk), Jason Lazarus (co-curated with Barry Blinderman), Laura Letinsky, Nazafarin Lotfi, Cecil McDonald Jr. (co-curated), Schuyler Maehl, Basim Magdy, Kambui Olujimi, Ebony G. Patterson, Jason Reblando, Melanie Schiff, Carrie Schneider, Shinique Smith, Deb Sokolow, Edra Soto, Anna Von Mertens, Lori Waxman, and Rana Young, among others. Her group exhibitions include An Infinite and Omnivorous Sky, Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy, The House of the Seven Gables, Orison for the Forest, and but you gave me flowers. She has edited and supervised the publication of fifteen exhibition catalogues at University Galleries. Paitz's essays and interviews have been published by University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois; Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Daylight Books; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa; and Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, among others. She has been the Principal Investigator for multiple grants from each of the following: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, and Illinois Arts Council Agency, among others. In 2018, Paitz founded the Teen Art Group at University Galleries. She was also the founding director at Violet Poe Projects, an independent artist-project space in her home from 2010-2015.
Paitz's 2020 exhibition, An Infinite and Omnivorous Sky, featured 29 works by 19 artists that critically engage in poetic, scientific, and geopolitical views of the cosmos. Participating artists: Amy Balkin, Jen Bervin, James Bridle, william cordova, Rohini Devasher, Ala Ebtekar, Spencer Finch, Dianna Frid, Carrie Gundersdorf, Basim Magdy, Brittany Nelson, Demetrius Oliver, Kambui Olujimi, Lisa Oppenheim, Trevor Paglen, Katie Paterson, Dario Robleto, Cauleen Smith, and Kerry Tribe. The 160-page exhibition catalogue includes texts by Amy Balkin, Jen Bervin, william cordova, Basim Magdy, Kambui Olujimi, Kendra Paitz, and Megan Prelinger.
Paitz's 2016 exhibition, Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy, featured the works of 21 women artists that acknowledge women writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf, Clarice Lispector, Emily Dickinson, and María Elena Cruz Varela, among others. Exhibiting artists: Jen Bervin, Stephanie Brooks, Anne Collier, Bethany Collins, Moyra Davey, Marcelline Delbecq, Abigail DeVille, Eve Fowler, Dianna Frid, Coco Fusco, Sabina Ott, Melissa Pokorny, Dawn Roe, Kay Rosen, Carrie Schneider, Xaviera Simmons, Lisa Tan, Cecilia Vicuña, Catherine Wagner, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis. The 144-page exhibition catalogue includes an introduction and essay by Paitz; texts by artists Xaviera Simmons, Kay Rosen, Cecilia Vicuña, and Marcelline Delbecq and art historians Melissa Johnson, Deborah Willis and Cheryl Finley; and a bibliography by Chrissy LaMaster.
Paitz sees herself not only as an exhibition-maker and writer, but also as an educator and advocate. (Interview. Interview. Interview.) She is deeply committed to collaboration and outreach, developing free programming that extends beyond the gallery walls. Examples include partnering with the Illinois State University Planetarium to screen Kambui Olujimi's "Skywriters;" organizing Oliver Herring's collaborative TASK Parties with educators throughout the Midwest; engaging Illinois State University's Debate Team in a performance with Irena Knezevic; curating outdoor projects; organizing satellite exhibitions and reading groups; partnering with not-for-profit organizations for tours of nature preserves; and working with faculty and students in the School of Theatre and Dance to create site-responsive performances.
Paitz's 2020 exhibition, An Infinite and Omnivorous Sky, featured 29 works by 19 artists that critically engage in poetic, scientific, and geopolitical views of the cosmos. Participating artists: Amy Balkin, Jen Bervin, James Bridle, william cordova, Rohini Devasher, Ala Ebtekar, Spencer Finch, Dianna Frid, Carrie Gundersdorf, Basim Magdy, Brittany Nelson, Demetrius Oliver, Kambui Olujimi, Lisa Oppenheim, Trevor Paglen, Katie Paterson, Dario Robleto, Cauleen Smith, and Kerry Tribe. The 160-page exhibition catalogue includes texts by Amy Balkin, Jen Bervin, william cordova, Basim Magdy, Kambui Olujimi, Kendra Paitz, and Megan Prelinger.
Paitz's 2016 exhibition, Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy, featured the works of 21 women artists that acknowledge women writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf, Clarice Lispector, Emily Dickinson, and María Elena Cruz Varela, among others. Exhibiting artists: Jen Bervin, Stephanie Brooks, Anne Collier, Bethany Collins, Moyra Davey, Marcelline Delbecq, Abigail DeVille, Eve Fowler, Dianna Frid, Coco Fusco, Sabina Ott, Melissa Pokorny, Dawn Roe, Kay Rosen, Carrie Schneider, Xaviera Simmons, Lisa Tan, Cecilia Vicuña, Catherine Wagner, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis. The 144-page exhibition catalogue includes an introduction and essay by Paitz; texts by artists Xaviera Simmons, Kay Rosen, Cecilia Vicuña, and Marcelline Delbecq and art historians Melissa Johnson, Deborah Willis and Cheryl Finley; and a bibliography by Chrissy LaMaster.
Paitz sees herself not only as an exhibition-maker and writer, but also as an educator and advocate. (Interview. Interview. Interview.) She is deeply committed to collaboration and outreach, developing free programming that extends beyond the gallery walls. Examples include partnering with the Illinois State University Planetarium to screen Kambui Olujimi's "Skywriters;" organizing Oliver Herring's collaborative TASK Parties with educators throughout the Midwest; engaging Illinois State University's Debate Team in a performance with Irena Knezevic; curating outdoor projects; organizing satellite exhibitions and reading groups; partnering with not-for-profit organizations for tours of nature preserves; and working with faculty and students in the School of Theatre and Dance to create site-responsive performances.