Visual Arts Professor Receives Fulbright Grant
Rachelle Beaudoin to be an artist-in-residence in Vienna, Austria
Striving to take her artistic vision to international heights, Rachelle Beaudoin ’04, lecturer of visual arts at the College, has recently received a Fulbright Grant to be an artist-in-residence at the quartier21, a center for contemporary art in Vienna, Austria. Next spring, she will spend two months collaborating with members of Mz. Baltazar’s Laboratory, a non-profit that specializes in do-it-yourself projects.
“The group is uniquely focused on women,” says Beaudoin. “It invites women to work on electronics projects in an encouraging and supportive environment.” She will be creating a wearable technology art piece called “Positive Affirmation Underwear.” In the piece, an altered bra and underwear will play pre-recorded affirmations when put on the body, such as “You are genuine,” and, “You are beautiful,” which contrasts with current sexualized social ideology.
Beaudoin explains, “I am very interested in collaborative art-making practices and social practice.” The Fulbright Grant will allow her to “work internationally with other artists who have similar interests.”
After completing a grueling application that included a sizeable project description, letters of support from both home and abroad, and visual samples of previous work, Beaudoin thanks Holy Cross for making her the artist she is today. “The College is a very special place to me and has always been a place where I have felt supported in my artistic endeavors,” she says. As a student, she worked with professors Cristi Rinklin, Michael Beatty and Susan Schmidt of the visual arts department, who helped her infuse her work “with meaning, using art as a method of communication and cultural critique.”
A member of the Holy Cross class of 2004, she studied studio art and played ice hockey. She earned her M.F.A in digital media from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2007. She is also a 2007 graduate of the Brown University Sheridan Teaching Program. Beaudoin teaches digital media and is currently in residence at the Anderson Ranch in Snowmass, Colorado. As a performance and video artist, she creates videos in her exploration of feminist iconography and “the body, as site for art, and activator, and as an object.”
Beaudoin will be displaying three videos in “Spark: A Celebration of Alumnae Artists from Holy Cross,” on view from March 14 – April 12, in the Cantor Art Gallery at the College.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.
Related Information
For additional information, please contact Cristal Steuer at 508-793-2419.