Heather Layton
- Associate Professor of Art
MFA, Painting, State University of New York at New Paltz, 2002
- Office Location
- Sage Art Center
- Telephone
- (585) 755-6819
- Web Address
- Website
Office Hours: By appointment
Research Overview
Research Interests
- Art diplomacy
- socially engaged art
- painting and drawing
- installation
- interdisciplinary art
Courses Offered (subject to change)
- SART 121: Introductory Painting
- SART 222: Advanced Painting
- SART 223: Food Matters: Gender, Ethnicity, Religion and Justice
- SART 281: Performance Art and Community Engagement
- SART 396: Senior Studio
- SART 397: Senior Seminar
- AHST 300: Art NY Field Studio
- AHST 305: Art NY Colloquium
Selected Exhibitions
- The Weight of Optimism, Br. Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, 2022 (solo)
- Inaugural Saudi-American Art Exhibition, juried by the U.S. Consulate, Jeddah, and the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts, online, 2020 (solo)
- The Sum of Wishful Thinking, MoCA LI (Museum of Contemporary Art Long Island), Patchogue, NY, 2019 (solo)
- America Is…, curated by Rachel Adams and Taylor Bythewood-Porter, Touchstone Gallery, Washington D.C., 2019 (juried)
- Social Justice in the Misinformation Age, curated by Susan Crite, Freedman Gallery, Albright College, PA, 2019 (juried)
- Crossings, El Sótano Art Space, Brooklyn, New York, 2018, (juried)
- The State of Our Shared Land, curated by Wassan Al-Khudari, St. Louis Artists Guild, St. Louis, Missouri, First Place Juror’s Award, 2018 (juried)
- Coping Mechanisms, Buffalo Art Studios, Buffalo, NY, 2017 (with Allen Topolski), 2017
- 59 Days of Independence, Ortlip Gallery, Houghton College, Houghton, NY, 2017 (with Brian Bailey)
- Compartmented, curated by Evelyne LeBlanc-Roberge and Missy Phohl-Smith, Rochester Lyric Opera, Rochester, NY, 2015 (juried)
- Inevitable Defeat of the Tree-Huggers, curated by Saša Nabergoj, PORTIZMIR 3
- International Contemporary Art Triennial, K2 Contemporary Art Center, Izmir, Turkey, 2014
- The Blind Spot Underground for Shock-u-mentaries, curated by Beth Giacummo, Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY, 2014 (juried)
- The Magnificent Ascension of Irreplaceable Objects, At Home Gallery and Contemporary Art Centre, Šamorín, Slovakia, 2013 (solo)
- Home Drone, Hampden Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, CT, 2013 (with Brian Bailey)
- The Inevitable Defeat of the Tree-Huggers, International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK, 2012 (solo)
- Living Room Churches and Outspoken Saints, Buffalo Art Studio, Buffalo, NY, 2012 (solo) Ally/Enemy, Arts West Gallery, Elon University, Elon, NC, 2011 (solo)
- Naming the Animals, Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ, 2011 (juried)
- Parables for a Compassionate Revolution, Colacino Gallery, Nazareth College, Rochester, NY, 2010 (solo)
- Preparing to Lose, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY, 2010 (with Joshua Greene)
- Letters to a Future Generation, exhibition and artist-in-residence, Economics Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2019 (solo)
- Thank you for Everything, Bruises and Bumps, Firehouse and Wiseman Gallery, Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon, 2009 (solo with 100+ participants)
- I Know It Happened and It Happened Like This, George Eastman International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, NY, 2008 (solo)
- Hearing Aids, Union Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2006 (with Yevgeniya Kaganovich)
- (sub)Urban Homicide, public intervention performance, Rochester, NY, 2006 (solo)
- Hearing Aids, Towers Art Gallery, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY, 2006 (with Yevgeniya Kaganovich)
- When the Gods Prayed Back, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2006 (solo)
Community Projects
- Community Partner and Student Internship Coordinator, Huther Doyle Substance Abuse Recovery Center, Rochester, NY, 2020
- Teaching Artist, Special Envoy Award, U.S. Dept. of Public Diplomacy, U.S. Consulate, Tasami Art Gallery (Jeddah), Desert Designs (Dharan), Saudi Arabia, 2019
- Co-founder, Nagaland/U.S. International Culture Partnership (2010-current)
- Workshop Program Co-Teacher, Batavia Federally Administrated Detention Facility, 2017
- Turning a Waiting Room into a Welcoming Room, Community-engaged teaching project, Anthony L. Jordan Health Centers, Rochester, NY, 2017, 2018
- Visiting Artist, Community Connections, Ketchikan, Alaska, 2016
- Painting for Health, Collaborating Teacher, Refugees Helping Refugees, 2015
- Co-Director, “Social Intervention Conference 2012: A Better Tomorrow for the Coming Generation”, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan, 2012
Selected Artist Residencies
- Biophilia, Ayatana Art and Science Research Residency, Canada, 2016
- Haslla Art World and International Artist Residency, Gangneung, South Korea, 2015
- Grand Central Art Center Artist-in-Residence, California State University at Fullerton, sponsored by the Andy Warhol Foundation, Santa Ana, CA, 2014
- Dorothea Fleiss East West Artists Residency, Mallnitz, Austria, 2011
Grants and Awards
- Community-Engaged Course Operational Grants, Art in Recovery, Rochester Center for Community Leadership, 2020
- Teaching Innovation Grant, Food Matters, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (with Tatyana Bakmetyeva), 2018
- Community-Engaged Course Operational Grant, Rochester Center for Community Leadership, University of Rochester, 2018
- Humanities Center Grant, University of Rochester, 2016
- Named "Citizen Diplomat" by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs for intercultural projects in Pakistan and Nagaland, 2014
Selected Press
- PBS: AHA!: https://www.pbs.org/video/aha-627-story-based-art-heather-layton-8x6jvy/
- New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/nyregion/a-review-of-shock-u-mentaries-at-the-islip-art-museum.html
- Bard Center for the Drone: https://dronecenter.bard.edu/interview-heather-layton-and-brian-bailey/
- Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/home-drone-art-at-the_b_2962643
- U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs: https://eca.state.gov/ivlp/story/meeting-international-visitors-just-beginning-new-york-couple
- PBS: NewsHour: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/from-new-york-state-to-nagaland-art-film-and-hospitality-are-common-bonds
- CITY Newspaper: https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/womens-work/Content?oid=2473051
- College Art Association: http://caareviews.org/reviews/3288#.YpAvmS1h00o
- The Morung Express: https://morungexpress.com/new-york-state-nagaland