ABOUT AMENDA TATE
Artist Bio
Amenda Tate is an Interdisciplinary Artist with a background in fine art and metalsmithing. She is an Iowa Creative Incubator Fellow and a 2019 - 2020 Iowa Arts Council Fellow. Her current focus is the Manibus Project in which dance is translated into painted works of art. Her work utilizes scientific and aesthetic processes to address topics such as identity, individuality, longevity, and the culture of social interaction in our digital era. Her works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions across the US.
Tate worked as an Artist-In-Residence with the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, and Ballet Des Moines. Her works have been featured by various media outlets including The New York Times, WHO-TV Channel 13 News, the Denver Post, the book Art Jewelry Today 2, the Des Moines Register, Better Homes & Gardens, dsm Magazine, and Popular Science. Special honors include a permanent collection commission by Arrow Electronics in conjunction with Cherry Arts and the Colorado Ballet, two Editor’s Choice Awards at the New York International Maker Faire, and special recognition award in the 2017 International RobotArt competition. She was awarded a 2020 project grant by the Iowa Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Artist Statement
I am an Interdisciplinary Artist using both scientific and aesthetic processes. I create work that explores movement, our relationship to technology, and the understanding of what it means to be human including the ways in which "humanness" can be denied. I use custom-designed technology, traditional mediums, and social interactions to foster connection. My work encourages audiences to think critically about their relationship to one another in a vast and ubiquitous digital world.
My work explores how participatory art can cross societal divides, break down barriers and increase empathy through tangible and embodied interactions. Through imagination, curiosity, and courage, we can increase our self-awareness to grow introspectively and consciously thereby enabling us to better understand the experiences of others. I conduct happenings/events that encourage public participation in the performative and improvisational creation of collaborative artwork as a means to explore social structures and confirm connections to being emotionally intelligent humans.
CV
EDUCATION
2002 BFA – Metropolitan State University of Denver, Magna Cum Laude
Denver, CO Jewelry/Metalsmithing
2000-01 Bench Jeweler/Apprentice, Todd Reed, Metal Artist
Boulder, CO Jewelry fabrication, repair, soldering, metal forming
1994-98 Iowa State University (ISU)
Ames, IA Mechanical Engineering, Jewelry/Metalsmithing
SELECTED SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2021 Upcoming Solo Exhibition, The Octagon Art Center, Ames, IA
2020 Amenda Tate, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, IA
2020 Memento, OL Guild, West Des Moines, IA
2020 Art at the Museum, State Historical Building, Des Moines, IA
2019 Iowa Women’s Art Exhibition, Governor’s Office, Iowa Capitol
2019 Tracing Time, Artistry MN, Bloomington, MN
2018 Larry Mendenhall & Amenda Tate, Urbandale Library Gallery, Urbandale, IA
2018 Abstract Energy & Kinectic Verve, St John’s Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2018 Manibus: Vestiges of Movement, Iowa State Memorial Union, Ames, IA
2018 Emotional Traces, Oskaloosa Art Center, Oksaloosa, IA
2017 Manibus:Ballet, Innovation, Fine Art, Mars Cafe, Des Moines, IA
2017 Artist-In-Residence Showcase, Des Moines Civic Center, Des Moines, IA
2017 Ballet DM Residency Exhibition, Moxie, Des Moines, IA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 F/Stop, Polk County Heritage Gallery
2020 A Century of Robots from Capek to Now, National Czech Museum, Cedar Rapids, IA
2020 “Untitled” (Fortune Cookie Corner) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, site: West Des Moines, IA
2020 Art Week Film Festival, Catherine Rinehart Studio, Ames, IA
2020 Faculty Exhibition, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
2019 Candid Shots, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS
2019 6th Annual Abstract Catalyst, Verum Ultimum, Portland, OR
2019 Iowa Exhibited XXXIV, Polk County Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2019 Artist Designed Mini Golf, Des Moines Social Club, Des Moines, IA
2019 Index to a Place, Design on Main, Ames, IA
2018 Iowa Artists, Dickinson Law, Des Moines, IA
2017 Visible/Invisible, Oskaloosa Art Center, Oskaloosa, IA
2017 Arrow Five Years Out, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO
2017 Iowa Exhibited XXXII, Polk County Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2017 Departure Theory, H Gallery, Ventura, CA
2017 DUMA Biennial, Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque IA
SELECTED PRESENTATION & INVITED LECTURES
2020 Meet the Artists, Virtual, Iowa Arts Council
2019 Witching Hour Festival, Iowa City with StaxPresents
2019 Central Campus, Tech Journey Lecture
2019 Drake University, Visiting Artist lecture
2018 Iowa State University, Visiting Artist workshop, Industrial Design
2018 Science Center of Iowa, Lecture and demo for SCI Girls Tech
2018 Science Center of Iowa, Featured Maker Lecture at Maker Faire
SELECTED PERFORMANCES & COLLABORATIONS
2021 Sapient 2.021, Video Art Performance, IA
2020 Sapient, National Czech Museum, Cedar Rapids, IA
2019 Screaming Silence Live, GDM Partnership Annual Dinner, Des Moines, IA
2019 Manibus Participatory Happening, Iowa Culture Gala, Des Moines, IA
2019 Weather Report Live with Ed Wilson, WHO-TV Channel 13 News, IA
2019 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire, Science Center of Iowa, Des Moines, IA
2019 Blast! Live Dance-Painting, Science Center of Iowa, Des Moines, IA
2019 Manibus Participatory Happening, Art Week Fitch Studios, Des Moines, IA
2019 Festival of Personal Geographies, Design on Main, Ames, IA
2019 Participatory Dance-Painting, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA
2018 Paul Simon Farewell Tour Party, New York Hall of Science, Queens, NY
2018 World Maker Faire, New York Hall of Science, Queens, NY
2018 Manibus Happening Event, Iowa State Pioneer Room, Ames, IA
SELECTED AWARDS
2019 Iowa Arts Council Fellowship
2018 Two Editor’s Choice Awards, World Maker Faire
2017 Special Recognition Award – International RobotArt Competition
2017 City Sounds Public Piano Project Artist
2017 Arrow Art Challenge Five Years Out Finalist, CherryArts.org
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2019 Art Beacon Digital, Des Moines, IA
2018 New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, New York Mills, MN
2017 Area 515 Makerspace, Des Moines, IA
2017 Ballet Des Moines, Des Moines, IA
COLLECTIONS
Arrow Electronics Innovation Collection, Centennial, CO
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
E.E. Jacks, Apero Fine Art Catalogue, October 2020. 60-61.
Victoria Burnett, “A Homecoming of Good Fortune for an Artist’s Pile of Cookies,” The New York Times, June 12, 2020. online
Sophie Bushwick, “Maker Faire 2018 Preview: Eight Amazing Displays to Check Out,” Popular Science, Sept 17, 2018. online
Alexander Gray, “Amenda Tate and her Dance-Painting Robot,” Iowa State Daily, August 31, 2018. 1&12.
Shelly Ragen, “Corso Exhibit Merges Art and Science,” The Oskaloosa Herald, Oskaloosa, IA, Mar 6, 2018.1&3A.
“Modern Makers: Meet Amenda Tate Corso,” Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, Video Feature, Aug 4, 2017. online
Brianne Sanchez, “To Boldly Go: Artists Push Themselves and Their Work in New Directions,” dsm Magazine, Des Moines, IA, Mar/Apr 2018. 115-123.
Courtney Crowder, “Tiny Robot Ballerina Glides into Des Moines,” The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA. 1&5A