Karen Frostig

Areas of Expertise

Visual Art; Critical Theory; Art and Trauma; Memory; Genocide Studies; Feminist Theory


Email: kfrostig@brandeis.edu

Current Project

The Vienna Project is based upon a collection of letters written by my grand-parents, between 1938-1941. The work encompasses arts-based methodologies and social interventionist strategies, grounded in feminist theory. Phase two of the project includes a series of memory panels, a traveling exhibition, and embarking on a book proposal that features three intersecting timelines dealing with intergenerational trauma.

Biography

Karen Frostig is a visual artist, author, and international activist, whose work examines issues pertaining to genocide, public memory and voice. The Vienna Project focuses on her family’s Holocaust history and addresses her recent acquisition of dual citizenship in Austria, 70 years after the Anschluss. The project deals with ideas about belonging and displacement, alongside a multi-national discussion regarding the tenuous nature of a homeland for diasporic Jews, carrying Holocaust legacies.

An associate professor in visual arts at Lesley University, Karen exhibits her work across the US and in Europe, and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. She received several Massachusetts Cultural Council grants, a Puffin Foundation grant, a Shelley Tyre grant, and numerous Lesley University grants and fellowships. She is co-author and co-editor of two books, as well as several essays and journal publications. Karen’s interest in feminist scholarship and activism is reflected in her leadership roles in various feminist arts organizations: currently regional coordinator of The Feminist Art Project, member of the national board of the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA), chair of the WCA publications committee, former co-president of the Boston WCA chapter (2006-08) and co-chaired the 2006 Annual Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) National Conference, chairing the conference panel program.

Education

Ph.D., Union Institute and University

M.Ed., Lesley University

B.F.A., Mass. College of Art and Design

Representative Publications

Frostig, Karen, & Halamka, K. A, editors.  Blaze: Discourse on Art, Women and Feminism. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007.

Frostig, Karen.  “Transnational Dialogues Dealing with Holocaust Legacies” In G.L.O.B.A.L.I.Z.A.T.I.O.N., Art and Education, edited by Elizabeth Delacruz,  Alice Arnold, Ann Kuo and Michael Parsons (in progress). Reston, VA: National Art Education, 2009.

Links

Curriculum Vitae
 
Personal Web Site        

Blaze: Discourse on Art, Women and Feminism