Ash Arder

b. 1988 Muscatawing (Flint, MI). Lives + works in Waawiyatanong (Detroit, MI).

EDUCATION

2016 – 2018 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI: Master of Fine Arts

2006 – 2010 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI: Bachelor of Arts


SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023            “Flesh Tones,” Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

2023            “Whoop House,” Duderstadt Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2022            “Rock Garden,” Riverbank Arts, Flint, Michigan.

2021            “pseudocop,” Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York. [virtual]

2018            “A Study: Collision Detection,” Hartnett Gallery, Rochester, New York.


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026            “Whitney Biennial 2026,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York. [forthcoming]

2024            “Energies,” Swiss Institute, New York, New York. 

2024            “World Without End: The George Washington Carver Project,” California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California.

2023            “Get Together,” Reyes Finn, Detroit, Michigan.

2023            “Motion,” Spot Lite, Detroit, Michigan. 

2022            “Automata,” Arnold’s Auto Electric, Detroit, Michigan.

2022            “Dewdrops in the Garden,” Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California.

2021            “InLight,” 1708 Gallery and Great Shiplock Park, Richmond, Virginia.

2021            “BROOD,” Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead at Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, Michigan.

2019            “Art @ The Max VI,” Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit, Michigan.

2019            “Emergency Contact,” Sadie Halie Projects, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2019            “Parallels and Peripheries,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, Michigan.

2018            “Graduate Degree Exhibition,” Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

2018            “Queer Tropics.” Transformer, Washington, DC.

2018            “Predicated.” The Kitchen, New York, New York.

2017            “Queer Tropics,” Pelican Bomb Gallery X, New Orleans, Louisiana.

2017            “Millennial Pink,” Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2017            “Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental,” Bowerbird, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2016            “Photo Pool,” Public Pool Art Space, Hamtramck, Michigan.


RESIDENCIES

2024            Artist in Residence, Banff International Curatorial Institute, Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

2024           Artist in Residence, Michigan Central x Newlab Art + Technology Residency, Detroit, Michigan. 

2022            Artist in Residence, Solar Power For Artists, New York, New York.

2022            Artist in Residence, University Musical Society and University of Michigan, Flint, Michigan.

2021            Artist in Residence, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, Nebraska.

2019            Artist in Residence, Recess, Brooklyn, New York.

2018            Artist in Residence, A Studio in the Woods, New Orleans, Louisiana.

2018            Visiting Artist, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.

2016            Artist in Residence, University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, Michigan.


FELLOWSHIPS | GRANTS | AWARDS

2026            State of the Art Prize, Creative Capital, New York, New York. 

2025            Knight Arts + Tech Fellow, The Knight Foundation, Miami, Florida.

2024            Arc Fund Awardee, Culture Source, Detroit, Michigan.

2023            Fellow, Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York, New York.

2022            Studio Fellow, Fiber Department, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

2022            Knight Arts Challenge Winner, Knight Foundation, Detroit, Michigan.

2020           Micro Grantee, Red Bull Arts, Detroit, Michigan.

2018            New Beginnings Awardee, Mercedes- Benz Financial Services, Bloomfield Hills,

                       Michigan.

2017            Artist Fellow, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan.

2017            Career Development Grantee, AAUW, Washington, DC.

2017            Merit Scholarship Recipient, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

2016            Knight Arts Challenge Winner (Fringe Society), Knight Foundation, Detroit, Michigan.

2016            Merit Scholarship Recipient, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

2016            Seed Grantee (Fringe Society), Rauschenberg Foundation, New York, New York.

2016            Seed Grantee, Detroit Narrative Agency, Detroit, Michigan.

2015            5 Under 10 Award, University of Michigan Black Alumni, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2014            Field Diversity Scholarship Recipient, Americans for the Arts Annual Convention,

                      Washington, D.C.

2006          Merit Scholarship Recipient, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.


INVITED TALKS

2025            “Designing the Future of Human-Machine Collaboration,” University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan.

2025            “Ash Arder and Kevin Beasley: Contemporary Artist Conversation,” Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan.

2024            “Black Brilliance: Growing Black Artistic & Cultural Futures,” University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

2023            “Heat Waves Opening Conversation,” Amant Foundation, Brooklyn, New York.

2023            “Solar Powered Conversations,” Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan.

2023            “Conversations with Creatives a Council of Fashion Designers of America Impact Educational Series,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, Michigan.

2023            “Visiting Artist Series,” Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

2022            “Feminist Excavations: Unearthing Otherwise Possibilities in the UB Poetry Collection,” University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. [virtual]

2021            “broadcast: broadcast,” Oberlin College and Conservatory, Oberlin, Ohio. [virtual]

2021            “Environmental Art Infiltrations,” Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York. [virtual]

2019            “The Science of Nature and Technology,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, Michigan.

2019            “Art @ the Max VI,” Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit, Michigan.

2019            “Creative Design,” Michigan Forest Bioeconomy Conference, Midland, Michigan.

2019            “Intersection,” Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, Michigan.

2018            “Art in the Anthropocene,” Parsons The New School, New York, New York.

2018            “Collision Detection,” University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.


SELECTED PUBLICATIONS


2026        The New York Times. “Creative Capital Celebrates Artists Across America,” January 11.

2025        Carollo, Elisa. “The 2026 Whitney Biennial Aims to Map a New Geography of American Art in ‘a Moment of Profound Transition.’” www.observer.com, December 16.

2025        Sutton, Benjamin. “56 participating artists, duos and collectives revealed for 2026 Whitney Biennial.” www.theartnewspaper.com, December 15.

2025        Farfan, Isa. “These Are the Artists in the 2026 Whitney Biennial,” www.hyperallergic.com, December 15.

2025        Whiddington, Richard. “The 2026 Whitney Biennial Reveals Its 56 Participating Artists and Collectives.” www.artnet.com, December 15.

2025        Gumbs, Alexis Pauline. “Remembering the Dirt: Attunement, Residue, Salvage A Conversation Between Ash Arder and Alexis Pauline Gumbs.” www.shiftspace.pub, March 11.

2024        Packard, Casey. “The Top Ten Shows in the US in 2024.” www.frieze.com, December 16.

2024        Thomas, Amy. “Beyond Pizza and Yale: What to See, Eat and Do in New Haven.” www.newyorktimes.com, August 5.

2024        Panton, Steve. “Ash Arder: Flesh tones.” www.brooklynrail.org, February 2.

2023        Green, Randiah Camille. “Supercoolwicked’s off-grid performance rocks the Charles H. Wright for Earth Day.” www.metrotimes.com, April 20.

2023        Kisner, Kim. “Honoring the Sun – Past Present and Future at The Wright.” www.detroitisit.com, April 4.

2022        Reiner-Roth, Shane. “Design Core Detroit showcases the city’s capacity for 21st century design innovation and community building.” www.archpaper.com, September 26.

2022        Yang, Vy. “5 Events to Look Forward to During Detroit Month of Design.” www.designmilk.com, August 30.

2021        Beddingfield, Duante. “More than $1 million awarded to winners of 2021 Knight Art Challenge.” www.freep.com, December 9.

2019        Mott, Laura, et al. “Landlord Colors: On Art, Economy, and Materiality.” Bloomfield Hills: Cranbrook Art Museum, 2019.

2019        Panton, Steve. “130 Ash Arder.” www.essayd.org, September 19.

2019        Sharp, Sarah Rose. “Detroit’s New Mini Community Center is a Greenhouse by Day, Movie  Theater by Night.” www.hyperallergic.com, March 6.

2018        Lynne, Jessica. “Broadcast #3.” www.asapjournal.com, July 2.

2018        Hodges, Michael. “Cranbrook Art Academy hosts Sunday open house.” The Detroit News, April 27.

2018        Jenkins, Mark. “In the galleries: Images in ‘Weather the Storm’ are both reassuring and ominous.” www.washingtonpost.com, April 13.  

2018        Colucci, Emily. “Stranded in the Jungle: Exoticism and Resistant Illegibility in ‘Queer Tropics.’” www.filthydreams.org, January 12.

2017        D’Addario, John. “In the orbit of Prospect.4: Satellite exhibits round out the scene.” The New Orleans Advocate, December 12.

2017        Riverwise Magazine, September 16.

2016        Sharpe, Sarah Rose. “Beyond Photography @ Public Pool.” www.detroitartrerview.com, January 12.

2016        Aldridge, Taylor Renee. “Renaissance Before Revival.” Blac Detroit. October.