NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection Exhibition, WaterFire Arts Center (2024) Bio:
Ann Fessler is a photographer, installation artist, filmmaker and author. Her non-fiction work brings the stories of ordinary people into the public sphere. For the last 35 years Fessler has focused on the subject of adoption. The work in this exhibition is based on her book-in-progress, “The Things He Gave Me and The Things I Took,” which combines her writing and photographs with photographs taken by her adoptive father, Cliff.
Her previous work focused on the stories of women who lost children to adoption in the 1950s–1970s, due to the social pressures of the time. Her documentary film, A GIRL LIKE HER (Women Make Movies, NY) was screened internationally and subtitled in five languages, and her non-fiction book, “The Girls Who Went Away” (Penguin Press), was chosen as one of the top 5 non-fiction books of 2006 by the National Book Critics Circle, and it was awarded the Ballard Book Prize, given annually to a female author who advances the dialogue about women’s rights.
She has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the LEF and Rhode Island Foundations, and a Radcliffe Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard.
Fessler is Professor Emerita at Rhode Island School of Design where she taught for 25 years and served as both the Head of the Photography Department and the Director of the Graduate Program in Photography.
Original NetWorks Catalogue Bio:
Installation artist, filmmaker, and author Ann Fessler has spent four decades using her platform as an artist to bring hidden histories and stories to light. She turned to the subject of adoption in 1989 and has produced three documentary films, numerous audio and video installations, and written an award-winning book, The Girls Who Went Away, based on 100 interviews with women who lost children to adoption in the 1950s–early 70s. Fessler has been the recipient of a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard and grants from the NEA, the RI and Maryland State Arts Councils, LEF Foundation, RI Foundation, and RISCA. Her work is in the collection of major museums including the Whitney and MoMA in NY. Fessler, who received her MA in Media from Webster University and MFA in photography from the University of Arizona, is a professor at Rhode Island School of Design where she has taught since 1993.
Source: NetWorks 2015 – 2016
(Solo exhibition, Bell Gallery, List Center, Brown University)
Audio and video installation with three altered corn cribs, three
video projections, audio composition, and two tons of feed corn
Credits:
Video by:
Richard Goulis
Paul Rochford
Executive Producer: Joseph A. Chazan, M.D.
Additional Resources:
Artist’s website: www.annfessler.com
Highlighting the work of selected artists who have played vital roles in shaping the contemporary visual arts community in Rhode Island. This collection of brief video portraits provides a window into the lives, practices, and cultural contributions of professional artists.
I’m honored to be part of this wonderful series of NetWork Portraits.