The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts is the center for contemporary art and artists at Harvard University. Through exhibitions, new commissions, public events, publications, and residencies, the Carpenter Center is dedicated to artist-centered programming and to building a vibrant community around contemporary art. This community is defined by an ethos of experimentation, diverse perspectives, and making connections across disciplines and fields. Housed within Le Corbusier’s only building in North America, the Carpenter Center’s projects are enriched by the educational mission of the Department of Art, Film and Visual Studies, and by the cultural resources of a large research university.
Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University
Installation view of B. Ingrid Olson: History Mother, Little Sister at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 2022. Proto Coda, Index, 2016–22. MDF, Polyacrylic, plywood, glue, vinyl, eggshell, aluminum, latex paint. 30 parts. Courtesy of Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Photo: Julia Featheringill.
Installation view of B. Ingrid Olson: History Mother, Little Sister at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 2022. Detail of Why does my vestibule hurt?, 2020–22. Aluminum honeycomb, epoxy, aluminum, screws, Baltic birch plywood; including Stranger’s Surface Parts (2022), glazed porcelain, latex, cellophane, wool; Another’s Vestigial (2022), glazed porcelain, latex, raw cotton, cellophane; and Enlargers (n.d.), high-speed steel, stainless steel, rust. Courtesy of Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Photo: Julia Featheringill.
Seeping, Rotting, Resting, Weeping_001 Installation view of Candice Lin: Seeping, Rotting, Resting, Weeping at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2021. Center: Seeping, Rotting, Resting, Weeping, 2021. Hand-printed (katazome) and hand-drawn (tsutsugaki) indigo dyed panels, steel bar, dyed rugs, glazed ceramics, epoxy resin, feathers, block-printed and digitally printed fabric (masks), bells, tassels, miscellaneous small objects, video (color, sound); 4:45 min. Photo Awa Mally, courtesy of Walker Art Center.
Seeping, Rotting, Resting, Weeping_023 Installation view of Candice Lin: Seeping, Rotting, Resting, Weeping at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2021. Photo Awa Mally, courtesy of Walker Art Center.
Installation view, Anna Oppermann: "Drawings," Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, on view June 22–September 29, 2019. Pictured: Being a Housewife, 1968/1973. Courtesy of Anna Oppermann Estate and Gallery Barbara Thumm. Photo: Julia Featheringill / Stewart Clements.
Installation view, Anna Oppermann: "Drawings," Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, on view June 22–September 29, 2019. Courtesy of Anna Oppermann Estate and Gallery Barbara Thumm. Photo: Julia Featheringill / Stewart Clements.
Installation view, Jonathan Berger: "An Introduction to Nameless Love," Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, on view October 17–December 29, 2019. Courtesy of the artist; Adams and Ollman, Portland, OR; and VEDA, Florence. Photo: Julia Featheringill / Stewart Clements.
Installation view, Jonathan Berger: "An Introduction to Nameless Love," Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, on view October 17–December 29, 2019. Courtesy of the artist; Adams and Ollman, Portland, OR; and VEDA, Florence. Photo: Julia Featheringill / Stewart Clements.
Installation view, Tony Cokes: If UR Reading This It’s 2 Late: Vol 2, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, on view January 31–April 12, 2020. Pictured: Tony Cokes, "The Will and The Way...Fragment 2 (video)," 2019. Courtesy of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Photo: Julia Featheringill / Stewart Clements.
Installation view, Tony Cokes: "If UR Reading This It’s 2 Late: Vol 2," Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, on view January 31–April 12, 2020. Pictured: Tony Cokes, Untitled (m.j.: the symptom) (video), 2020. Courtesy of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. Photo: Julia Featheringill / Stewart Clements.
See Also
2013
Founded in 2013 and launched in 2015 Common Field is a national network of independent visual arts organizations and organizers that connects, supports, and advocates for the artist-centered field.