Marilyn Nance is a photographer/storyteller and recipient of a year 2000 New York Foundation for the Arts Artist’s Fellowship in Photography, a 1993 NYFA Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature, a 1989 NYFA Fellowship in Photography, and a 1987 New York State Council of the Arts Individual Artists Grant. A two-time finalist for the W. Eugene Smith Award in Humanistic Photography for her body of work on African spiritual culture in America, Nance has photographed the Black Indians of New Orleans, Appalachian folk musicians, the funeral of an Akan priest in New York, an African village in South Carolina, a Baptist church in Brooklyn, and the first black church in America.
Nance is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklore Programs & Cultural Studies as a community folklore scholar, an individual who has shown a significant contribution to the collection, preservation and presentation of traditional culture in a community or region.
Nance’s work has been published in Life, the New York Times, the Village Voice, Essence, Nueva Luz, Aperture, The City Sun, NY Newsday, The New York Observer, The Eighties, Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort, Songs of My People, Close to Home, The Black Photographers Annual Volumes III and IV, Black Photographers Illustrated Bio-Bibliography, 1940-1988, The International Museum of Photography Photographers Biography File, History of Women in Photography, and the World History of Photography.
Marilyn’s popularly acclaimed photograph of a young man and his infant son received 1985 and 1986 CEBA Awards of Excellence for its use in a corporate print ad and calendar, and has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Nance's spiritual photos are in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American Art and the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Marilyn Nance is the associate producer of Voices of the Gods, a film on the Akan and the Yoruba, two ancient African religions that are currently practiced in the United States. She served as Artist-in-Residence at the Goddard Riverside Community Center in New York City under the New York Foundation for the Arts program that places practicing professional artists in educational, cultural and community settings. Nance is a former Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence.
Having served on the media arts panel of the New York State Council on the Arts, the Artist Certification Committee of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and The Board of Governors of the New York Foundation for the Arts, Nance is very familiar with the issues that face contemporary art practitioners.
A frequent lecturer, Nance was the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conference, Cyber Sisters a & Virtual Visionaries: a Celebration of Women of Color in the Information Age. Her writing, which often accompanies her photographs, has been published by Aperture, The New York Foundation for the Arts and the Friends of Photography.
A graduate of New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program (Tisch School of the Arts), Nance served as Curator of Photography for the Digital Schomburg Project. In this position, she selected over 500 illustrations and photographs of 19th century African Americans from the collections of the research libraries of the New York Public Library. Additionally, she produced an interactive web site based on traditional Yoruba practices, and served as one of the first Internet radio disc jockies.
Nance founded and directs Brooklyn Technology Exchange, a technology learning center, and serves as a multimedia technology specialist for New York City's Department of Education.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
2000: New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Photography
1998: Sheroes Among Us Award for Accomplishments in the Field of Art.
1995: CAA College Art Association Professional Development Fellowship.
1995:The Catalogue Project, New York Foundation for the Arts.
1994: Art Matters Fellowship.
19995:Studio Museum in Harlem Artist in Residence Fellowship.
1993: New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature.
1995: Finalist, W. Eugene Smith Award in Humanistic Photography.
1992: Finalist, Friends of Photography Ruttenberg Foundation Award.
1991: Finalist, W. Eugene Smith Award in Humanistic Photography.
1995: Finalist, Friends of Photography Ruttenberg Foundation Award.
1989: New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Photography.
1995: Communication Arts Magazine Award of Excellence for Close to Home.
1987: NYSCA New York State Council for the Arts, Individual Artists Grant.
1986: CEBA Award of Excellence for Communications Excellence to Black Audiences.
1985: CEBA Award of Excellence for Communications Excellence to Black Audiences.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
1998: "Ifa", Longwood Arts Gallery/The Business Center for the Arts, Bronx Council for the Arts.
1997: "African American Spirit", The Manchester Craftmen's Guild, Pittsburgh, PA.
1996: "Spirit Faith Grace Rage", Soul Sista Alert, a World Wide Web project
19995:"Family Reunion" The Carnegie Library, Eufaula, Alabama.
1994: "Celebration and Mourning," Grand Central Terminal, MTA Arts for Transit.
1992: "Expressions of the Spirit," Caribbean Cultural Center, New York.
1991: "African American Spiritual Expressions," Port Washington Public Library, New York.
1990: "Religion: African American Spiritual Expressions," Light Work, Robert B. Menschel Photo Gallery, Syracuse, New York.
1989: "Religion," 1708 East Main, Richmond, Virginia.
1986: "Religion," Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York. Also 1987.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2001: "The Black Photographer" The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, N.Y
2000: Smithsonian Institution
1997: "A History of Women Photographers," The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
1996: "Our Mothers," Espace Commines, Paris Biennial, Le Mois de la Photo.
"Bronx Spaces," The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York.
1994:"Free Within Ourselves," National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian.
19995:"From the Studio: Artists-in-Residence," The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY.
19995:"A Social History Show," The Bronx River Art Gallery, Bronx, New York.
1993: "Aperture at 40," The Burden Gallery, New York.
19995:"Social Progress," Jamaica Arts Center, Jamaica, New York.
19995:"African American Women Photographers," Salena Gallery, LIU, Brooklyn, NY.
1992: "Songs of My People," The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC.
19995:"Different Communities/Common Interests," Creative Time, Art at the Anchorage, NY.
1991: "Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort," The Museum of Modern Art.
19995:"New York: Secret African City," Caribbean Cultural Center, New York.
19995:"New York Time," deMeervaart Cultural Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1990: "Black Art: Ancestral Legacy," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Texas.
19995:"Home," The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
1989: "If You Lived Here...," Dia Art Foundation. New York.
1988: "Photoactive: Independent Documentary Photographers of the 80's," Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York.
1987: "Out of the Studio: Art with Community," P.S. 1, Long Island City, New York.
1986: "Two Schools: New York and Chicago. Contemporary African American Photographers," Kenkeleba Gallery, New York.
"Arts of Adornment," Jamaica Arts Center, Jamaica, New York.
1980: "Self Portrait," The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
1977: "The Black Photographer," The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC.
1976: "The Black Photographers Annual," The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
COLLECTIONS:
The Smithsonian Institution/National Museum of American Art
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Field Museum of Natural History
Medgar Evers College
Light Work
The Studio Museum in Harlem
New York Public Library/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The New York City Health and Hospitals Commission/
Cumberland Neighborhood Family Care Center
EDUCATION:
1996-98
New York University
Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Tisch School of the Arts. Institute of Film and Television.
Professional training focusing on the study, design and creation of new communications media forms and the development of applications of emerging technologies.
Masters Degree in Interactive Telecommunications (9/99)
1994-96 Maryland Institute, College of Art
Graduate School of Photography.
College Art Association Fellow.
Photography, Advanced Computer Graphics,the History of Photography, Video, Fibers.
MFA, Photography (6/96).
1972-76 Pratt Institute, School of Art and Design. Graphic Design and Photography. Studied Advertising Art Direction and Copywriting at Young & Rubicam with Art Harris and Mike Becker, Photography for Advertising with David Langley.
BFA, Communications Graphic Design (6/76).
1971-72 New York University
Washington Square College. Journalism Major.
Film History with George Stoney and Richard Koszarski, Spanish, Black Studies, Studio Art, and Ethnomusicology with Dr. Leonard Goines.
1968-71 The Bronx High School of Science
Science and Math. Academic Diploma (6/71)
NEW MEDIA EXPERIENCE:
Curator, Digital Schomburg Electronic Text project, New York Public Library Research Libraries, Preservation Division, Digital Imaging Unit.
Researched and selected from several special collections in the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library, images to establish a visual background and setting for the library's web presentation of texts of 19th century African American women writers. (3/97 - 6/97)
Digital Imaging Intern, New York Public Library Research Libraries, Preservation Division, Digital Imaging Unit. Digital imaging of the "Changing New York" Collection photographs of Berenice Abbott. (1/97 - 3/97).
Webcasting Producer, Better Living Through Radio, (www.bltradio.com). Producer of Soulsista Alert, a music and talk show that was heard on the world wide web. (June 1997- May 1999).
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE:
Instructor, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Photography Department. Advanced Documentary Photography and Photo I for Non-Photo Majors (1/98 to present).
Photographer/Lecturer, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,
International Center of Photography, National Press Photographers Association,
Society for Photographic Education, Art Council of the African Studies Association,
Empire State College, Columbia University, The Nelson-Atkins Museum and others.
Researcher, The Research Libraries, New York Public Library, New York State Digital Library Electronic Doorway Project/Digital Schomburg. Selected images from the library's collections to extra-illustrate the networked electronic texts of 19th century Black women writers. (3/97 - 6/97).
Photographer, freelance for the Village Voice, The City Sun, The New York Observer and others. Published and exhibited since 1975. Currently working on a project on African spiritual culture in the Americas.
Artist-in-Residence, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City. (10/93 to 9/94).
Faculty, International Center of Photography. Photo I. (9/91 to 6/92).
Artist-in-Residence, Goddard-Riverside Community Center, New York City, under the New York Foundation for the Arts' program that places practicing professional artists into a variety of educational, cultural, and community settings. Taught photography to 5th and 6th graders, pre-teens, teens, adults, senior citizens and preschoolers. (10/85 to 6/87).
Photographer, for the North American Zone of FESTAC 77, the Second Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, the Olympics of African culture, Lagos, Nigeria.
(1/77 to 2/77).
Public Relations Photographer, Pratt Institute, Office of Public Affairs. Photographed events at Pratt Institute, operated photo studio and lab. Created slide/sound presentations. Photographed artwork. (7/74 to 11/75).
MEDIA EXPERIENCE:
Documentation Specialist, Community Folkways Program, Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center, Bronx, New York. Consulted, and trained young people to be folklorists in their communities. (7/97 to 8/97).
Associate Producer, Akuaba Productions, New York City for VOICES OF THE GODS, a 60 minute documentary film on the Akan and the Yoruba, two ancient African religions that are currently practiced in the United States. (5/81 to 9/85).
Assistant Producer, Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising, New York City.
Organized and managed the production of television commercials and test commercials. Specialized in video post production. (10/79 to 8/83).
Audio-Visual Technician, Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising, NYC.
Operated audio control rooms, color video studios, the video control room, and 3/4" video editing system. Produced in-house radio and television test commercials. (6/77 to 9/79).
Associate Producer, WBAI-FM, New York City, for NORTH STAR, a taped radio interview program. (2/72 to 3/74).
VISITING ARTIST / VISITING FACULTY:
1997:
Slippery Rock University/Manchester Craftmen's Guild Pittsburgh, PA.
1996: American Photography Institute, National Graduate Seminar, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. New York, NY.
1995: Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar. Atlanta,GA.
19955The Friends of Photography Masters Workshop. San Francisco, CA.
19955University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
19955Williams College, Women's Studies Department. Northampton, MA.
1994: Columbia College, Chicago. Department of Photography.
1991-1992: International Center of Photography, New York, New York.
1988: Cross Cultural Black Women's Studies Institute, Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, NY.
1982: The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Exploring Media Program, Bronx, NY
1969: Summer Vacation Day Camp #307. New York City Board of Education. Teachers Aide, Brooklyn, NY.
RESIDENCIES:
2000: Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY
1997: Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Pittsburgh, PA
1993-94: The Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence. New York, NY.
1987: Light Work. Community Darkrooms. Syracuse, NY.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
2001: The Black Photographer. The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, N.Y
1998: Our Grandmothers. New York:Stewart Tabori Chang.
1997: Nance, Marilyn. Spirit Faith Grace Rage. Exhibition catalogue.
19996: Nance, Marilyn. "Soul Sista Alert," http://fargo.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~nance/soulsista.
19996: Esders, Vivian. Portrait of My Mother. New York:Stewart Tabori Chang.
1995: Nance, Marilyn. "Grandma Anna's Funeral," CrossRoads: Journal of Southern Culture.
19955: Neumaier, Diane. Reframings: New American Feminist Photographies. Philadelphia.Temple University Press.
1994: Rosenblum, Naomi. A History of Women in Photography. New York:Abbeville Press.
1993: Rosenthal, Mel. "Marilyn Nance's Family Album, "culturefront, The New York Council for the Humanities, Fall Issue, Volume 2, Number 3.
Nance, Marilyn. "Making the Arts Community Everyone's Community". FYI, The New York Foundation for the Arts, Fall Issue.
19993:
1992: Hacker, Andrew. "If You Were Born Black." Across The Board. June.
19922: Nance, Marilyn. "Aperture 40 Yrs". Melissa Harris, ed. New York:Aperture.
19922: Syncopated Lives: Selected Stories from Songs of My People. Washington, DC:Smithsonian Institution.
19922: Virga, Vincent. The Eighties: Images of America. New York:HarperCollins.
1991: Galassi, Peter. Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort. Exhibition catalogue. New York:
Museum of Modern Art.
1990: Forbes, James. "Up From Invisibility." The New York Times Book Review, Cover, December 23.
19877: Nance, Marilyn. "In the Spirit." The City Sun Photo Supplement, April 25 - May 1.
1987: "The Face of God." Life Magazine. Vol. 13, no. 15, December.
1989: Dye, Peggy. "Hi-Tech Ballroom." The Village Voice, December 5.
19877: Nance, Marilyn. Close to Home: Seven Documentary Photographers.
19877: Untitled 48. David Featherstone, ed. San Francisco: The Friends of Photography.
19877: Nance, Marilyn. "The Bigger Picture" Centerfold poster series,
19877: The City Sun, May 1989 - May 1990.
1987: Hoone, Jeffrey. "Marilyn Nance," Light Work Contact Sheet, no. 58.
19877: Nance, Marilyn. Nueva Luz. Charles Biasiny Rivera, ed. New York: En Foco, Winter.
1981: Crawford, Joe. The Black Photographers Annual, Volume IV. New York: Another View, Inc.
1976: Crawford, Joe. The Black Photographers Annual, Volume III. New York: Another View, Inc.
INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS
1994: Cotter, Holland. "Art in Review," The New York Times. December 9.
1990o: Iverim, Esther. "King and I,". New York Newsday. January 14.
1993: Angaza, Mai Tefa. "Interview with Marilyn Nance," The City Sun. December 22.
1990: Porter, Evette. "Marilyn Nance: Through Her Lens," Essence., May.
1990: Chayat, Sherry. "Photographer Like 'Fly on the Wall'." Syracuse Herald American. May 6.
1990: Leid, Utrice. "A History Revealed: Photographing the Black Experience."
1990: The City Sun Photo Supplement, April 25 - May.
1988: Mason, John. 1708 E. Main.
1987: Vestal, David. "Commentary," Nueva Luz, New York:En Foco, Winter.
1987: Rosenthal, Mel. "The Photographer as Romantic Hero." Upfront, Winter/Spring.
RADIO AND TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
1998: The Utrice Leid Show, WBAI-FM, New York City.
1995: The Walt Bodine Show in Kansas City, MO (radio)
1994: Brooklyn Forum, Brooklyn Community Access cable tv program
1992: The Gary Byrd Show, WLIB-AM, New York City (radio)
PERFORMANCES:
1997-1998: Better Living Through Radio, Soulsista Says... webcast of collected stories, music and wisdom
1996: Storytellers Swap Session, St. Peter's Church, New York City.
"New York is Book Country" Street Fair, Storytelling on Fifth Avenue, New York City
1994: Telling Personal and Community Stories, Empire State College Photojournalism Workshop, New York City
1993: The Spoken Word, Ceres Gallery, New York City.
Eugene Smith Awards Ceremony, International Center of Photography, NYC
1992: New Orleans Photostorytelling and Raffle, Club Harambee, New York City
1991 New Orleans Photostorytelling, Society for Photographic Education National Conference, Washington, DC.
FILMOGRAPHY:
1995 Eshu Nods His Head, 1 minute videoprayer.
1985 Voices of the Gods, Associate Producer, 60 minute, 16mm film.
PUBLIC LECTURES
Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American Art, Society for Photographic Education, National Press Photographers Association, Colgate University, Syracuse University, The Maryland Institute, College of Art, Pratt Institute, Columbia University, Museum of the City of New York, Afro American Historical and Cultural Museum, Medgar Evers College, Empire State College, Teen Aid High School, Boy's and Girl's HS, Joan of Arc JHS, Common Ground Conference on the Arts in Education, The International Center of Photography, The Studio Museum in Harlem, School of Visual Arts, The Nelson-Atkins Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Chatahoochee Valley Historic Commission and Long Island University.
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
2002 - present
FIRST LEGO League Junior Robotics Team Coach
1998:
The Bedford Village School (P.S.3) Project Management Team, Annenberg Arts Education Initiative.
Technology Advisory Board of Common Ground HDFC, single room occupancy housing in New York City.
Founding member, Black Students in New Media Association.
1997:
New York Coalition for Artists Housing BACA/Brooklyn Arts Council.
1996:
The Artists Collective, Pratt Area Community Council, Brooklyn, New York.
1995 to 98:
Artist Certification Committee, Department of Cultural Affairs, The City of New York.
1995:
New York Foundation for the Arts Artists of Color Initiative.
Maryland Institute, College of Art. Mentoring Program.
1993:
Bedford-Stuyvesant Early Childhood Center. Head Start Parent Volunteer.
The Algebra Project, Brooklyn, New York City.
1992:
Formed the 134-136 Cambridge Place HDFC Housing Cooperative in Brooklyn, New York.
1989:
Medgar Evers Center for Law and Social Justice, Parents Advocacy Center Advisory Board.
New York Foundation for the Arts, Board of Governors.
1989-92:
PS11 Class Parent.
1988:
PS8 Library. Parent Volunteer, Read-Aloud program.
1986:
The Hollingworth Preschool, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Parent Volunteer. Instructor in photography.
1985:
College of New Rochelle, School of New Resources, Photography Mentor.
136 Cambridge Place Tenants Association. Organized fellow tenants.
Managed, and purchased our apartment building from the city of New York.
1984-85:
Brooklyn Public Library. Literacy Volunteer. Bedford Branch.
1976:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Education Department with The Patterson School.
Documented a Rockefeller Fellowship art project.
1974:
Pratt Institute Higher Education Opportunities Program. Tutor.
The Brewery Puppet Troupe. Music Researcher for HARRIET TUBMAN.
1971:
New York City Board of Education. Regional Center for Planning and Innovation. Orientation Counselor to minority students in the Bronx High School of Science Discovery Summer Program.
Developed and produced a student survival handbook.
AFFILIATIONS:
NABS The National Association of Black Storytellers,
iste International Society for Technology in Education
Skills: Management from letterpress to the internet
Expertise in photography and visual storytelling.
Strong Macintosh knowledge.
Experienced in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language),
and other tools of the World Wide Web.
Experience in Microsoft Word, Quark Xpress, Photoshop, Macromedia Director, Adobe Premiere.
Programming: HTML, Lingo, Java, CGI Programming with Perl, UNIX, BASIC, VRML, SQL.
Travel:
Cuba,(Santiago de Cuba, Havana) 2000
Brazil (Rio and Bahia), 1993
Montreal, 1989
Mexico (Tijuana), 1987
Senegal and Gambia, 1984
Jamaica,1984
Nigeria (Lagos, Ife, Benin City), 1977.
United States: New Orleans, West Virginia, Birmingham, Alabama, and more.
I sure would like to visit Brazil again. I'd like to visit British Columbia, Puerto Rico. Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cameroon. I've never been to Europe.
Interests:
Interactive Telecommunications and the World Wide Web
Community Development
Graphic Design and Typography
Cloth and fabric design
Masquerades, parades, the circus
World Music
World Travel
Personal Strengths:
Robust.
Intuitive and visionary.
Great planner and organizer.
Can visualize and imagine possibilities.
Energetic. Able to move and be flexible.
Can motivate and counsel.
Resourceful researcher--can find information and write convincingly.
Technically apt.
Independent and feisty yet
Conscious of the collective.
Supportive.
References are available upon request.
Marilyn Nance
P.O. Box 521, Adelphi Station
Brooklyn, New York 11238
U.S.A.