Ed Woodham (born 1957) is a global public artist and New York City-based cultural provocateur, performer, puppeteer, and curator. He is the founder of Art in Odd Places and the co-founder of 800 EAST, an influential multi-disciplinary arts center in Atlanta, Georgia. His work spans more than forty-five years and focuses on civic interventions, community art-making, and arts education.
Early Life and Education
Woodham was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1957. He grew up in McDonough, Georgia, and graduated from Henry County High School in 1975. He studied at Middle Georgia State University in Cochran for two years before transferring to Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979.
Career
800 EAST (1990–1998)
In 1990, Woodham co-founded 800 EAST with Neil Fried and William Morar, transforming a derelict post-industrial space at 800 East Avenue in the Little Five Points section of Atlanta into a multi-disciplinary arts center and collective. Woodham served as director until the organization's closure in 1998. During its history, 800 EAST produced more than 250 visual and performance art events. The archives of 800 EAST are housed at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University.
Art in Odd Places (1996–present)
In 1996, Woodham and a group of artists founded Art in Odd Places as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the Atlanta Summer Games, created in response to the disappearance of public space and personal civil liberties. After a hiatus from 1998 to 2005, the organization was re-established in New York City. The annual festival presents work in all disciplines outside of traditional public arts spaces, most notably along 14th Street in Manhattan. In 2012, Art in Odd Places was selected as a representative in the U.S. pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, where "Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good" received a special mention from the Biennale Jury.
The Keepers
In 2016, Woodham received a commission from the Gowanus Public Arts Initiative to create "The Keepers," a durational still performative group action. The piece raises awareness about the demolition and destruction of historic buildings and encourages preservation of historic spaces. It has been performed in Gowanus, Brooklyn; near Penn Station in New York; and at Coney Island.
Other Projects
Woodham created and co-produced the Bravo documentary series The It Factor, about actors attempting to succeed in Los Angeles and New York. He has performed internationally at venues including the Center for Puppetry Arts, HERE Arts Center, High Museum of Art, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, among others. He also operates the Showroom Gallery in the Kips Bay/Murray Hill section of New York City.
Teaching and Speaking
Woodham is a faculty member of the Visual and Critical Studies Department at the School of Visual Arts, where he teaches "Social Malpractice Art." Since 2013, he has been an Invited Artist Faculty member at NYU's Hemispheric Institute. He has also taught at Wilson College's MFA program and serves as a visiting speaker for the Arts Administration program at Columbia Teachers College. He delivered TEDx talks in Gowanus (2013) and Indianapolis (2014).
Awards and Honors
- Blade of Grass Fellow in Social Engagement, Jim Henson Grant (2013)
- Artist-in-Residence, thedrawing(shed) residency, London (2014)
- Public commission and residency, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Queens, New York (2015)
- Advisor, Expo 2020, Dubai, UAE (2015)
- Artist-in-Residence, Hambidge Center (2017)
- Artist-in-Residence, MacDowell Arts Center / MacDowell Fellow (2019)
- Artist-in-Residence, City of West Hollywood, California (2019–2020)
