Laura Glazer is an artist whose work is socially engaged and depends on the participation of other people, sometimes a close friend, and other times, complete strangers. Her background in photography and design informs her social practice, and her projects appear as books, workshops, radio shows, zines, festivals, exhibitions, installations, posters, signs, postal correspondence, and sculpture. Publishing is often part of her practice.
She holds an MFA in Contemporary Art Practices: Art and Social Practice from Portland State University and a BFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University, Salem Art Works (NY), Albany Center Gallery (NY), and the Opalka Gallery of the Sage Colleges (NY). Her photography work has been published in The New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and the BBC.
Her recent projects include a city-wide poster campaign honoring an under-appreciated film director (Agnès Varda) in collaboration with Jennifer “JJ” Jones, an artist residency at a movie theater, an award-winning community radio program, and a collaboratively researched and developed performance and exhibit about a turn-of-the-century Portland poet. Her book of photographs and interviews I Want Everyone to Know: The Black History Month Doors at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School was published by Dr Martin Luther King Jr School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA) in April 2022. She was in the inaugural cohort of artist fellows at the New York Public Library Picture Collection for 2022—2023.
She is an adjunct instructor in the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design at Portland State University, the Program Manager and Design and Publishing Director for KSMoCA, a co-publisher and co-founder of Some People Press. Born in Northern Virginia, she was a longtime resident of Upstate New York and is now based in Portland, Oregon.
📓 Read her process notes, Minutiae is my muse
🖇️ Check out her CV
💌 Send her an email
💡️ Take a look at her graphic design portfolio
Photo by Errol Nicholson, courtesy of Lost and Found Lab.