Sheelah Murthy (USA)
A constantly “re-emerging artist” S.G. Murthy has traversed the globe preferring to work in alternative space galleries, festivals and residencies where cutting edge artists present: Okay Mountain Gallery, Austin, Texas;The Pedagogies of the Oppressed Conference, Los Angeles, CA; Performance Studies International Conference in Singapore; Women’s International Film Festival Seoul, South Korea; etc. A firm believer in the power of re-invigorating an interdisciplinary arts practice through teaching, directing and the collaborative process, S.G. Murthy has always been open to working with new and/or younger artists. To this end she has co-founded several artist collectives: Mrs Rao’s Growl with Anuj Vaidya and Chi Jang Yin and TRADESHOW with Erica Mott. Awards granted but not limited to are: Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance, Rockefeller New Generation nominee, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for Interdisciplinary/Performance Art, Fellowship from the Texas Commission on the Arts, Columbia College Special Research Grant etc.
Her teaching experiences are wide: i.e. media arts with at risk youth for community organizations; classrooms within the U.S. public school system; integrated art/life skill classes for blind and multiply handicapped youth; performance/film/video at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College. She now continues her practice as artist educator in Asia.