Bio
Based in Portland, Oregon, Adam Kuby creates landscape-based, environmentally responsive public art commissions and installations nationally and internationally, and is represented in the public collections of the cities of Seattle, Portland, Boulder, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and others. His works are collaborations with the built and natural world that foster a sense of connectedness in our increasingly fractured environment and explore how human and non-human ecologies can come into closer dialogue.
Adam received the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome in 2015. He has been an artist-in-residence at Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Yaddo, the Djerassi Foundation, the Ucross Foundation, and the Arctic Circle Artists Residency. He has received awards from the Public Art Network, and from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and grants from the Ford Family Foundation and the Oregon Arts Commission.
Adam's experience in landscape architecture, urban forestry and zoo design informs his art practice and understanding of public space. He has worked at the Central Park Conservancy and the Bronx Zoo in NY, and studied Environmental Design at the University of Pennsylvania (BA), and Sculpture at the University of North Carolina (MFA). He has been directing more of his practice towards the growing climate crisis. In 2019 his open-sourced project ”Sea Level 2080” which was implemented by volunteers and activists globally across 5 continents.
Resume
AWARDS, RESIDENCIES, GRANTS
2018 “The Arctic Circle” Artist Residency Expedition – Svalbard, Norway.
2017 Oregon Arts Commission, Professional Development Grant.
2017 Rauschenburg Residency, Captiva Island, FL
2017 Ucross Residency, Ucross, WY
2016 Djerassi Resident Artist Program, Woodside, CA
2015 Public Art Network 2014 “Year-in-Review” Award for Westmoreland Nature Playground, Portland, OR.
2015 ASLA Oregon Chapter, Honor Award for Westmoreland Nature Playground.
2014 Rome Prize, Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, Italy.
2014 Yaddo Artist Residency, Saratoga, NY.
2014 Public Art Network 2013 “Year-in-Review” Award for Breaker, Aberdeen, WA.
2011 Public Art Network 2010 “Year-in-Review” Award for Portland Acupuncture Project.
2008 Oregon Arts Commission, Professional Development Grant.
EDUCATION
1992 University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC. MFA in sculpture.
1987 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT. Studies in sculpture.
1983 University of Pennsylvania, Phila, PA. BA, Design of the Environment & Environmental Studies.
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2020 “55 Degrees”, Boulder, CO. Commissioned by the City of Boulder Office of Arts & Culture.
2020 Pittsburgh International Airport.
2019 Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, AZ. Selected as artist and design team leader for 3-mile long wetland for treated wastewater.
2019 “We Acknowledge”, Victoria, BC Canada. Artwork for Capital Park Plaza and new BC Ministry office campus.
2018 “Alluvion”, Tacoma, WA. Commissioned by Metro Parks Tacoma
2018 “Aggregations” University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.
2017 Seattle Recycling & Disposal Station. Commissioned by Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
2016 “Drop” Clark College, Vancouver, WA. .
2014 Poetry & Geology Works, Tualatin Hill Regional Parks System, Beaverton, OR..
2013 “Breaker”, Aberdeen, WA. Administered by 4Culture, Seattle, WA.
2011 “Hydro-Bio-Geo”, Seattle, WA. Commissioned by Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
2010 “Incrementally”, Seattle, WA. Commissioned by Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
2010 “Quarry Rings”, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle, WA.
2009 “The Falls”, Oregon City, OR. Administered by RACC (Regional Arts & Culture Council).
2008 “Eventually”, District of North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
2007 “Bridge, Abridged”, City of Calgary, AB, Canada.
2006 “Walkwave”, Portland Parks, Portland, OR.
EXHIBITIONS / INSTALLATIONS
2019 Micro Galleries, Global Day of Creative Action on Climate Change.
2019 Saint John the Divine Cathedral, New, York, NY. “The Value of Sanctuary” exhibition.
2019 PLACE gallery, Portland OR. Solo show.
2018 Micro Galleries Festival, Kathmandu, Nepal.
2018 Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA.”Endangered Species: Artist on the Front Line of Biodiversity”
2017 Rauschenberg Residency & Foundation, Captiva, FL.
2016 Djerassi Foundation, Woodside, CA.
2015 Cinque Mostre Exhibit, American Academy in Rome, Italy.
2010 “Portland Acupuncture Project”, Portland, OR, RACC.
2006 “The Bigger Picture”, Portland Building Installation Space, Portland, OR.
1999 “Shielded Pools”, In Situ, Sculpture Exhibition, Kansas City Art Institute, KC, MO.
1998 Spirit of Place, Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
1995 “Soft Corral”, Connemara Conservancy, Plano, TX.
1994 Urban Paradise: Gardens in the City, Public Art Fund of New York & PaineWebber Art Gallery.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN, DESIGN TEAM COLLABORATIONS, ART PLANNING, PLAYSCAPES
2017 Chickamauga Public Art & landscape design collaboration with WMW & Associates Landscape Architects, Chattanooga, TN.
2015 Design team artist, Tacoma WA. Collaborated with Site Workshop, Landscape architects on new waterfront park on the site of previous industrial Superfund cleanup site.
2014 Westmoreland Park Nature Playground, Portland, OR. Artist on design team. Designed and supervised construction of sculptural, natural play elements.
1995-99 Exhibit Designer, Bronx Zoo, NYC. Designed and supervised construction of animal habitats and public viewing spaces for gorillas, guenons and other animals of the African Congo.
1994-95 Landscape Designer, Central Park Conservancy Office of Landscape Architecture, NYC. Worked on the design and restoration of Great Lawn, Columbus Circle, Museum of Natural History & Frederick Douglass Circle.
1988-90 Urban Forester, City of Chapel Hill, NC. Responsible for the management and protection of trees in streetscape right-of-ways and city parks.
1985-86 SERE, Ltd. Native Landscape Restoration. Phila., PA. Co-founder and partner. Clients included City of Philadelphia, DuPont, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water Conservancy and residential property owners.
1984-85 Landscape Designer, Olin Partnership, Landscape Architects, Phila., PA. Projects worked on include Philadelphia Zoo, Bryant and Riverside Parks, NYC, & IBM Headquarters.
TEACHING / PANELS
2020 Portland State University, MFA Program. Portland, OR. Guest Lecturer.
2018 New York University, NY, NY. Guest Lecturer.
2017 Creek College (a project bridging art, conservation & watershed restoration (www.creekcolleges.com) Guest Critic.
2016 Reed College, Portland, OR. Guest Lecturer.
2016 Clark College, Vancouver, WA. Guest Lecturer.
2014 Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy. Guest Studio Critic.
2014 Art + Ecology Unite, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
1998 University of North Carolina -Greensboro. Guest Artist and Studio Critic, Art Dept.
1997 Princeton University Graduate School of Architecture Princeton, NJ. Guest Critic.