Constructing Utopia: Radical Care Work in Cauleen Smith: Give It or Leave It.

Enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee and join Tamir Williams, Penn History of Art PhD candidate, for a conversation inspired by the ICA exhibition Cauleen Smith: Give It or Leave It. The discussion will focus on the alternative forms of collectivity and radical care work proposed by Rebecca Cox Jackson’s Shaker society and Alice Coltrane’s ashram. Participants will in turn consider how these utopian impulses are reflected within the physical experience of Smith’s installation and how these historical examples provide models for the future.

Tamir Williams is a second-year doctoral student in History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania where they study contemporary art with a focus on issues of race, queerness, and disability / crip identity . Previously, they have held fellowships and internships at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Library Company of Philadelphia, and Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). They hold a BA in American Studies and French from Middlebury College.