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Floating Museum is an arts collective that creates new models exploring relationships between art, community, architecture, and public institutions. Using site-responsive art, design, and programming we explore the potential in these relationships, considering the infrastructure, history, and aesthetics of a space. Floating Museum is co-directed by Avery R Young, Andrew Schachman, Faheem Majeed and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford.
Best known as a poet, songwriter, and performer, multi-disciplinary artist avery r. young is also an award-winning teaching artist who mentors youths in the crafts of creative writing and theater. He has been an Arts and Public Life Artist-In-Residence at the University of Chicago and has written curriculum for Columbia College Chicago, Young Leeds Authors, True Star Magazine, and Chicago Public Schools Art Integration Department. Young’s poems and essays on HIV awareness, misogyny, race records, and art integration have been published in The BreakBeat Poets, The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks, AIMPrint, and other anthologies.
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avery@floatingmuseum.org
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avery@floatingmuseum.org
Andrew Schachman designs environments, infrastructures, and installations. He is the executive co-director of two organizations that are experimental spaces for delivering arts and culture within existing metropolitan networks: Floating Museum and Fieldwork Collaborative Projects. Trained as an architect, he designed and managed projects for the offices of Zaha Hadid, Perkins and Will, Carol Ross Barney, and Doug Garofalo. His projects have received numerous awards including the Distinguished Building Award from the American Institute of Architects and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design. Principal of Studio Andrew Schachman, he recently completed the design for the Palais de Tokyo’s exhibition, “Singing Stones,” in the roundhouse of the DuSable Museum of African American History. Andrew is a Lecturer in Urban Design at the University of Chicago.
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andrew@floatingmuseum.org
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andrew@floatingmuseum.org
Faheem Majeed is an artist, educator, curator, and community facilitator. He blends his unique experience as an artist, non-profit administrator, and curator to create works that focus on institutional critique and exhibitions that leverage collaboration to engage his immediate, and the broader community, in meaningful dialogue. As part of his studio practice, he transforms materials such as particle board, scrap metal and wood, discarded signs, and billboard remnants, breathing new life into these often overlooked and devalued materials. As its former executive director (2007-2011), Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center serves as Majeed’s primary muse. Majeed also serves as a co-director and founder of Floating Museum.
Majeed is a recipient of the Field and Macarthur Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago Award (2020), Joyce Foundation Award (2020), the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2015), and the Harpo Foundation Awardee (2016). Majeed’s work has been exhibited in numerous institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Malmö Konstmuseum, SMFA at Tufts, The High Line, and the Hyde Park Art Center. Majeed received his BFA from Howard University and his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at the UIC.
︎ faheem@floatingmuseum.org
Majeed is a recipient of the Field and Macarthur Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago Award (2020), Joyce Foundation Award (2020), the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2015), and the Harpo Foundation Awardee (2016). Majeed’s work has been exhibited in numerous institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Malmö Konstmuseum, SMFA at Tufts, The High Line, and the Hyde Park Art Center. Majeed received his BFA from Howard University and his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at the UIC.
︎ faheem@floatingmuseum.org
Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford is a visual artist and assistant professor of sculpture at Indiana University Northwest. He is also a co-director and co-founder of the collective Floating Museum. His work has been shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, Malmö Konstmuseum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, American Academy of Arts and Letters, The UCSD Art Gallery, and The Hyde Park Art Center, among other spaces.
He has held fellowships at the Sculpture Space, the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center, the Brown Foundation Program at the Dora Maar House, and the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting. His work has been supported by grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Harpo Foundation, the Propeller Fund, the Chauncey and Marion Deering McCormick Foundation, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and a Fulbright Fellowship in Sicily. Reviews of his work have been included in outlets like Sculpture Magazine, Hyperallergic, Artforum, and the Chicago Tribune.
︎ jeremiah@floatingmuseum.org
He has held fellowships at the Sculpture Space, the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center, the Brown Foundation Program at the Dora Maar House, and the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting. His work has been supported by grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Harpo Foundation, the Propeller Fund, the Chauncey and Marion Deering McCormick Foundation, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and a Fulbright Fellowship in Sicily. Reviews of his work have been included in outlets like Sculpture Magazine, Hyperallergic, Artforum, and the Chicago Tribune.
︎ jeremiah@floatingmuseum.org
Bianca Marks
Eric Perez
Leilani Douglas
Kushala Vora
Bianca Marks is a marketing + communications specialist and arts enthusiast with proven expertise in increasing artist productivity and efficiency through multi-channel communications, collaboration and studio management. Her ability to transcend between corporate and creative environments have made her an asset in the business of art, strengthening relationships between artist studios and partnering galleries, institutions and project collaborators.
Referred to as “The engine that makes art move in Chicago,” she impacts the day to day operations of the artist studios; leading in all areas of arts administration and elevating studio performance. She received her degree in Consumer Sciences from The University of Arizona and currently resides in Chicago’s southside.
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bianca@floatingmuseum.org
.Referred to as “The engine that makes art move in Chicago,” she impacts the day to day operations of the artist studios; leading in all areas of arts administration and elevating studio performance. She received her degree in Consumer Sciences from The University of Arizona and currently resides in Chicago’s southside.
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bianca@floatingmuseum.org
Eric Perez is an artist and educator in the city of Chicago. Primarily a photographer, his work focuses on his experience of being a Marine during his two deployments as part of the Global War on Terror. As Project Manager for Floating Museum, he deploys his skills in photography and videography to document Floating Museum’s projects. He also leads a team in the deployment of two inflatable monuments throughout the city of Chicago.
Perez earned his Associates in Art at Triton College in 2016 and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with a Bachelors in Fine Art in 2019. Upon graduating, he was selected to take part in Chicago Artist Coalition's Launch Residency (2019). He was selected to be a National Endowment for the Humanities Veteran Fellow (2022) with the emerging Veterans Art Movement. In 2023, he was awarded the annual David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation award and residency at the Hyde Park Art Center. Perez's work has been shown in UIC's 2019 BFA thesis show, Triton College Art Gallery, the Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery400, and the Hyde Park Art Center.
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eric@floatingmuseum.org
Perez earned his Associates in Art at Triton College in 2016 and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with a Bachelors in Fine Art in 2019. Upon graduating, he was selected to take part in Chicago Artist Coalition's Launch Residency (2019). He was selected to be a National Endowment for the Humanities Veteran Fellow (2022) with the emerging Veterans Art Movement. In 2023, he was awarded the annual David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation award and residency at the Hyde Park Art Center. Perez's work has been shown in UIC's 2019 BFA thesis show, Triton College Art Gallery, the Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery400, and the Hyde Park Art Center.
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eric@floatingmuseum.org
Leilani Douglas (she/her) holds a M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a BA in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago (AB 2017, Phi Beta Kappa). In 2019, she was selected as a John Lewis Humanity in Action Fellow.
As a researcher and vocalist, Leilani’s work and practice has explored the relationships between voice/sound, self/community, collaboration, and liberation. In 2020, alongside Chicago’s #LetUsBreathe Collective, she curated The People’s Choir, a series of online gatherings led by artist-activists who utilize embodied soundmaking in their practices. Her 2021 project “Care Memos”—developed as part of the placekeeping initiative, in ℅ Black Women—was featured at the Smart Museum of Art and the Breathing Room Gardens in Chicago. She was also a member of the Chicago-based vocal ensemble, Co.operative.
Leilani considers development work a powerful form of arts advocacy. She has helped small and mid-sized nonprofit organizations, such as in c/o Black women and the Mark Morris Dance Group, manage their giving portfolios, secure grant funding, and craft winning fundraising strategies. She proudly volunteers her expertise as a grant writer and development strategist with Joshua Home: An LGBTQ+ Safe Haven in Southern California.
Currently serving as the Development Director of Floating Museum, Leilani is thrilled to support the organization's expansion and lead the scaling of development initiatives during this exciting period of organizational growth.
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leilani@floatingmuseum.org
As a researcher and vocalist, Leilani’s work and practice has explored the relationships between voice/sound, self/community, collaboration, and liberation. In 2020, alongside Chicago’s #LetUsBreathe Collective, she curated The People’s Choir, a series of online gatherings led by artist-activists who utilize embodied soundmaking in their practices. Her 2021 project “Care Memos”—developed as part of the placekeeping initiative, in ℅ Black Women—was featured at the Smart Museum of Art and the Breathing Room Gardens in Chicago. She was also a member of the Chicago-based vocal ensemble, Co.operative.
Leilani considers development work a powerful form of arts advocacy. She has helped small and mid-sized nonprofit organizations, such as in c/o Black women and the Mark Morris Dance Group, manage their giving portfolios, secure grant funding, and craft winning fundraising strategies. She proudly volunteers her expertise as a grant writer and development strategist with Joshua Home: An LGBTQ+ Safe Haven in Southern California.
Currently serving as the Development Director of Floating Museum, Leilani is thrilled to support the organization's expansion and lead the scaling of development initiatives during this exciting period of organizational growth.
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leilani@floatingmuseum.org
Kushala Vora is a dreamer, community organizer and an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture and drawing. In and through her practice she focuses on loosening the exertion of power on oneself, another and the landscape that we reside with.
Kushala is currently a Jackman Goldwasser Resident at The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago and is one of Chicago’s Newcity 2023 Breakout Artists. She has been a resident at Skowhegan School of Painting and Drawing, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Chicago Artist Coalition, Søndre Green Farm Norway and ACRE Residency. Her work has been exhibited at Museum of Fine Arts, Nagoya, Japan; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; Mana Contemporary, Chicago; Harvard University, Cambridge; Chicago Artist Coalition, National Indo-American Museum among other places. Kushala received a MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She hold a post-graduate diploma in Modern and Contemporary Indian Art History and Curatorial Studies from Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai, India and a BFA from Tufts University/ SMFA, Boston. She is the co-founder of Atmo - a reading + praxis forum.
Kushala is currently a Jackman Goldwasser Resident at The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago and is one of Chicago’s Newcity 2023 Breakout Artists. She has been a resident at Skowhegan School of Painting and Drawing, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Chicago Artist Coalition, Søndre Green Farm Norway and ACRE Residency. Her work has been exhibited at Museum of Fine Arts, Nagoya, Japan; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; Mana Contemporary, Chicago; Harvard University, Cambridge; Chicago Artist Coalition, National Indo-American Museum among other places. Kushala received a MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She hold a post-graduate diploma in Modern and Contemporary Indian Art History and Curatorial Studies from Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai, India and a BFA from Tufts University/ SMFA, Boston. She is the co-founder of Atmo - a reading + praxis forum.
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