About the Artist

Taleen Batalian

Taleen Batalian is an artist and educator. Her work explores emotional landscapes and ways in which the body can serve as a vehicle for carrying experiences and memories through complex terrain.

Among her recent projects: Tender Cargo, a project comprised of sculptural garments, other 2D and 3D artworks, an original soundscape and live performance; Waves and Shadows, a collaborative film; Disassemble, a performance installation at RISD Museum; and Graft, a solo exhibition and site-specific installation of sculptural garments, paintings and video at Wheaton College. Taleen has been awarded grants from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), Providence Art, Culture + Tourism (ACT) and The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Newport County.

Taleen was named the 2020-21 Teacher of Excellence at Rhode Island School of Design, Continuing Education, where she has been a faculty member for more than 14 years. In addition, she teaches and serves as a visiting artist at colleges, art museums and arts organizations including Providence College, Wheaton College and Newport Art Museum. Previously, she served as Director of Education for Providence CityArts for Youth.


recent awards and reviews

2022

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Project Grant Recipient, Fall 2019, Spring 2022

Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, Project Grant Recipient, Spring 2022

Michael Rose, “Artist to Know: Taleen Batalian - Inside Art with Michael Rose” GoLocalProv.com, October 2022

Pauline Getzoyan, “Tender Cargo: A Journey through Time, Trauma and Unanswered Questions”, armenianweekly.com, October 2022

2020

Arts and Cultural Alliance of Newport County, Artist Award, Spring, 2020

2019

Edward Mitchell Bannister Award, First Place, National Open Juried Exhibition, Providence Art Club, 2019

Review of National Open Juried Exhibition at Providence Art Club”, artscopemagazine.com, July 2019

Sharon Villanueva, “Conversations with Trailblazers”, BostonVoyager.com, January 2019

2018

Alexander Castro, “Coastal Contemporary Gallery presents collaborative showcase of wearable fashion, fine art, photography and music”, The Newport Daily News, November 2018

permanent collections

Bank of America, Boston MA
Blue Star Strategies, Washington, DC
Imagitas Inc, Waltham MA

solo exhibitions

2022

Tender Cargo, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI

2017

Graft, Weil Gallery, Wheaton College, Norton, MA

2012

Layer by Layer, Truro Fine Art Studio, Truro, MA

2011

Encaustics Revealed, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI

2007

Global Fairness Initiative, Benefit for GFI (Board Chair: President William Jefferson Clinton), Washington, DC

2005

On the Surface, The Armenian Library and Museum of America, Watertown, MA

2000

Behind the Eyes, Oakland Gallery/Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA

collaborative projects

2022

Tender Cargo, Performance, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI

2020

Waves and Shadows, Film, (in collaboration with Antonio Forte, Heidi Henderson and Keri King)

2018

Disassemble, RISD Museum, Providence, RI, (performance in collaboration with Heidi Henderson)

selected group exhibitions

2019

DOT CONFERENCE, The Yard, Brooklyn, NY

NATIONAL OPEN JURIED EXHIBITION, First Place-Edward Mitchell Bannister Award, Providence Art Club, Providence, RI

2018

UNRAVEL, Coastal Contemporary Gallery, Newport, RI

2017

BACKSTORY, Periphery Space, Pawtucket, RI

HABITAT/ion, 4th Biennial Juried Alumni Exhibition, Mass. College of Art and Design, Bakalar Gallery, Boston, MA

2016

RISD Summer Faculty Exhibition, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 2013-2016

ALL MEDIA JURIED EXHIBITION, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI

2014

MEMBERS AND STAFF INVITATIONAL, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI

2011

NESTING, The Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA

2010

PRESERVE, 13 Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2009

PLENTY 13, Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

NEW WORK, Above Providence Optical Gallery, Providence, RI

2008

MOMENTS IN TIME, Truro Fine Art Studio, Truro, MA

LEAP, 13 Forest Gallery, Arlington, MA

2007

LINES AND LAYERS, Truro Fine Art Studio, Truro, MA

SURFACE AND BEYOND, Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell, NJ

NEW WORK, Tara Peck Gallery, Portsmouth, NH

2006

WAX: ENCAUSTIC TECHNIQUES IN CONTEMPORARY ART, The Brush Art Gallery and Studios, Lowell, MA

2004

ON THE SURFACE, Tara Peck Gallery, Portsmouth NH

FALL SALON,, Cambridge Art Association, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA

WAX, The Space at Alice, Providence, RI

2003

ENERGY, Cambridge Art Association, Juried by Carl Belz (Rose Art Museum) and Portia Belz (Art New England), Kathryn Schulz Gallery, Cambridge, MA