About the Artist
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