Lauren Kalman

About Lauren

Lauren Kalman is a visual artist based in Detroit whose practice is rooted in contemporary craft, sculpture, video, photography, and performance. Through performances using her body, her work investigates constructions of the ideal and the feminine and their impacts and relationships to self-image, identity, crafts, and the built environment.

Kalman was raised in Cleveland, and completed her MFA in Art and Technology from the Ohio State University and earned a BFA with a focus in Metals from Massachusetts College of Art.

Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Cranbrook Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Mint Museum, World Art Museum in Beijing, and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, among others. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Frost Art Museum, and the Korean Ceramics Foundation.

Kalman has been awarded residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass, Bemis Center, Australian National University, Corporation of Yaddo, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Brush Creek Arts Foundation, and Haystack. In 2020, she received the Françoise van den Bosch Award for her career’s impact on the jewelry field.

Kalman has taught at Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island College, Northeastern University, Bristol Community College, Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film, Pocosin Arts, Haystack, and Penland School of Craft. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. She teaches workshops and conducts lectures and studio visits nationally and internationally.