Taylor Simone
Artist, Designer, Organizer
Taylor Simone stewards a dynamic and expansive studiothat integrates strategic and operational planning with practices in art, writing, & design.
A thread through Simone's practice is the act of space-making. She aims to challenge frameworks of capital and domination threading her work with focuses sustainability, equity, and system thinking. In 2019, she received her MFA in Visual Communication from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Most recently, she worked with the Underground Music Academy fulfiling the role of Educational Program Director. From 2019 to 2022, she held the position of Assistant Teaching Professor at Bowling Green State University. During that time, she began working as the Design Justice Network.
Her work with the Design Justice Network began in 2015. DJN is united by a set of principles that prioritize equity within design processes and frameworks. As a volunteer, she facilitated workshops, provided project management support, and co-organized the 2017 Allied Media conference track.
Simone's design practice has also allowed her to support others who align with her Principles of Practice. She has worked with clients such as: Black Chalk & Co, Complex Movements (Beware of the Dandelions), The Carr Center, Allied Media, and more.
Simone is the founding director of Exodus School of Expression, a passion project dedicated to creating space for BIPOC artists, arts organizers, and educators to cultivate non-traditional practices that challenge conventional frameworks of domination and capital.
Through a commitment to small exits and incremental change, Exodus fosters an environment of self-actualization, speculation, and community engagement. In 2021, she organized Exodus's Seed Summer Residency, which brought together seven artists and four educators in Richmond, VA, sparking collaborative projects that have since evolved and are currently blossoming through offerings of resources and writing.
Her work with the Design Justice Network began in 2015. DJN is united by a set of principles that prioritize equity within design processes and frameworks. As a volunteer, she facilitated workshops, provided project management support, and co-organized the 2017 Allied Media conference track.
Simone's design practice has also allowed her to support others who align with her Principles of Practice. She has worked with clients such as: Black Chalk & Co, Complex Movements (Beware of the Dandelions), The Carr Center, Allied Media, and more.
Simone is the founding director of Exodus School of Expression, a passion project dedicated to creating space for BIPOC artists, arts organizers, and educators to cultivate non-traditional practices that challenge conventional frameworks of domination and capital.
Through a commitment to small exits and incremental change, Exodus fosters an environment of self-actualization, speculation, and community engagement. In 2021, she organized Exodus's Seed Summer Residency, which brought together seven artists and four educators in Richmond, VA, sparking collaborative projects that have since evolved and are currently blossoming through offerings of resources and writing.
Interested in Working with Me?
I would love to work with you. With a project management approach grounded in the Design Justice Principles of participatory design and sustainable systems, I am here to help to guide in helping your vision or project to bloom. Regardless of where you are in the process, I encourage you to reach out.
Organizational Development / Project Management:
- Strategic Planning & Development
- Project Management System Development
- Visioning Support
- Project Management & Timeline Development
Graphic Design:
- Image Making
- Poster Design
- Publication Design
- Social Media & Web Design
Education & Programming:
- Program & Workshop Development
- Resource & System Development
- Coordination & Adminastration
- Project Management
Exhibitions
The Start. The Finish, Solo Exhibition,
NW Missouri State University, Oct. 2021
The Artist is Presence, Solo Exhibition,
Utilities Included, Chapel Hill, NC, 2019
We Made Armour, Group Exhibition, Sediment Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2019
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Group Exhibition
The Anderson, 2019
Beacon, Group Exhibition,
Torrance Art Museum, 2019
Playing in the Dark, Group Exhibition,
The Anderson, 2018
One-Cell, Group Exhibition,
Berlin, Germany, 2018
Contemporary Landscape, Group Exhibition
Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, 2018
Surface Festival,
Its Liquid, Venice, Italy 2018
Super Human, Group Exhibition,
Fisher Parish Gallery, Brooklyn New York, 2018
Medium, Solo Exhibition
Sediment Gallery, Richmond Virginia, 2017
First Friday Group Show,
Ugly Mug Cafe, Ypsilanti, MI, 2016
Annual ISU Department of Art Online Exhibition, Group Show, Idaho State University, 2016
All Media Exhibition, Group Exhibition
Ann Arbor Arts Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2015
Working Women, Group Exhibition,
Baltimore Gallery, Detroit Michigan, 2015
Hooplara, Group Exhibition,
Ford Gallery, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 2015
Residencies
Popps Packing, Detroit, Oct-Nov 2022
Writing
Untitled Unknown, 2019
Lets Make Contact, Room Magazine, 2017
Workshops
Design Justice Principle Workshop, 2018
Kyung Hee University w/ Virginia
Commonwealth University, 2018
Abstracted/Visual Narrative, Virginia Commonwealth University Summer Intensive, 2018
Design Jusitce and Monument Ave,
Arts Research Institute, 2018
Abstracted, Pratt Institute, 2018
Design Justice Network Gathering, 2017
Curatorial
Meridian, Group Exhibition,
Richmond, Virginia, 2018
Artist Talks
The Start. The Finish, Lecture,
NW Missouri State University, 2021
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, We Made Armor,
Sediment Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2019
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ6JXVF1C_c)