Visiting Artists, Scholars and Designers

Spring 2025

Jack Wolgin Annual Visiting Artist Lecture


Tree of 40 Fruit. Courtesy of the artist, 2020

Tyler was thrilled to welcome Sam Van Aken, the 2025 Jack Wolgin Annual Visiting Artist for a lecture on March 13, 2025 at 5:30 PM. Van Aken’s work merges contemporary art, environmental science, and biotechnology to explore the intersections of nature and human intervention. Best known for his Tree of 40 Fruit—a single tree that grows forty different varieties of stone fruit—his projects use grafting as both a sculptural technique and a method of agricultural preservation. His work serves as a living archive of heirloom fruit species while creating poetic reflections on climate change, food sustainability, and biodiversity.

 

Visit Tyler's Calendar of Events for the latest information on upcoming events.

About Our Signature Lecture Series 

Each year, the Tyler School of Art and Architecture welcomes scores of artists, scholars, architects, designers and professionals from the top of their fields. These inspiring individuals connect with students through lectures, readings and demonstrations to encourage further collaboration and excellence both within the Tyler community and the broader public.

The Critical Dialogue Series brings leading practitioners, scholars, curators and other arts professionals to discuss current issues in art and design. Over the last two decades, the program has featured hundreds of speakers.

Architecture and Environmental Design (AED) Presents is a combined series of architecture, landscape architecture and city planning lectures.

The Laurie Wagman Visiting Artist and Artist-in-Residence Series, presented by our Glass program, reflects Tyler's emphasis on interdisciplinarity as a school that marries research with practice. Artists bring their diverse backgrounds, experience, and expertise to the studio—from traditional, to innovative, to experimental—and speak to students, offer demonstrations, and stimulate exchanges of new ideas.

The Knowles Architecture Alumni Lecture was established in 2013 in honor of Brigitte Knowles, professor emerita in Tyler's Department of Architecture and Environmental Design. Initiated by alumni of the program, the lecture series has welcomed renowned visionary creatives from fields across the built environment to share innovative work. Past lecturers include:

  • MASS Design Group, Shawn Evans and Garron Yepa, 2024
  • Olalekan Jeyifous, 2022
  • Sharon Johnston, 2021
  • David Adjaye
  • Craig Dykers
  • Walter Hood
  • Clive Wilkinson

The Jack Wolgin Annual Visiting Artist and Lecturer is an endowed visiting artist program that brings one of the nation's most influential artists and thinkers to campus to work with Tyler students and present a free public lecture each year. Previous Wolgin artists include:

  • Hito Steyerl, 2023 
  • Jennie C. Jones, 2022
  • Cecilia Vicuña, 2020 
  • Nick Cave, 2019
  • Rick Lowe, 2018
  • LaToya Ruby Frazier, 2017 
  • Judy Pfaff, 2016

The Jackson Lecture in Byzantine Art, generously sponsored by Lynn Jackson and hosted by the Art History Department, is an annual event connecting the Tyler community to cutting-edge research on visual and material culture of the medieval Mediterranean. Previous Jackson Lecture scholars include:  

  • Dr. Andrea Achi (Metropolitan Museum of Art): “Byzantium and Africa (4th—15th centuries CE)” 
  • Dr. Roland Betancourt (University of California, Irvine): “The Ethiopian Eunuch: Gender and Racialization in Byzantium” 
  • Dr. Ivan Drpić (University of Pennsylvania): “Byzantine Pectorals: Piety and Poetry” 
  • Dr. Michael W. Cothren (Swarthmore College): “Surveying Islamic and Gothic Art and Architecture: Reflections of a Textbook Author” 
  • Dr. Andrea Olsen Lam (Biola University): “The Expectant Icon: Transformation and Ritual in Byzantium” 
  • Dr. Amy Papalexandrou (Stockton University): “Listening In: Soundways and Sonic Spaces of the Byzantines” 

*NEW*  The Design & Illustration Speaker Series, presented by Tyler's Design and Illustration Department, features talks by leading designers and illustrators. These events offer students the chance to engage with creative leaders who share their insights, experiences, and work. Each event, whether tied to a course or open to all, bridges classroom learning with real-world creative practice, creating unique opportunities for connection and inspiration.