b. Boston, MA
Lives in Warren, Maine
EDUCATION
2022 Teaching Certificate, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2015 Master of Fine Arts, Tufts University, Boston, MA
2006 Bachelor of Arts, Photography and Environmental Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Salt Works, Volland Foundation, Alma, KS
American Pile, Gravy Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
2022 Marginal World, The Channel, Carpenter Center for the Arts at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2020 Charting a Course, Design Building Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
2016 Salt, Mayor's Gallery, City Hall, Boston, MA
2015 Road Salt: A 4500 Mile Journey, Museum of Science, Boston, MA
Salt Mountain, Howard Art Project, Boston, MA
2006 Covering New Ground, Woods Gallery, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
TWO-PERSON SHOWS
2023 New Works by Allison Cekala and Tyler Weeks with the Rockland Observationalists, Interloc, Thomaston, ME
2017 Sight Unseen, Vermont Center for Photography (with Aaron Borque) Brattleboro, VT
2014 Every Place, Essex Art Center (with Sarah Pollman), Lawrence, MA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 House Warming, 82 Parris, Portland ME
ARTPM, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME
2022 Garden Party, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME
Form and Gesture II, Interloc, Thomaston, ME
ARTPM, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME
2020 Existence on the Periphery, Keohane-Kenan Gallery, Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, Durham, NC
2019 Deep Time Lab, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM
FAWC Invitational, Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA
2018 Landfall, Rocky Neck Art Colony, Gloucester, MA
Screen2018, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
All Positions Depend, ACRE, Chicago, IL
2017 Convergence: Digital Media and Technology, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR
Borders in a Single Shot, curated by Temple University, presented at Harun Farocki Institut, Berlin, Germany
Western Pole, ongoing public installation curated by Jesse Malmed, 902 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL
2016 Material Message, Obrońców Stalingradu Gallery, Szczecin, Poland
America, Light Leaked Photography Journal Online Exhibition, Juried by Roger May
Postage Required, Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (The Shrug Show), Dorchester Art Project, Boston, MA
Heptadecagon, Soil Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 34: Isles Arts Initiative, Boston Sculpture Gallery, Boston, MA
Empire of Dirt, Paul Robeson Gallery, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
Carousel Slideshow, New Art Center, Newtonville, MA
2014 Proof of Purchase, Samson Projects, Boston, MA
Elemental Collaborations, Alternative Spaces, New Orleans, LA
Convergence I, Khaki Gallery, Boston, MA
Painting Biennial, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Juried by Lexi Lee Sillivan
2013 I Know What You Did Last Summer, Mission Hill Gallery, Boston, MA
2012 Wit, Mission Hill Gallery, Boston, MA
Sol Lewitt Wall Drawing #118, (draftsperson), Grossman Gallery, Boston, MA
2009 In the Light Cone, Department of Safety, Anacortes, WA
CURATORIAL
2017 Building a Lineage, Co-Curator with Sarah Pollman, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA
2016 This is Revolting, Creator and Curator of online submission/exhibition site and book publication, www.thisisrevolting.land
SELECTED SCREENINGS
2022 The Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA
2021 Flatland Chicago, Old Future Almanac Telethon, Twitch.tv
2020 UltraCinema MX, Mexico City, Mexico
Revolutions Per Minute Festival, Boston, MA
2018 World Water Forum, Portugal Pavilion, Brasilia, Brazil
Festival Internacional de Cinema e Video Ambiental, Goiás, Brasil
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Minneapolis, MN
AgX at the Echo Park Film Center, LA, CA
Sleeping Giant Film Festival, Jacksonville, Florida
2017 Open Eye, Easthampton, MA
A Good night’s Sleep, Northampton, MA
CineEco Film Festival, Seia, Portugal
GlobeDocs Film Festival, Boston, MA
Speed Art Museum, Lousiville, KY
BealArt, London, Ontario
Indie Memphis Film Festival, Memphis, TN
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Nickelodeon Theater, Columbia, SC
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook, MI
Detroit Film Theater, Detroit, MI
Mini MicroCinema, Cincinnati, OH
Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
Grand Illusion Cinema, Seattle, WA
Acworth Town Hall, Acworth, NH
Driftwood Library, Lincoln City, OR
2016 Lisbon International Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal (won best short doc)
Site Specific, ATA, San Francisco, CA, programmed by David Dinnell
High Coast Film Festival, Nordingra, Sweden
American Film Institute Fest (AFI FEST), Washington, DC
Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI
Traverse City Film Festival, Traverse City, MI
Amsterdam Lift-Off Festival, Amsterdam
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
Rice University, Houston, TX
2015 End Recordings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Chelsea Art Walk (screened inside shipping container at Eastern Salt Yard), Chelsea, MA
2014 One Hot Night, Brattle Theater, Boston, MA
RESIDENCIES
2023 The Waldoboro Inn, Waldoboro, ME
ACRE, Steuben, WI
2022 Dune Shacks, Provincetown, MA
2021 Monson Arts, Monson, ME
2018 Cary Center for Ecosystem Studies, Cannoo Hills Creative Arts Residency, Millbrook, NY
2017 Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Residential Fellowship, Otis, OR
ACRE, Steuben, WI
Lazuli Residency, Corinth, VT
2016 MacDowell Colony, Residential Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
Helen Wurlitzer Foundation, Residential Fellowship, Taos, NM
AWARDS
2019 Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2017 LEF New England Moving Image Pre-Production Grant Recipient
LEF New England Fellowship, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, Colgate University, NY
2016 Best Short Documentary, Lisbon International Film Festival
2015 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Film/Video
Marion O. Naumberg Fellow in Photography, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2014 Montague Travel Grant, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2013 Karsh Prize in Photography, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
PUBLICATIONS
2023 The Harvard Advocate (contributor)
2022 An Atlas, Flatlands, Chicago ( contributor )
2020 Kadabra X: How to Cook for Sixty People in the Driftless, in collaboration with ACRE Kitchen
2017 This is Revolting, self-published artist book
Mnemosyne Atlas 2016, Published by artist Freya Powell ( contributor )
2015 Mnemosyne Atlas 2014, Published by artist Freya Powell ( contributor )
Empire of Dirt (exhibition catalog), “Traversing an Empire of Dirt”, Anonda Bell, Rutgers University Press ISBN: 978-0-9826990-6-5
Light Leaked Photography Journal, “Allison Cekala”, Ashley Kauschinger, March 9 (web)
365 Artists, 365 Days “Allison Cekala” (interview), A Frank Juarez Gallery / Greymatter Gallery (web)
Toad Journal, “Allison Cekala”, issue 5-2
2009 Deep//Leep, Lasercave, Issue 3 ( contributor )
Deep//Leep, Lasercave, Issue 2 ( contributor )
2006 The Bardian, Bard Press, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, Summer Issue
The Bard Papers, Bard Press, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
SELECTED PRESS
2016 Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, “An art show about shrugs? Sure.” June 29
Chris Harding, Dorchester Reporter, “Ruminating on ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at DAP’s ‘The Shrug Show’”, June 22
Seth Daniel, Chelsea Record, “Salt Project Preserves the Idea of Finding out Where Things Come From”, Feb 12
2015 Ari Daniel Shapiro, The World, Public Radio International, “No snow, record high temperatures – but PLENTY of salt” Dec 24
Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, “Looking back over a year In Boston’s Galleries”, Dec 29
Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, “History, fantasy evoked in Sculptors Gallery”, Aug 4
Cate McQuiad, The Boston Globe, “Sightlines, Salt, and Silvery Light Enchant in Current Shows”, Jan 20
Greg Cook, The Artery (WBUR Boston), “Where Does Boston’s Road Salt Come From? A Local Photographer Finds Out” Jan 27
Katy Rogers, Winthrop Transcript, “Snake Island Inspired Work on Display”, Aug 7
Krystle Brown, Boston Hassle, “Salt Mountain”, Issue 60, Jan 9
Matthew Dinaro, Metro, “Five Things to do in Boston this Weekend”, Jan 8
LECTURES / TALKS
2022 The Photographer as Advocate: a discussion about enacting change, Panel Discussion, Photographic Resource Center, Boston
2018 Artist Talk, Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge MA
“Cultivating Ecological Awareness through Art”, Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY
2017 Artist Talk, Emerson College, Boston, MA
Artist Talk, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, Oregon
2015 Artist Talk, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
TEACHING
2018 - 2022 Instructor, Visual and Environmental Studies Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Introduction to Photo, Intermediate Photo
2017- 2021 Adjunct Faculty, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
Photo Media 1 (includes darkroom, digital, and moving image), Audio and Video 1
2015-2016 Post-graduate Teaching Fellow, School of the Museum of Fine Arts @Tufts University, Boston, MA
Digital Photo 1, The Art of Meaning: The History and Future of the Image
2014-2015 Graduate Teaching Fellow, School of the Museum of Fine Arts @ Tufts University, Boston, MA
Digital Photo 1, Senior Thesis Program
2011-2014 Teaching Assistant, School of the Museum of Fine Arts @ Tufts University, Boston, MA
The Photographic Object, Photo Area, Bill Burke
Space, Place, and Society, Visual and Critical Studies, Emily Gephart
Photo 2: Photography and Your Environment, Photo Area, David Mussina
Digital Photography 1, Photo Area (Digital), Kathleen Tyler
SEMINARS
2017 LEF New England Fellow, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, Colgate University, NY
2016 Participant, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, Colgate University, NY
AFFILIATIONS
2021-present Rockland Observationalists (co-founder and organizer), Rockland, ME
2018-2020 AgX Film Collective, Boston, MA
2016-2020 Film Fatales Boston