2026 SPE Annual ConferenceSpeakers

Kim Abeles

Friday, March 20, 2026 @ 9:00am, Macon

Social Practice: Navigating Academia

Kim Abeles has created projects with science museums, health departments, air pollution control agencies, and community organizations. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, and her work is in collections including MOCA, CAAM, LACMA, BAMFA. Her books... read more

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Jason Ariel-Klein

Thursday, March 19, 2026 @ 2:00pm, Athens

Reflecting the Times: Image-Making and Education in the Shadow of Genocide

Jason Arel-Klein is a Jewish-American photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia. His photographs have been displayed at The Curated Fridge and the Atlanta Photography Group, among other exhibits. He is pursuing a Photography BFA at the... read more

Baran Ataei Ardestani

Saturday, March 21, 2026 @ 10:00am, Atlanta 1

Ascendance; self-portraiture as ritual

Baran Ataei (b. 1997) is an Iranian interdisciplinary artist who works with various mediums including photography, glass, printmaking and installation. Her work navigates themes of trauma, memory, and resistance against oppressive power structures.
She... read more

Mahsa Attaran

Friday, March 20, 2026 @ 2:30pm, Atlanta 3

The Archive as a Photographic Tool

Mahsa Attaran, Iranian-born visual artist and photographer, explores culture, identity, and feminism through fine art and advertising. Her work spans multimedia, with exhibitions worldwide and features in Hyperallergic. She holds an MFA from UConn, Visual... read more

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Rachel Boillot

Friday, March 20, 2026 @ 2:30pm, Atlanta 4

An Unfixed Pilgrimage: Vulnerability, Kinship & Healing through Collaboration

Saturday, March 21, 2026 @ 9:00am, Georgia 6

Reciprocity Reframed: Co-Creating in the Light of Belonging

Rachel Boillot (Duke MFA|EDA '14) is an artist and educator based in the Arkansas Delta region. She is a faculty member in the Art + Design department at Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, AR). read more

Jeremy Bolen

Thursday, March 19, 2026 @ 2:00pm, Georgia 6

Climate Resilience in the American South

Jeremy Bolen is an artist researcher, organizer and educator interested in site specific, experimental modes of documentation and presentation. Much of Bolen's work involves rethinking systems of recording -- in an attempt to observe... read more

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Michael Borowski

Saturday, March 21, 2026 @ 9:00am, Macon

Your Administrator and You

Michael Borowski is an Assistant Professor of Studio Art at Virginia Tech. His work uses metaphors of building and construction to examine societal values that are embedded in the built environment. He received his MFA... read more