Home is where the Heart is
as a coping mechanism.
b 1989 Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA | (they/them)
As a human rights organizer who has experienced houselessness, altruistic dreams pervade nik rye's practice – solidarity, radical love, & future joy. Collaboration is integral to nik rye's projects which tend to ironically oversimplify solutions – for instance, community vs alienation – to reveal abusive systems of power that are complexly woven into our daily lives. They investigate communication in relation to the spectacle as a pathway to empathy. An air of absurdity is present in their emotionally-heavy work as both a coping mechanism and a post-conscience societal criticism.
nik rye is an activist, artist, and curator who previously belonged to a collective for whom the Broward New Times headlined as Activists Prank Fort Lauderdale Commissioners to Protest Homeless Hate Laws. In 2014, nik rye was arrested for sharing food in a public park - a catalytic moment in which they equated protest and performance. They currently organize a mutual aid collective in Tallahassee, FL.
In February 2023, nik rye will be presenting at the Art + Social Justice Symposium at Florida State University. In June 2023, they will be exhibiting their curated show, Aquarius Pluto. nik rye has also performed spoken word and puppeteered in artistic and political spaces.
nik rye is an MFA candidate and fellow at Florida State University. They received a BA and an AS from FSU and Broward College, respectively. nik rye was awarded a Civil Disobedience Medal from the ACLU and is the recipient of the FSU Legacy Fellowship. They have been interviewed by numerous media outlets, including CNN and HerCampus.
(in brief)
EDUCATION
2023 MFA Participatory Art, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2020 BA Ceramics & Printmaking, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS, and GRANTS
2022 Academic Leadership Award, Florida State University Student Organizations & Involvement
2020 The Legacy Fellowship, The Florida State University Fellows Society (2020-2023)
2019 Silver Addy, American Advertising Federation of Fort Lauderdale
2015 Excellence in Civil Disobedience Medal, American Civil Liberties Union of Broward
PERFORMANCES
2022 We Can House Ann, Tallahassee, FL
Butterfly Defect (play), Indaba Theatre, Tallahassee, FL
2021 Keith Stafford Was Murdered, Gaines St & Railroad Ave, Tallahassee, FL
7 Days a Diamond, The Plant, Tallahassee, FL
2020 Tally Community Aid, Tallahassee, FL
2018 A Queer Goodbye, L Mercado Studios, Hollywood, FL
2013 Flower and The Kingdom of Fort Lauderjail, Broward Homeless Coalition, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 7 Days a Diamond Archive Show, The Plant, Tallahassee, FL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Thresholds, Working Method Contemporary, Tallahassee, FL
Members Exhibition, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
2020 QuAR(T)antine, Performance Køkkenet, Copenhagen DK
2017 The Hive with Stephanie McMillan, Forward Spiral, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2016 Hang Your Bra, Little Haiti Cultural Center, Miami, FL
SELECTED CURATORIAL
2023 Aquarius Pluto: Aesthetics of Revolution, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
2022 re/fract, Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
Co-curated with my students in Contemporary Art Foundations
All About Love, Working Method Contemporary, Tallahassee, FL
Co-curated with Camille Modesto
2021 I think you should leave, Phyllis Straus Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Co-curated with my students in Beginning Ceramics
RECENT PRESS
2022 Bryan, Susannah, Fort Lauderdale may face $1.5M legal bill over public feeding crackdown, South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, May 11.
2021 Benoit, Marena, FSU Grad Student Advocating for Houseless Through Art, HerCampus, October 29.
Bailey, Karah, Activist Creates Art to End Houselessness, ABC 27 WTXL Tallahassee, September 13.
Ruane, Don, Gaines St memorial reminds us to do better for our houseless neighbors, Tallahassee
Democrat, August 21.
Schneider, Tori Lynn, 'Helped me heal in a lot of ways:' rye reflects on living in a box for a week, Tallahassee
Democrat, February 15.
Dobson, Byron, In This Box: Artist Highlights Isolation, Tallahassee Democrat, February 8, p. A1
