victoria bradford styrbicki
6351 Saint Croix Trail N #142
Stillwater, MN 55082
Email: victoria@ahouseunbuilt.com
Website: https://ahouseunbuilt.com
Phone: 337 794 8222
Founder and Artistic Director at A House Unbuilt | ahouseunbuilt.com
EDUCATION
2012 MFA Studio/Performance / School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2002 BFA Studio Art/Sculpture / University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN – Magna Cum Laude
2004-6 Non-Degree Comparative Literature / Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA – Board of Regents Fellowship
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2017 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award
2016 Chicago Artists’ Month Featured Artist
2014 Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Individual Artist Award
2007 Person of the year Award, Lake Charles, LA
SOLO EXHIBITS & PERFORMANCES
2025 Caught up… (A House Unbuilt), Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center, Lake Charles, LA
2016 Duet (A House Unbuilt), Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2016 Hiding Lost Things (A House Unbuilt), Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2016 Neighborhood Dances (A House Unbuilt), Zania Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2016 Dinner Dance (A House Unbuilt), McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Charlotte, NC
2015 Running with Scissors (A House Unbuilt), DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum,
Lincoln, MA
2015 Neighborhood Dances (A House Unbuilt), Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
2015 Ghost Skirts (A House Unbuilt), High Concept Labs, Chicago, IL
2014 Skirts (A House Unbuilt), Ben Mount Theater, Lake Charles, LA
2013 I’d Rather Dance with You than Talk with You (A House Unbuilt), Preston Bradley Church, Chicago, IL
2013 Dinner Dance ( A House Unbuilt), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
2013 Dinner Dance (A House Unbuilt), Home of Jeanie and Tom Cottingham, Charlotte, NC
2013 Dinner Dance (A House Unbuilt), Traylor Park Projects, Chicago, IL
2013 Dinner Dance (A House Unbuilt), Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
GROUP EXHIBITS & PERFORMANCES
2023 Artists of the St. Croix at Washington County Heritage Center, Stillwater, MN
2022 Through the Eyes of Others at Washington County Historic Court House, Stillwater, MN
2021 ArtReach St. Croix Member Show at ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN
2018 Elevate Chicago at Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2018 ShareOUT at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
2018 Do Something Else at Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2017 Merce Cunningham: Common Time at Museum of Contemporary art Chicago, Chicago, IL
2017 Obsession, Improvisation, Collaboration at Governors State University, University Park, IL
2013 Twelve Variations at Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL
2013 Embody at Design Cloud Gallery, Chicago, IL
PUBLIC ART
2023 Take Action, a pop-up workshop built around 10 actions to take for the River Valley, created for River Days of Action with the Mississippi River Network, Stillwater, MN
2019 Relay of Voices, a 120-day durational dance from source to sea, using social choreograph to engage the residents of the Mississippi River, in partnership with over one hundred towns and cities, governments, environmental, cultural, and advocacy organizations.
2015 Ghost Skirts, a performance intervention in public space, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL
2014-17 Neighborhood Dances, a daily series of performance interventions in public space, various locations around Chicago, IL, Lake Charles, LA, Boston, MA, Charlotte, NC, and other cities
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2016 Curator of PLACE: Pulling Through, a micro-residency at various public and private spaces in Lake Charles, LA
2014 Curator of PLACE: Underneath is a Landscape, a micro-residency at the former Social Security building, Lake Charles, LA
PUBLICATION AS AUTHOR
2025 Contributor to Open Rivers Journal Issue No. 27: Rights, Conflict, and Water, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Minnesota
2023 Author of Relay of Voices (relayofvoices.com), published by A House Unbuilt, Stillwater, MN
2022 Contributor to Open Rivers Journal Issue No. 21: Women & Water: Calling, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Minnesota
LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS
2023 Speaker – Banners Cultural Series, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA
2017 Artist Talk – Yvonne Rainer: Embodiment Abstracted, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
2015 Panelist – Building Blocks: Dancing the City: Moving through Non-Traditional Spaces, Chicago Architectural Biennial, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2015 Artist Talk – Chicago Artists Month: City as Studio, Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
2015 Artist Talk – Crossing Boundaries, University of Chicago/Harold Washington College,
Chicago, IL
2013 Artist Talk – Visual Arts Certificate Program, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2013 Artist Talk – Performing Tableware, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2013 Panelist – Method in Action: Contemporary applications of performance as pedagogy in theater, dance and beyond, Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference, Orlando, FL
2012 Artist Talk – CORE Studio, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
RESIDENCIES
2016 Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Theatre and Dance Residency
2016 Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery Micro-Residency
2013 Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH Residency
SELECTED PRESS
Rita Lebleu, “Relay of Voices: Couple conveys how lives are shaped by water,” The American Press (Lake Charles, LA), March 26, 2023.
https://www.americanpress.com/2023/03/26/relay-of-voices-couple-conveys-how-lives-are-shaped-by-water/
Robin Miller, “Relay of Voices project will be running through southeast Louisiana next week in search of stories,” The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), October 9, 2019.
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_6b6156ca-e893-11e9-8775-4f8ffc2a998a.html
Julia Baker, “Shoppin’ on the River: Fall Night Market this Weekend,” Memphis Flyer, September 19, 2019.
https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/shoppin-on-the-river-fall-night-market-this-weekend/Content?oid=21422758
Lindsey Bell, “Couple journeys along Mississippi River for Relay of Voices,” The Camden Chronicle, September 18, 2019.
http://www.magicvalleypublishing.com/2019/09/18/couple-journeys-along-mississippi-river-for-relay-of-voices/
Bobby Radford, “Storytelling expedition makes way down Mississippi, stops in Ste. Gen,” Daily Journal (Park Hills, MO), September 5, 2019.
https://dailyjournalonline.com/news/local/storytelling-expedition-makes-way-down-mississippi-stops-in-ste-gen/article_ef6ef517-90fc-5240-8990-910bda969007.html
Jesse Davis, “Relay of Voices,” Memphis: The City Magazine, August 28, 2019.
https://memphismagazine.com/the-memo/relay-of-voices/
David Namanny, “Relay of Voices,” Bellevue Herald-Leader, August 21, 2019.
https://www.bellevueheraldleader.com/news/relay-of-voices/article_01bfc7da-c2bc-11e9-a9c4-1b9aa23a8ee2.html
Kate Payne, “Artistic Team Traveling the Length of the Mississippi Makes Stops in Iowa,” Iowa Public Radio, August 16, 2019.
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/artistic-team-traveling-length-mississippi-makes-stops-iowa
Andrea Flores, “Couple running, biking along Mississippi River for ‘Relay of Voices,’” WQAD-TV (Moline, IL), August 16, 2019.
https://wqad.com/2019/08/16/couple-running-biking-along-mississippi-river-for-relay-of-voices/
Jennifer DeWitt, Andy Abeyta, “Relay of Voices an artistic research project, to make stops across Quad-City region,” August 14, 2019.
https://qctimes.com/news/local/relay-of-voices-an-artistic-research-project-to-make-stops/article_107e1ec8-7ce9-5ed2-8c1e-b6748fdbbe54.html
Britta Greene, “Looking for stories along the Mississippi, she’s found love,” MPR News, July 29, 2019.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/07/29/relay-voices-mississippi-love
Zane Douglas, “Woman traveling the length of the Mississippi to make Prescott stop this month,” Pierce County Herald, July 16, 2019.
https://www.piercecountyherald.com/community/people/4637343-woman-travelling-length-mississippi-make-prescott-stop-month
Kraig Becker, “Adventure Quickies: Reassessing R-Values, Celebrating 75 Years of Smoky Bear, and Other Stories — The Adventure Blog,” adventureblog.net, July 12, 2019.
https://adventureblog.net/2019/07/adventure-quickies-reassessing-r-values-celebrating-75-years-of-smoky-bear-and-other-stories.html
Annalise Braught, “A Relay on the river: Relay of Voices group stops in Bemidji to learn about the Mississippi,” Bemidji Pioneer, July 10, 2019.
https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/3904735-A-Relay-on-the-river-Relay-of-Voices-group-stops-in-Bemidji-to-learn-about-the-Mississippi
Kraig Becker, “Artist Plans to Travel the Length of the Mississippi River to Connect Communities,” adventureblog.net, May 30, 2019.
https://adventureblog.net/2019/05/artist-plans-to-travel-the-length-of-the-mississippi-river-to-connect-communities.html
Theresa Schmidt, “Artist Victoria Bradford ‘running home’ to discuss Relay of Voices: The Great River Run,” KPLC-TV (Lake Charles, LA), October 31, 2018.
http://www.kplctv.com/2018/10/31/artist-victoria-bradford-running-home-discuss-relay-voices-great-river-run/
Baiqi Chen, Asha Veal Brisebois, “Victoria Bradford and Xinqi Tao, Neighborhood Dances, Chicago and Shanghai,” EMERGE, Fall 2016/Spring2017.
http://sites.saic.edu/emerge/fall2016/neighborhood-dances/
Josh Usmani, “Body-Based Womanist Artists and Activists Will Host Creative Event in Detroit Shoreway, SCENE, April 27, 2016.
http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2016/04/27/body-based-womanist-artists-and-activists-will-host-creative-event-in-detroit-shoreway
“Best ongoing improvisational dance project,” Best of Chicago, New City, November 5, 2015.
http://best.newcity.com/2015/11/05/best-ongoing-improvisational-dance-project/
Michael Workman, “Preview: Ghost Skirts/Victoria Bradford, Jessica Cornish & Lia Kohl,” New City, November 11, 2015.
http://www.newcitystage.com/2015/11/11/preview-ghost-skirtsvictoria-bradford/#more-36025
April McCallum, “Meet The Choreographer Bringing The Avant-Garde To The Masses, Victoria Bradford,” The Culture Trip, November 2, 2015.
http://www.theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/illinois/articles/meet-the-choreographer-bringing-the-avant-garde-to-the-masses-victoria-bradford/
Mary Deyoe, “Chicago Gallery News on Chicago Artists Month,” Chicago Gallery News, October 16, 2015.
http://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2015/10/chicago-artists-month-2015-the-city-as-studio
Brad Goins, “Neighborhood Dances is ‘Up Front’ with Brad Goins,” Lagniappe, April 30, 2015.
http://bestofswla.com/2015/04/30/neighborhood-dances/
Brad Goins, “Place No. 1,” Lagniappe, December 18, 2014.
http://bestofswla.com/2014/12/18/place-1/
John Guidroz, “‘Place’ open throughout November,” American Press, November 10, 2014.
http://www.americanpress.com/-Place–art-exhibits
FORMATIVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Executive & Artistic Director, A House Unbuilt
Stillwater, MN/Lake Charles, LA/Chicago, IL
2012 – present
As Executive & Artistic Director of A House Unbuilt, I manage a small but expansive non-profit arts organization that executes projects focused on social choreography—a combination of social practice and dance. Together with outside collaborators and partners, I create space and situations for people to move through research, storytelling, activism, and performance. In order to achieve these goals, I fundraise, report to a Board of Directors, coordinate events, exhibitions, and performances, and participate in partner organizations as a representative of arts, culture, and environmental concerns. For the past seven years of this work, A House Unbuilt has been primarily focused on work along the Mississippi River and Coastal Louisiana, addressing environmental and social concerns and the stories that reveal them.
Program Director, Chicago Dancemakers Forum
Chicago, IL
2013 – 2016
As Program Director of Chicago Dancemakers Forum, I was the sole facilitator of this unique funding and mentoring resource for dance professionals in Chicago. Under my leadership, the program grew to take on a full time Executive Director and Social Media Director as well as several interns. In addition to seeding this growth, my work focused on running the flagship Lab Artist program, which offers large process-driven grants to leading choreographers in the city. I also spearheaded our 10 year anniversary showcase at the MCA Chicago and a capital fundraising campaign in order to stabilize our finances for the next ten years.
Deputy Secretary, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism
Baton Rouge, LA
2008 – 2009
As Deputy Secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, I worked as part of an administrative team to design organized structures and strategic assets for the Office of State Museums and the Office of Tourism during leadership transitions. I managed operations and strategic planning of the state’s annual marketing plan, coordinating with internal staff and five advertising, public relations, and interactive contract agencies. I worked amidst the Department’s five offices, Libraries, Parks, Tourism, Museums, and Culture, to communicate the needs of the agency to the desires of the commissioner, the Lt. Governor. As liaison, in this way, I was responsible for bringing many special projects to fruition.
Executive Director, Poor Pony
Lake Charles, LA
2007 – 2008
As Executive Director of Poor Pony, I co-founded and directed creative and collaborative activities of this grass roots community arts initiative, including Pony Fest, an annual music and arts festival (’07 and ’08), Breathe, a regional dance and performance art collaborative, and Movies Under the Stars, a monthly outdoor film screening in partnership with the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury. I managed public relations, marketing, and business affairs, including regional media coverage, writing and monitoring grant applications, direct fund raising efforts and developed a social networking website. I also reported to a board of directors, and worked with an advisory board, and volunteer staff of over 50 people.
Coordinator of Planned Giving, McNeese State University
Lake Charles, LA
2006 – 2007
As Coordinator of Planned Giving for McNeese State University’s Foundation, I marketed the Foundation’s overall fundraising goals to older adults. I also developed, designed and managed the Foundation website. I developed and initiated new programs for Planned Giving and Donor Research. I programmed and enacted the Foundation Endowment Campaign, and also served as the Foundation’s representative for the Rouge et Blanc Committee and the Retirement Association.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Project Designer, AC Atelier
Chicago, IL
2016 – 2018
As Project Designer at AC Atelier I managed logistics on design projects, working with clients to achieve their goals and create custom designs and graphics for interiors based on their needs.
Founder and Project Director, Free Swim
Lake Charles, LA
2014 – 2016
As Founder and Project Director of Free Swim, I spearheaded a local community engagement and quality of life initiative centered around the arts and creativity. This included a micro-granting dinner for Southwest Louisiana citizens and two popup contemporary art spaces and artist’s residency projects funded through the Southwest Louisiana Community Foundation.
Program Assistant, Graham Foundation
Chicago, IL
2015 – 2016
As Program Assistant at the Graham Foundation I provided research and archival support, developing databases for the collection.
Contributing Editor, Chicago Artists Resource/Chicago Artists Coalition
Chicago, IL
2013 – 2015
Interim Gallery Manager, Defibrillator Gallery
Chicago, IL
2013
AFFILIATIONS
Mississippi River Network
Co-Chair, Engagement Committee, 2022 – present
Member, 2021 – present
Partner, 2018-2020
Sunnyside Condominiums
Board Member, 2022 – present
Art Reach St. Croix
Member/Volunteer, 2020 – present
River Market Community Co-op
Board of Directors Vice-President, 2020 – 2022
Sustainable Stillwater
Rain Garden Volunteer, 2022 – 2023
North Hill Community Garden
Garden Leader, 2021 – 2023
REFERENCES
Hannah Barco, Associate Curator and Festival Director, Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art
Phone: (919) 475-3436, Email: hbarco@tephraica.org
James Pike, Program Officer, Graham Foundation
Phone: (503) 459-3980, Email: jpike@grahamfoundation.org
Tracy LeMieux, Director, The Art Factory
Phone: (337) 540-2968, Email: tracy2968@gmail.com