Maia Chao
Maia Chao is an artist who works collaboratively in social practice, film, and performance. She is co-creator of the social practice project, Look at Art. Get Paid. Chao has created commissioned works for the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, The Shed, and Tufts University Art Galleries. Her work has been presented at the Bronx Museum, RISD Museum, Cuchifritos Gallery, and Mural Arts. She has completed fellowships and residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center, Pioneer Works, and Queer|Art. In 2022, she was named a Pew Fellow and in 2023, she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Currently, Chao is the Public Artist in Residence at the Times Square Alliance. She has upcoming collaborative exhibitions at Boston Center for the Arts and Oregon Contemporary. Based in Philadelphia, Chao is a member of the art collective and DIY space, Vox Populi Gallery. She has taught at RISD, University of Pennsylvania, Moore College of Art and Design, and is currently faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Awarded Grants
2024
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
Related grantees
Overview
Maia Chao will create an experimental documentary project, presented as a two-channel video installation, examining the institution of language and the politics of governance in times of crisis. Centered in Philadelphia, the project will explore the process of becoming a political subject in public institutions through three critical developmental stages: early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This three-part documentary film will interweave and juxtapose kindergarten language lessons at the Samuel Powel Elementary School, youth debates with Philadelphia public school students through ASAP Debate (grades 4-12), and Philadelphia City Council committee convenings, exploring how language and bureaucracy shape responses to crises. The project will conclude with a public exhibition and discussion series at Vox Populi Gallery.
