PNCA 2024 Symposium: Trans* Geographies

Thursday, November 7th - Saturday, November 9th

511 NW Broadway, Portland, OR, 97209

Free + Open to the Public

Keynote Speaker: Molly Jae Vaughan

The Pacific Northwest College of Art presents "Trans Geographies" an exploration of the intersections between gender identity, spatiality, and cultural landscapes. Led by keynote speaker Molly Vaughan, this symposium encourages interdisciplinary dialogue and critical inquiry into how gender identity both shapes and is shaped by the spaces we inhabit. Through keynote addresses, interactive workshops, a panel discussion, and artistic interventions, the 2024 symposium invites participants to critically engage with the complexities of trans geographies. The event critically examines how factors such as race, class, and geography intersect to shape the lived realities of trans individuals. By centering discussions on these intersections, both forced and voluntary, the symposium aims to shed light on how systems of power and oppression produce unequal geographies of gender identity, and to inspire hope and drive positive change in our understanding of gender and space.

Molly Jae Vaughan (British, born England, 1977) holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and in group exhibitions at San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, State of Fashion Biennale 2022 (Arnhem, Netherlands), the Block Museum of Art (Evanston, IL), the Henry Art Gallery (Seattle), and the Minnesota Museum of American Art (St. Paul). Vaughan was the 2017 recipient of the Betty Bowen Award and has received grants from Art Matters Foundation, Visual Artists Network, and the Hillsborough Arts Council. In 2018, Vaughan presented a talk at TEDXSEATTLE about her ongoing Project 42, which memorializes transgender M**der victims. Vaughan is currently a Senior Associate Professor of Art at Bellevue College and lives and works in Seattle. In 2024, Vaughan was selected to represent Washington state in the triennial exhibition “Women to Watch: New Worlds” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.

Full schedule coming soon!

Host or Publisher Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies at PNCA