{{Short description|American artist known for installation, mapping, and participatory projects}} {{Infobox artist | name = Alison Pebworth | image = Alison Pebworth by Jane Lowe.jpg | caption = | birth_date = 1964 | birth_place = Huntsville, Texas | education = {{Plainlist| *University of Texas (BFA) *University of Kansas (MFA) }} | known_for = {{Cslist|Installation art|social practice|mapping|participatory projects}} | notable_works = {{Plainlist| *''Beautiful Possibility'' *''Cultural Apothecary'' *''Reconnecting to Home'' *''Unofficial Department of Handshakes''}} | awards = Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2015); MacDowell Fellow (2021) | website = {{URL|https://alisonpebworth.com/}} }}
'''Alison Pebworth''' is an American artist whose work incorporates painting, installation, itinerant exhibition formats, and public participation in an ongoing examination American cultural narratives. Her projects — often produced through long-duration travel, site-responsive construction, and conversational or survey-based participation — have been presented at institutions including MASS MoCA, Southern Exposure, The New Children’s Museum in San Diego, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, and SPACES in Cleveland. Pebworth has also exhibited across a network of artist-run and non-profit spaces in Canada and the United States through the multi-year touring project ''Beautiful Possibility''.
In 2024, after many years of itinerant touring, Pebworth relocated to the Berkshires and began developing new work in North Adams, marking a shift from mobile presentation toward site-based construction.<ref name="Artscope-2024-NorthAdams">{{cite web |last=Kaye |first=Marjorie |date=2024-01-04 |title=A Much Less Tortuous Path: Pebworth Installs New Environments in North Adams |url=https://artscopemagazine.com/2024/01/a-much-less-tortuous-path-pebworth-installs-new-environments-in-north-adams/ |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=Artscope Magazine}}</ref> Her 2025–26 project ''Cultural Apothecary'' at MASS MoCA extended these methods into a large-scale installation with structured public programming and broadcast coverage.
== Early life and education == Pebworth grew up in Texas and later settled in San Francisco. She studied at the University of Texas (BFA) and the University of Kansas (MFA).<ref name="Tiffany-Foundation-2015">{{cite web |title=Alison Pebworth |url=https://www.louiscomforttiffanyfoundation.org/2015/alison-pebworth |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation}}</ref> She is the daughter of sculptor Charles Pebworth.<ref name="CharlesPebworth-ChildOf">{{cite web |last=ArchivesStaff |title=Charles A. Pebworth Collection – Finding Aid |url=https://archivesspace.shsu.edu/repositories/2/resources/268 |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=Thomason Special Collections, Sam Houston State University}}</ref>
== Selected exhibitions == * 2025–26: ''Cultural Apothecary'', MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA).<ref name="MASSMOCA-Apothecary-Event">{{cite web |title=Alison Pebworth: Cultural Apothecary |url=https://massmoca.org/event/alison-pebworth-cultural-apothecary/ |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=MASS MoCA}}</ref> * 2016–18: ''Innards and Upwards: A San Francisco Wunderkammer'', SFAC Main Gallery.<ref name="SFAC-ArtistTalk-2016">{{cite web |title=Artist Talk with Alison Pebworth |url=https://www.sfartscommission.org/calendar/artist-talk-alison-pebworth |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=San Francisco Arts Commission}}</ref> * 2017: ''Moon to Solstice'', Wildlands Residency performance (Sonoma, CA)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moon to Solstice 2017 with Alison Pebworth |url=http://www.667shotwell.com/ChrisSollars/2017/moon_to_solstice.html |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=www.667shotwell.com}}</ref> * 2015: ''Reconnecting to Home'', The New Children’s Museum (San Diego, CA).<ref name="NCM-MuseumSite">{{cite web |title=Reconnecting to Home |url=https://thinkplaycreate.org/explore/art-installations/reconnecting-to-home/ |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=The New Children’s Museum}}</ref> * 2010–13: ''Beautiful Possibility Tour'', ''Go West'', Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) (Salt Lake City, UT), among various other stops.<ref name="SPACES-Cleveland-Tour2">{{cite web |date=2012-06-01 |title=Beautiful Possibility Tour |url=https://www.spacescle.org/exhibitions/2012/06/01/beautiful-possibility-tour |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=SPACES}}</ref><ref name="PPH-2012-Review2">{{cite news |last=Kany |first=Daniel |date=2012-09-16 |title=Art Review: 'Beautiful Possibility' show entertains, provokes thought |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2012/09/16/beautiful-possibility-show-entertains-provokes-thought_2012-09-16/ |access-date=2025-10-29 |work=Portland Press Herald}}</ref>
== Honors and residencies == * Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, Artist-in-Residence (2022)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=The Helene Wurlitzer |title=The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico |url=https://wurlitzerfoundation.org/ |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=The Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico |language=en}}</ref> * MacDowell Fellow (2021).<ref name="MacDowell-Fellow-2021">{{cite web |title=Alison Pebworth |url=https://www.macdowell.org/artists/alison-pebworth |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=MacDowell}}</ref> * Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (2017)<ref name="MASSMOCA-Apothecary-Event" /> * Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2015).<ref name="Tiffany-Foundation-2015" /> * Center for Cultural Innovation support for ''Beautiful Possibility'' (2013).<ref name="SOEX-BeautifulPossibilityCatalog" /> * Neighborhood Sign Project, Alternative Exposure Grant, Southern Exposure (2007).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-21 |title=The Neighborhood Sign Club |url=https://soex.org/neighborhood-sign-club |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=Southern Exposure |language=en}}</ref> * New American Paintings, Pacific Coast Edition Winner – Issue #19 (1999).<ref>{{Cite web |title=19 {{!}} New American Paintings |url=https://www.newamericanpaintings.com/issues/19 |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=www.newamericanpaintings.com}}</ref>thumb|''A Simple Plan'', oil on canvas, detail
== Publications and collaborations == * Contributor (maps/graphics) to Rebecca Solnit et al.’s atlas series; the UC Press box set ''Infinite Cities: A Trilogy of Atlases'' won the 2020 Alice Award.<ref name="UCPress-Alice2020">{{cite web |date=2020-11-09 |title=Infinite Cities: A Trilogy of Atlases is the Winner of 2020 Alice Award |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/53130-infinite-cities-winner-of-2020-alice-award |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=University of California Press Blog}}</ref> * ''Beautiful Possibility'' catalog (Southern Exposure) with essay by Rebecca Solnit (pdf excerpt).<ref name="SOEX-BeautifulPossibilityCatalog">{{cite web |title=Beautiful Possibility (catalog, 16-page PDF excerpt) |url=https://www.soex.org/publications/beautiful-possibility-alison-pebworth-exhibition-southern-exposure |access-date=2025-10-29 |website=Southern Exposure}}</ref>
== External links == * {{Official website|https://alisonpebworth.com/}} * [https://massmoca.org/event/alison-pebworth-cultural-apothecary/ MASS MoCA – Cultural Apothecary] * [https://www.soex.org/publications/beautiful-possibility-alison-pebworth-exhibition-southern-exposure Southern Exposure – ''Beautiful Possibility'' catalog excerpt]
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pebworth, Alison}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century American women artists Category:American installation artists Category:American contemporary artists Category:Women installation artists Category:1964 births