Tal Fitzpatrick
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
in Fine Arts (2014-2018) from the Centre for Cultural Partnerships, Victorian College of Arts, University of Melbourne, completed 14 Dec 2018
Bachelor of Arts with 1st class Honours (2006-2010)
Griffith University School of Humanities Gold Coast, QLD. Majoring in Contemporary Arts and Studies in Arts, Creative Industries, conferral date: 26 March 2010, Testamur: 156788
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment – TAE4011 (2013)
Gold Coast Institute of Tafe, Gold Coast
GRANTS, RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS2024 - ArtKeeper residency, HOTA
2023 - Regional Arts Development Fund, City Of Gold Coast and Arts Queensland
2020 - @covid19quilt Project awarded the Incinerator Gallery Art Award - People's Choice Award
2020 - City of Melbourne Arts Project Grant and Creative Victoria Grant recipient for 'Signs For Our Times' project delivered as part of Next Wave Festival
2019 - Creative Victoria and Creative Suburbs Grant, for Six Moments in Kingston public art project
2017 - Research Training Program Scholarship Fund, University of Melbourne
2016, 2015, 2014 - Australian Postgraduate Award, Doctor of Philosophy (Fine Arts)
2010, 2008, 2007 - Regional Arts Development Fund, City Of Gold Coast and Arts Queensland
2009 - Dean of Arts Honours Scholarship, Griffith University
2008, 2007 - Griffith Award for Academic Excellence
RECENT EXHIBITIONS AND CREATIVE PROJECTS
2024-2025 - 'Changemakers: Crafting a difference' regional touring exhibition, delivered by MoAD with support from Commbank. Traveling to: Wanner Library and Cultural Centre - Perth WA, Museum of the Riverina - Wagga Wagga NSW, Blue Mountains Theatre and Community Hub - NSW, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery - VIC.
2023-2023 - GENERATE GC Program, delivered by City of Gold Coast and produced by Situate
2023 - Just for Fun group exhibition, Gold Coast (9 Dec) curated by Michelle Le Plastrier
2023 - INCUBATE* Residency at Placemakers* Gold Coast (19-23 July)
2023 - 'Quietly Seething' solo exhibition art Art-Work Studios, Gold Coast (26 May - 9 June)
2022 - 'Changemakers Exhibition' at the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra (June 2022 - June 2024) curated by Virginia Haussegger AM and Jennifer Forest
2021 - 'Handmade Revolution' exhibition at Kulturkvartert Pedagogien, Hjo, Sweden (June-September 20201) curated by Frida Arnqvist Engstöm
2021 - 'The National 2021: New Australian Art' exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (26 March - 5 September 2021).This exhibition features the @Covid19quilt project - a collaborative participatory digital project led by Kate Just and Tal Fitzpatrick
2021 - 'Finding Home' touring exhibition, Courthouse Gallery and Studio, Port Hedland WA (April - May 2021), Walter Nicholls Gallery, Port Lincoln SA (June 2021) curated by Candice Boyd
2020 - 'Moreland: 23/03/2020 to xx/xx/xxxx' exhibition at Siteworks, Melbourne (March - April 2021) project led by Simon Aubor, Anne Moffat, Kit Scott
2020 - 'Incinerator Art Award,' exhibited online due to COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne (28 August - 30 Sept 2020) curated by Jake Tracey
2020 - 'Pandemic: A Feminist Response,' online exhibition curated by Toronto Feminist Art Collective (June 2020)
2020 - 'Signs For Our Times,' presented as part of Next Wave's 'Assemble!' digital program (22-31 May 2020) senior Producer Bron Blecher
2018-2020 - '#UDHR Quilt Project,' exhibited at the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra (Oct 2018 - Feb 2020) curated by Edwina Jans
2019 - 'Domestic Craft,' exhibition at Rosny Farm Art Centre and Rosny Barn, Tasmania (Nov-Dec 2019) Curated by Nicole O'Loughlin
2019 - 'PM Please Quilt,' exhibited at the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House Canberra ACT (Nov 2018 - Dec 2019)
2019 - 'Crafting Resistance: Six Moments in Kinston,' exhibited at G1+G2 Gallery, Kingston Arts (Aug-Sept 2019) Curated by Tal Fitzpatrick
2019 - 'Six Moments in Kingston,' public art project, held at Kingston, Melbourne, VIC. (May 2019) Curated by David Cross and Cameron Bishop
2019 - 'Beyond 50%' exhibited at Backspace Gallery, Ballarat, VIC. (Mar 2019) Curated by Felicity Martin
2019 - 'Enlighten Festival', #UDHR Quilt Project projections on Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House Canberra as part of Enlighten Festival (Feb-Mar 2019)
2018-2019 - '#' exhibition held at Cindy Rucker Gallery, New York, NY, USA (Dec 2018 - Jan 2019) group exhibition curated by Markus Linnenbrink
2018 - 'Troublemakers' exhibited at the Versus Gallery, Melbourne VIC (Jul 2018 - Jun 2018) group show curated by Ben Frost.
2018 - 'Handle With Care' exhibited at Soul Craft Festival, The Meat Market, Melbourne VIC (9-10 Jun 2018) group show curated by Sophia Cai
2018 -'Craftivism HQ' PhD exhibition held at KINGS Artist Run Initiative, Melbourne VIC (7-10 Mar 2018)
2017 - 'We Are A Sanctuary' group exhibition KINGS Artist Run Initiative, Melbourne VIC (7-29 Apr 2017) curated by Danielle Toua, Hanann Aldaqqa and Katherine Kohler
2017 - 'Feminist Fiber Art' group exhibition held at Virago Gallery, Seattle USA (Mar-Apr 2017) curated by Iris Nectar
2016 - 'DAWN & I' exhibition held at George Paton Gallery, Melbourne VIC (30 Aug – 10 Sept 2016) Held in the main room of the George Paton Gallery, this exhibition featured Tal's textile art work alongside the art work of her paternal grandmother textile artist Dawn Fitzpatrick who was 94 at the time of the exhibition
2016 - 'IWDA Fifty-Fifty Project' exhibited at Igniting Change, Melbourne VIC (11 Mar 2016)
2016 - 'Songs of Freedom: Celebrating Democracy Quilt Exhibition,' held at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, Ballarat VIC (Nov 2015 – Jan 2016)
2015 - Performing the PM Please Quilt - hillsceneLIVE, Monbulk VIC (30 Oct 2015) Live art performance of socially engaged Craftivism project “PM Please”, Pop-up live art festival held in Monbulk, Victoria
2015 - 'f Generation: Feminism, Art, Progression' exhibition at the George Paton Gallery, Melbourne VIC (7-16 Oct 2015) group show curated by Veronica Caven Aldous, Dr Juliette Peers and Caroline Phillips
2015 - 'Resilience: Stories in Cloth' exhibition at Emerald Community House, Emerald VIC (11-17 Apr 2015) solo show held during the PAVE Art Festival
BOOK CHAPTERS
A. McGovern & T. Fitzpatrick (2023) Chapter 19: Craftivism and Crime: Craft as a vehicle for Criminal and Social Justice Activism, in V. Canning, G. Martin and S. Tombs (eds) The Emerald International Handbook of Activist Criminology, Emerald Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 9781802622003
T. Fitzpatrick & S.Dunlap (2022) Chapter 10 'Care Through Craft: Making in defence of Human Rights' in J.Milner & G. Coombs (2022) Care Ethics and Art. Routledge. ISBN 9780367765651
Commonwealth Arts, (2021), 'Artist In Residence/Artista En Residencia,' Philadelphia Contemporary, pg.16. ISBN: 9780578849218 https://publicationstudio.biz/books/artist-in-residence-artista-en-residencia/
T.Fitzpatrick, (2019), 'Chapter 13: Craftivism as DIY Citizenship' in Hinda Mandell (ed) Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats, Roman & Littlefield: Lanham, Boulder, New York, London. ISBN: 978-1-5381-1839-9
T.Fitzpatrick, (2016), ‘Chapter 3: Community Disaster Resilience’ in B. Clements, et al., 2016, Disasters and Public Health: Planning and Response (2nd Edition), Elsevier Inc., Oxford. ISBN: CLEMENTS-9780128019801
SELF PUBLISHED CATALOGUES
T/Fitzpatrick, (2020), Signs For Our Times, Next Wave: Melbourne. ISBN: 9780645067804
T.Fitzpatrick, (2019), Crafting Resistance: Six Moments in Kingston, blurb.com, Melbourne. ISBN: 9780464217176
T.Fitzpatrick, (2018), Craftivism: A Manifesto/Methodology, blurb.com, Melbourne. ISBN: 9781388836900
T.Fitzpatrick, (2018), IWDA Fifty-Fifty Project, blurb.com, Melbourne. ISBN: 978-1388758318
SELECTED ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
T. Fitzpatrick and Alyce McGovern, (2021), 'Home, Health and Power: Exploring Experiences of and Responses to the Pandemic through the Global @Covid19quilt Project,' The Polish Journal of Aesthetics, 61 (2/2021), DOI 10.1925
T.Fitzpatrick, (2018), PHD Thesis 'Craftivism as DIY Citizenship: The Practice of Making Change,' University of Melbourne. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/219289
T.Fitzpatrick and Katve-Kaisa Kontturi, (2015), ‘Crafting Change: Practicing Activism in Contemporary Australia’ in Craft Rhetorics, Harlot of Hearts edition no.14. Accessible from: http://harlotofthearts.org/index.php/harlot/article/view/290/185
M.Creyton, T.Fitzpatrick and T. Monteiro, (2014), ‘Engaging Learners: A Community Partner’s Perspective’, in Engaging Australia – University Community Engagement and Service Learning, Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd, Newcastle.
T.Fitzpatrick and J. Molloy, (2013), 'The Role of NGOs in Building Sustainable Community Resilience', QUT 9th annual International Conference of the International Institute for Infrastructure Renewal and Reconstruction, p.1-14
SELECTED CONFERENCE & SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONS
T.Fitzpatrick, 'Craftivism: Feminist Change Making', presented at the Women*, Art and Feminism in Australia since 1970 Symposium (21-23 February 2018), VCA & MCM University of Melbourne, Southbank Campus.
T.Fitzpatrick, M.Mayhew and T.Splawa-Neyman, ‘Making Change: Textiles, gender and power’ presented at the 11th Association for Cultural Studies ‘Crossroads in Cultural Studies’ conference (14-17 December 2016), Sydney University, Sydney.
T.Fitzpatrick, ‘Craftivism: driving social change as a durational performance of dissensus’, presented at the Technicity, Temporality and Embodiment 10th International Somatechnics Conference (1-3 Dec 2016), hosted by the University of Queensland and Southern Cross University, Byron Bay.
T.Fitzpatrick, C.Phillips, M.Mackay, M.Macfarlane and A. Speirs, ‘Creating with Communities: A panel conversation on the ethics of Socially Engaged Art’ presented at the iDare 2016: Creative Arts Research and the Ethics of Innovation Conference (27-28 September 2016), held at VCA, University of Melbourne.
T.Fitzpatrick, ‘Craftivism’, The Popular Culture Association POPCAANZ 7th Annual International Conference (29 June – 1 July 2016), Sydney University Village, Sydney.
T.Fitzpatrick, ‘Diffraction and Dissensus: Diffraction methodologies for dissensual art making’, VI International New Materialisms Conference (27-19 September 2015), VCA &MCA Melbourne University.
T.Fitzpatrick, ‘Building and Enhancing Community Resilience’, Texas Department of State Health Services Annual Preparedness Coalition Symposium (5-7 November 2014), Galveston, Texas USA
SELECTED PODCASTS, PRESENTATIONS AND PRESS
ARTs Hub News (7 March 2024) 'Craftivism led by women'
Nevertheless Journal, Launch Issue (July 2022) 'The Craftivist: Tal Fitzpatrick' by Samantha Morris, pg. 74-79
Her Canberra (14 July 2022) 'The Importance of Changemakers to Inspire Future Generations' by Emma MacDonald
ABC News (22 June 2022) 'Exhibition at Canberra Museum Honours Changemakers'
Blank Street Press (March 2022)
ABC 'The Art Show' (radio and podcast episode) Interview of Anne Marsh discussing Tal's work in the context of her book "Doing Feminism" (10 Nov 2021)
Art Guide Australia, 'Doing Feminism: Women's Art and Feminist Criticism in Australia' (2 Nov 2021) by Anne Marsh. Available at: https://artguide.com.au/art-plus/doing-feminism-womens-art-and-feminist-criticism-in-australia/
Ep.2 The Guerrilla Craft podcast (released 18/02/2021) interviewed by Frida Engström in June 2020. Available at: https://www.podbean.com/site/EpisodeDownload/PBFB14E0HAFRP
Philadelphia Museum of Art and Craft Now Philadelphia 'Cultures of Making Symposium' (30 Oct 2020) - 'Crafting Dissent' Zoom Panel discussion hosted by Hinda Mandell with Diane Ivey, Claudia Carpenter, Karen Hampton, Betsy Hawley, Felicity Lufkin and Sara Trail.
YWCA International Day of the Girl Webinar 2020 (7 Oct 2020) - Zoom Panel discussion 'People Power: How to get into activism and advocacy' with Neha Madhok (Democracy in Colour), Cat Nadel (FYA Org) and Miller Soding (Minus18).
Pacific Climate Warriors & 350 Pacific Australia 'Weave the Days to Come' Webinar (26 Sept 2020) - Zoom Panel on activism, art and storytelling in community with Arti Chetty, Jae Louise Blair and Erin Tuhanuku with thanks to Folole Tupuola and Jacynta F.
Centre of Democracy (Adelaide) International Day of Democracy Webinar (15 Sept 2020) - Zoom Panel discussion on 'Crafting Democracy' with Dr. Nikki Sullivan, Dr. Madeleine Seys and Sera Waters.
Threebellybutton Podcast (Australia), Kate Just and Tal Fitzpatrick interviewed by Saying Zhou (June 2020)
Makers 'n Shakers Podcast (United Kingdom), interview by Kate Widdup (June 2020)
ABC 'The Mix' TV show featured the @covid19quilt project, broadcast on 16 May 2020
Art Guide Australia, 'Quilting Together at a Distance' by Briony Downes (12 May 2020)
Ani Lee, Close Knit Podcast, Episode 35 'Tal Fitzpatrick - Creativity's Role In Community Resilience & Viewing Craftivism through a Constructive and Hopeful Lens' (28 February 2018) accessible from: http://www.closeknit.com.au/podcast/episode35
Trip Magazine, Tripple R FM, 102.7Mhz, write up of radio interview on Subversive use of Craft. (March 2018) https://www.rrr.org.au/whats-going-on/news/the-trip-has-landed/
Karen Hardy, The Canberra Times (21 March 2017), 'Quilt stitched with personal messages to Malcolm Turnbull finds home at MOAD' accessible from: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-life/quilt-stitched-with-personal-messages-to-malcolm-turnbull-finds-home-at-moad-20170320-gv1vo9.html
Helen Musa, City News Canberra (20 March 2017) 'PM Please... Listen To Our Quilt' accessible from: http://citynews.com.au/2017/pm-please-listen-quilt/
Joanne Brookfield (16 March 2016) The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, “Craft activists are changing the world, one stitch at a time” accessible from: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/craft-activists-are-changing-the-world-one-stitch-at-a-time-20160316-gn7801.html
More Gold Coast, “Quilting as a passion, a hobby and a political statement” (26 June 2015) accessible from: http://www.moregoldcoast.com.au/quilting-a-passion-a-hobby-and-a-political-statement/
Radio Interviews: Triple R Sunday Lunch ‘Subversive Melbourne’ show (8/10/2017), ABC Gold Coast’s Saturday conversations program (11/3/2017), ABC Radio National’s Breakfast program (7/7/2017), ABC Radio National (7/3/2017), ABC Canberra’s drive program (20/3/2017), and on the 2CC breakfast program (20/3/2017).