CV

NICK TOBIER

short bio:
Nick Tobier studied sculpture and landscape architecture, worked at Storefront for Art & Architecture in NYC, and as a designer with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation/ Bronx Division, and LandWorks Studio, Boston. Nick’s focus as artist-designer is in the social lives of public places, both in built structures and events from bus stops, to kitchens and boulevards in Detroit, Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco. His work has been seen at the Smithsonian, The Queens Museum, NY, The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh and as part of the 2019 Prague Quadrennial. Nick is co-founder of the Brightmoor Maker Space in Detroit, a libra, a mid-fielder for the Penguins, 4th division soccer team.

 

Public and Community Projects

2021
All Nite Tetherball, dELECTRICITY, Detroit

2020
An Outdoor Stage for Brightmoor, Design Core Detroit
La Pina Loca, Ann Arbor, MI
Quaranzine
Future Ready Neighbors Window and Street Canoe, Anchorage Museum

2019
Red Crossing for Red River, Winnipeg Design Festival
Transforming Vacancy, INCLUDE, Detroit, MI (organized by the Royal College of Art + College for Creative Studies)
Red Crossing, Prague Quadrennial
Makigumi Lights, Ishinomaki Lab, Ishinomaki, Japan

2018
CommonSHIP, Ishinomaki, Japan. Design and build of a public space, in collaboration with KATS-Design, Yokohama,
Public Circulation, LEXX Espacio Expositor, Cholula, Mexico

2017
Brightmoor Runway, with Michael Flynn + Roland Graf. Transformation of a Detroit sidewalk into a running track complete with (pedestrian) speed display.

2016
Stand/Do, MDE 15, Medellin, Colombia, public constructions of bamboo buildings in alleyways.

Brightmoor MakerSpace (in collaboration with the Stamps School of Art & Design, Detroit Community Schools, Brightmoor Community Center, Sidewalk Festival and Brightmoor Alliance.)

2015
Community Lantern, Arbor Oaks Park, in collaboration with Community Action Network and Bryant Community Center, Ann Arbor

Design for Public Action: A Stand for Action, El Mercato (FleaMarket, southwest Detroit)

2014
maintenance works, Ball State University, Muncie, IN (November)
In the Neighborhood, Dorchester Projects /REBUILD Foundation, Chicago
My Way, NYC Department of Transportation commission, August 2014
Murray Avenue Kosher, residency, Pittsburgh, PA
Design for Public Action : Contemporary Carpas, People’s Community Services/ Boulevard House, Detroit. Public structure / programs.

2013
Music Box Marching Band, Communite d’Ixelles and Espace Buktabop, Brussels, Belgium

Songs for Traffic, part of Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good, curated by Cathy Ho, Chicago Cultural Center

2012
Moving Plants, in cooperation with the NYC Water Taxi, and IKEA Brooklyn, NY
A Train for Detroit, Building Movement, Detroit
street car, UICA Grand Rapids

2011-present
Brightmoor Cycles and Trikes, design/build of a community based utility cycle business.

2011
Marvelous Guests, siteLAB, and locations throughout the city of Grand Rapids, MI Brightmoor Bikes, designed, founded and operate a bamboo-bike trailer project/business in collaboration with Detroit Community Schools.

2010
New Newsstand for New News, Detroit
ArtWork, Detroit (exhibition and publication)

2009
Detroit Bureau of Tourism
F.O.O.D./ Field of Our Dreams, design, building and operation of a mobile produce market designed with and operated with guests of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen to distribute produce to under-served neighborhoods.

A Shadow Cabinet for sanluche, a collaboration with a Beijing taxi driver turning his taxi into a mobile shadow puppet theater, featuring rider/passenger participation.

Voyage to the Moon, residency/public program with Ben English, 826 Michigan

2008
Outdoor Classroom, EarthWorks Urban Farm, Detroit, MI. Design and building of an outdoor classroom in collaboration with EarthWorks, Meldrum Street residents.

2007
Street Car Attendant, Toronto, CA. A street performance commissioned by and in collaboration with the Parkdale Liberty Economic Development Corporation and the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission.)

2006
Small Cascade for a Large City, performance, commissioned collaboration with the City of Toronto Parks Department, the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park.

Bus Attendant, commissioned by citySPACE in collaboration with Muni and with the cooperation and contributions of the drivers and riders of the 22 Fillmore bus line.

2004
Frimangron: a cultural neighborhood. Paramaribo, Suriname. Series of pamphlets, tours and public projects created collaboratively by graduate students from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design and graduate students of IOL (Instituut voor Opeliding van Leraren), Paramaribo, merchants and residents of the Frimangron District.

Solo Exhibitions and Performances

2020
All the Brooms, dfBrL8r, Chicago
Knockdown Center, New York, NY

2017
A Day’s Work, Cohen Gallery, Alfred, NY
microUtopias, Sristhi Institute of Art + Design, Bengaluru, India

2016
Museo Antiquoa, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Colombia

2015
Terrain Gallery, Chicago
A Stand for Action,

2014
City of Carts, Queens Museum of Art, New York
Marvelous Guests, Public ONE + Exuberant Politics, Iowa City, IA
Public Lettering, Incident Report, Hudson, NY

2013
Music Box Marching Band, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Brightmoor Bikes, Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit/ MOCAD

2012
North End System, Building Movement, Detroit

2011
NewNews, Detroit, CAID/ The Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit

2009
Garden Party With Interruption, Le Petit Versailles, New York, NY

2008
everyday amazing, exhibition and performance, University of Indiana/Kokomo, Kokomo, IN
Crossing Guards for Crossing Cultures, performance, Art in Odd Places, New York, NY 2007
Play/GROUNDS, public performance, Parkdale Liberty, Toronto, ON
Ship Notes,performance, Big Jar, Philadelphia Fringe Festival
The Impossible Task, performance, William Simon School of Business, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

2006
eh-hem, performance, Marygrove College, Detroit. MI
Small Cascade for a Large City, wade2006, site specific installation/ performance spectacular in a public wading pool in Toronto, ON
Street Corner Society, performance, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
22 Fillmore, public performance City|Space, San Francisco, CA
Presto’s Traveling Lecture Series, performance, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
Street Corner Society,performance, Philadelphia Fringe and Live Arts Festival, Philadelphia, PA

Group Exhibitions/Performances

2022
Carbon Futures, artLink Hull
2021
who cares, Museum of Textile and Industry, Augsburg, Germany
Actual Size Biennial, Detroit contemporary

2020
Future Ready, Anchorage Museum of Art
Quaranzine at University of Maine
What remains, dfBrL8R, curated by Joseph Ravens,
After Ray Johnson, Printed Matter, New York, NY
Public, Terrain Projects, Chicago, IL
Present, Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti, MI

2019
Falling Walls, Berliner Zeigeist, Berlin Germany
Sway, John Street Galley, Cheltenham, England
Lewiston Athaneum, Lewiston, Maine
Iowa City Correspondence School, Ps1, Iowa City
Bookmarks, University of Michigan Libraries, curated by Gunalan Nadarajan
Outros Territorios, Viaduto des Artes, Belo Horizonte, Brasil
Glyph, Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti

2018
The Other Wall, Flatlands Gallery, Houston, TX
Renderings for a Collective Future, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit
Kunst IM Dialog, Stichting White Cube, Landshut, Germany

2017
State of Emergency/ The Illuminator, Queens Museum
September Gallery, Incident Report, Hudson, NY
Club 57, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Free City, Flint Public Art Project, Flint, MI
Incident Report, Hudson, NY

2016
MDE* 15, Local Stories/ Global Histories, International quadrennial of contemporary art and design, Museo Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
LocusSt, Woodland Pattern, Milwaukee, WI, curated by Paul Druecke

2015
“lying-siting-standing-walking-jumping-flying/falling,” KunstlerForum, Bonn, Germany
FORM 2015, collaborations between artists and floral designers, Snow City Arts, Chicago
shuffle, Institut fur Alles Mogliche, Berlin
Off the Shelf, iklektik Lab, London, UK
Monster Drawing Rally, MOCAD/ Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit.

2014
Displacements, Renmin University, Beijing, China, curated by Gunalan Nadarajan
Dream Drawing Factory, Regent Estates, London
InPrint, Work Detroit
The Development, Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, Annandale, NY

2013
Spontaneous Interventions, City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs
Rights of Way, BSA/ Boston Society for Architecture, Boston, MA
cityDRIFT, Kunsthalle, Detroit, MI
Monster Drawing Rally, MOCAD/ Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit.
Exchange Archive, MOMA Studio, Museum of Modern Art, New York

2012
Urbanity, UICA, Grand Rapids
Emergency Index, The Kitchen, New York, NY

2011
Signs on the Road, Winkelman Gallery, New York, NY
Institute for Wishful Thinking, Momenta ART, Brooklyn, NY
Existence<, Melbourne, Australia 2010 Reclaiming the Street, Rookajpe Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Variable Economies, ArtSway, Sway, England Wallpaper, Art+ Design, Barcelona, Spain Spontaneous Architecture, Rapid Response, New York ArtWork/US: A National Conversation on Art, Labor & Politics, travelled from Mess Hall Gallery 400, Chicago to Regina Miller Gallery, Pittsburgh, CentralTRAK, Dallas, Cell Space.

2009
City Spinning, exhibition, Sristhi Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India
Rustbelt Revival, Links Hall, Chicago
Vaudeville 100, greenroom, Manchester, England
Open Phoenix, Brighton, England

2008
Wish You Were Here, public project and exhibition, citySPACE, San Francisco, CA
Urban Actions, exhibition, Foundation Noordkaap, Dordect, Netherlands
Rebranding Acts, Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Prague, Czech Republic, traveled to Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
ICON, Work/ Detroit, Detroit, MI
NewLife, exhibition, Wooloo Productions, Berlin, Germany
The Sandwich Box Project, exhibition, Overgaden Institute for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Village Building Convergence, exhibition, Portland, OR
Interrupt/Intervene: Rethinking Art as Social Practice, exhibition, University of California Santa Cruz, with public screenings in San Francisco, San Jose, CA
Creative Activism, exhibition, Toronto Free Gallery

2007
NYNYNY exhibition, FluxFactory, New York, NY
Holiday Shopping, exhibition, Emily Harvey Foundation, New York
ParfymeDeluxe vs. Flux Factory, exhibition and public projects, Flux Factory,New York, NY

2006
*7a11d, exhibition, International Festival of Performance and Video, Toronto, ON
Copilandia, exhibition, Centro de Arte de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
Traversing Tableaux, exhibition, Modern Fuel, Kingston, ON
Get on the Bus, exhibition, city|SPACE, San Francisco
SpringTides, exhibition, Salzau, Germany
Game Show, exhibition, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, MI
The Experimenters, exhibition, ArtPool, Budapest, Hungary
In Place of Fear, IMAF, Odaczi, Serbia

2005
Video Biennial,exhibition, Museum of New Art (M.O.N.A.), Detroit, MI
Peripheral City, in collaboration, Red Dive, site-specific performance project for Lower Manhattan, New York, NY
Great Small Works: Toy Theater, exhibition, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn, NY
Down the Garden Path: Artists and the Garden After Modernism,exhibition, Queens Museum of Art, New York.
AB/OVO, Performance: In the Beginning, exhibition, Belgrade, Serbia
Potential Energy, exhibition, Mess Hall, Chicago, traveled to Pond, San Francisco, CA
SiteLines: Fall Open, public performance. LMCC/ Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY
The 4th Dimension, exhibition, ArtPool, Budapest, Hungary

Grants/ Awards
2022
National Endowment for the Arts / Design, Neighbors Pavilions

2021
Graham Foundation for the Advanced Study of Fine Arts for Small(er) Building Types

2020
Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan (CFSEM) grant for BrightMobile 3.0, design and build of Outdoor Learning Pavilions in Brightmoor.
The Urban Rhetoric, Top Prize for Public Art, National Institute for Desigsn, Bangalore, India
Center for Japanese Studies, faculty research grant
Online/Offline, Stamps Faculty Research Cluster

2019
U of M Poverty Solutions Grant, “Designing Youth Entrepreneurship”
PROTO/Play, Winner, Public projects category, Winnipeg Design Festival

2017
LitKnit Gateways, Playable Oxford, shortlisted finalist with Roland Graf, Oxford, UK
RedDot Award / Communication Design, for the publication, Utopia Toolbox.

2016
Play Everywhere Challenge Winner, for Brightmoor Runway (team: Michael Flynn, Roland Graf, Nick Tobier), kaBOOM.
National Endowment for the Arts/ Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design for support of the Brightmoor Maker Space
Faculty Development Grant, Stamps School of Art & Design

2015
National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with Community Action Network, Ann Arbor
Knight Arts Challenge for Brightmoor Makespace, lead faculty, Stamps School of Art & Design
Residency, artFARM, Marquette, NE
Faculty Seed Grant, Stamps School of Art and Design

2014
Knight Arts Challenge (for Stamps School of Art and Design and the Brightmoor Maker Space)
Andrea vonBraun Foundation, Munich, Germany, production grant for Utopia Toolbox
University of Michigan OVPR/ Publication Subvention Grant for the production of Utopia Toolbox

2010
Harpo Foundation Grant, Los Angeles, CA

2009
Ernest Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement
City Spinning, short listed finalist for the design of a mobile cultural center, Bangalore, India.
Communities in Schools (CIS), Detroit,. Project Recognition, for the collaboration between my Detroit Connections course and Butzel Elementary School.

2008
Gilbert Whitaker Faculty Development Grant (for the development of the FestiFools project), Office of the Provost, University of Michigan
Michigan Campus Compact Grant for Detroit Connections.

2007
Michigan Campus Compact Award for Individual Achievement in Community Service Learning
Faculty Research Grant, Office of the Vice-President for Research (OVPR), University of Michigan for Garden Party.
Grant for public project, Parkdale Liberty Economic Development Corporation, Toronto, ON

Selected writing by Nick Tobier

2021
Papers on Power, The Crazy Pineapple, Center for Art Research, University of Oregon
Being Human During Covid: Hi-Stakes Humanities, University of Chicago Press

2020
RedCrossing, in VocalESK, Toronto, ON, editor-reviewed
Parking Lot Theater, Imagined Theaters, peer-reviewed
The Architecture of Trash, in “What is Small Architecture,” BeeBreeders, London, editor reviewed
Mall of America, Half Letter Press, Chicago, editor-reviewed
Small Cabinet of Wonder, Half Letter Press, Chicago, editor reviewed
Corner Store, Half Letter Press, Chicago, editor reviewed
lost broom found, Eagle Press + dfBrL8tr Projects, Chicago, editor reviewed.

2019
“Good Trouble” Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities Journal

2018
“No One Knows,” COMIX India + Verite, edited by Bharath Murphy, Bangalore, India

2017
“Detroit: The Academic Turn,” Michigan Journal of Community Service, Spring 2017

2016
“Looping Detroit, “ Maize Books, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
“Wanderer in an (un) Wired City,” Urban Omnibus/Architectural League of New York.

2015
Utopia Toolbox, Vol II, ed. By Juliane Stiegele + Nick Tobier, University of Michigan Press + Toolbox Books, Ann Arbor and Munich
“Collected Lots,” infinite mile, October, 2015
“small loop for a large city,” infinite mile, Detroit, January , 2015
“Artist as Guest,” MARN (Milwaukee Artists Network)
17 Haikus for Innovation, v2v, Institute for Unstable Media, Rotterdam, NL + RISK Institute, ed. By Andrew Maynard and Michele Krapsyck
co-editor, “Art + Gentrification,” Series, infinitemile

2014
Utopia Toolbox, Nick Tobier, editor, ToolBox Books, Munich, Germany.
“An Elephant Story,” Wonder,Stimulus Respond, London, UK

2012
“Open Goal for Reds” in Architectural Inventions, ed. by Matt Bua and Maximillian Goldfarb, Laurence King Press, London

2010
Field of Our Dreams, FUSE, Journal of Art & Culture, Toronto
Detroit Bureau of Tourism, Volume (#22) Netherlands
“Getting Off the Bus,” Journal of Metropolitan Universities

2009
“Detroit: We Fix Flats,” in ArtWork US, A National Conversation on Art, Politics and Labor, Half Letter Press & Temporary Services, Chicago
Tobier, Nick, “Why is that park so quiet? A call for clamor,” in FutureParks, practice and practice, San Francisco.

2008
Tobier, Nick, Lose an Elephant, Find a Needle, EVENTS, Danish Academy of Design, Copenhagen

2007-2010
thedetroiter.com, selected reviews on art and theater in Detroit

2006
Tobier, Nick, Irrigation and Social Movements, Higginson Block Press, Salem, MA

2003
Tobier, Nick, “From Cathedrals to Computer Screens: Glass in Architecture, “ Journal of Glass Science, Winter

Selected writing about Nick Tobier’s work
2020
Walkin Studios, Bangalore

2019
Von Ax, Serge, “Red Crossing,” Prague Quadrennial , catalogue

2017
Walker, Will, The Oxford Times, Shortlist for creative Oxford project announced
McLaughlin, Aimee, Playable City Oxford Winner brings together strangers to reimagine constellations,

Playable City Oxford winner brings together strangers to reimagine constellations


Sharp, Rose, “Looping Detroit,” An Ode to Detroit’s People Mover, Public Transit Joke, 1/5/17 HyperAllergic,
Sharp, Rose, The Politics of Going Nowhere, MetroTimes,
Canty, Cynthia, “The Little Train that Could” Stateside, Michigan Radio, 3/15/17,
Stamm, Alan, “People Mover Travelogue,” Deadline Detroit, 1/10/17
T. Hetsel, “Living Writers: Looping Detroit, “ WCBN, 2/22/17

2016
Cornwall, Gail, “Giant Bubble and Urban Periscopes Among Winners of Play Contest, “ The New York Times, 9/20/16
“Designing the Future of Play, “ cityLab, 9/16
“Bright Idea,” Patrick Dunn, HOUR Magazine, feature on the Brightmoor Maker Space,

2014
Plath, Tara, “The Myth of Participation,” The Seen, Chicago, February
Dunn, Gabriella, “Marvelous Guests at Exuberant Politics,” The Daily Iowan, March 31

2013
Czaja, Wojech, Wir Sind nicht am Ende, Der Standard, Vienna, AU, 8/17/2013
Wetil, Patty, “Songs and Sounds for Cars Turns Traffic into Art,” DNA Chicago, 8/7/13
Stiegele, Juliana, “Field of Our Dreams: Nick Tobier’s Food,” Utopia Toolbox, Toolbox Books, Munich, Germany
Warren, Tamarra, “Anti-Auto Show Focusing on Alternative Transportation,” NYTimes 1/16
Shields, David, “Detroit Wants to go to the Prom” May 16. 2013 Huffington Post

2012
“Field of Our Dreams,” in Ethical Foods, by Eden Cannon
Design Observer, by Lamster, Mark, “Nick Tober Will Make You Smile”, 10/15/12
Herscher, Andrew, Nick Tobier’s F.O.O.D. in “The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit,” University of Michigan Press

2011
Walsh, Tom, “Micro Loans Deserve Praise, “Detroit Free Press 7/1/11
Tonight at The CAID, (tv appearance, 5/15/11)
Thomas, Nancy, Educating for Deliberative Democracy: New Directions for Higher Education, John Wiley & Sons,

2010
Redefining Dreamland, (feature length documentary on Detroit), SidePorch Productions

2008
Reyhan Harmanci, “Wish You Were Here’ Souvenirs feel like home, “ San Francisco Chronicle, 2/28/08
Tamir, Chen,NYNYNY, catalogue, Flux Factory Press, NY

2007
Kiriloff, Vera, “Nick Tobier, profile,” Locus Suspectus, Journal of Visual Culture, Calgary, AL, Canada
Philp, Drew, “Focus on The City,” Detroit Free Press, 3/12/08
Liu, Karon, “Bus Attendant has the right Idea,” National Post, Canada, 9/13/07
Mazzei, Rebecca, “Teaching the Terrain,” Metro Times, Detroit, 9/28/07
Sandals, Leah, “Wet Art,” Spacing Magazine, Toronto, Summer/07
Yuen, Jenny, “Art at the Edges,” NOW Weekly, Toronto, 9/16/07
Annis, Barbara, “Marches for Cars: Nick Tobier, a profile” Ann Arbor Observer,9/01/07
Bielski, Zozia, “City-wide project will let you wade into some art,” National Post, 7/05/06
“Small Cascade for a Large City,” Toronto Sun, Globe and Mail, 7/03/06
“Small Cascade for a Large City,” 401 News, Toronto, 7/15/06
“Small Cascade for a Large City,” YYZine, 7/01/06

2006
Rzepka, Maryanne, “A New Gateway: Welcome Band for Cars, “ Ann Arbor News<, 11/01/06 2005 Lippard, Lucy, Site Matters, Routledge/ London and New York Diament, Michelle, “Great Courses,: Food from Farming to Feasts, “Chronicle of Higher Education,2/13/05 Nesbit, Joanne, “Food from Tiller to Table, “ University Record, University of Michigan, February 2005
Bogdavic, Nenad, IMAF, In the Beginning, catalogue for the exhibition, AB/OVO, Belgrade, Serbia
Soddu, Celestino, ed., Generative Art, 2004, Politecnico di Milano, Milan

2004
Osman, Jena, ‘Nick Tobier: Public Projects,” Chain, Fall 2004
Site Matters, ed. by Carol Burns, Routledge
Beck, Kim, Not Exactly, catalogue for the exhibition

2002
Lowry, Patricia, ‘ Orphaned Spaces Dream up New Places,’ Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 4/19/02
Hannegan, Barry, “New Designers Look at an Old City,” History and Landmarks Foundation News, Spring 2002

2001
Hull, James, Turnscope, catalogue and CD for the exhibition, Green Street, Boston
McQuaid, Kate, “ Take a Turn through the Neighborhood,” The Boston Globe, 2/25/01
Parcellin, Paul, “Radial Understanding, “ Retro-Rocket, 2/18/01
Giuliano, Charles, “Circling on the Orange Line,” Maverick Arts, 2/28/01
Lowry, Patricia, “New Ideas for Public Life,” Pittsburgh Post Gazette,10/9/01

2000
Silver, Joanne, “Tobier’s Oddities Enchant,” Boston Herald, 7/28/00
Lippard, Lucy, On the Beaten Track, New Press

1999
Dineen, JK, “Designers Tackle the Alley” Salem Evening News, 7/5/99

1997
Yang, Christina, “Conversation: Nick Tobier/ Christina Yang at Mary Barone,” Zing Magazine, 9/1/97

Selected Curatorial Projects

2015
Lettering in Public, Signal Return, Detroit

2014
In My Neighborhood, Dorchester Projects, Chicago, IL

2013
City Speculations, for Detroit Design Festival, Work:Detroit, The Carr Center, Compas, and Brightmoor Alliance, Detroit

2011
Highland Park Integrated Media, Curator of Exhibitions, City of Highland Park

2010
Art/Work Detroit, CAID/ Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit



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