Naima Lowe is a 30 year old Queer, African-American artist and scholar based in Philadelphia, PA. Her films, videos, performances and writings have been seen at the Athens International Film and Video Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive, The Knitting Factory, The Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery, The International Toy Theater Exhibition, and Judson Memorial Church. Her first film "Birthmarks" was a Student Academy Awards Finalist, won Best Experimental Film at the Newark Black Film Festival and was honored for Best Sound Design in the NextFrame International Student Film Festival. Her collaborative performance and installation Mary and Sarah and You and Me made its New York debut at the historic Judson Memorial Church. She teaches video production and film history courses at Temple University, and is on the faculty of Goddard College.
Education
Temple University - Philadelphia, PA -Film and Media Arts MFA, August 2008
Brown University – Providence, RI -Africana Studies BA, May 2002
Fellowships and Awards
Winner-Paul Robeson Award for Best Experimental Film, Newark Black Film Festival; Regional Finalist-Alternative Category, 35th Student Academy Awards; Project Completion Grant, Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association; Winner- Best Sound Design, NextFrame International Student Film Festival; Beatrice Deglin Leder Film and Video Production Award Temple University; Future Faculty Fellowship, Temple; University; C.V. Starr Community Service Fellowship, Brown University; Leadership Alliance Theater Research Fellowship, University of Dar Es Salaam; Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Brown University
Films, Exhibitions and Performances
2009
Now, I’m 30 and an Artist
Video, Still Images, 4x6 Notecards
1.5 Million: Invitational Exhibition at Stella Elkins Tyler Gallery
Philadelphia PA Oct 7-17
Richard Simmons ‘Til you Die
Participatory Video Performance
Habitatings at Denniston Hill, NY Sept 20, 2009
Sedgwick Theater, Philadelphia PA, Sept 12, 2009
Mary and Sarah and You and Me: A Series of Tiny Spectacles
Performance, Film and Video Installation, Toy Theatre
Judson Memorial Church New York, NY, June 23-28th, 2009
2008
Mary and Sarah and You and Me: A Series of Tiny Spectacles
Performance, Film and Video Installation, Toy Theatre
Group Show: The International Toy Theater Exhibition at Saint Anne’s Warehouse New York, NY May 2008
Solo Show: The Parlor, Philadelphia PA, August 2008
2007
We Tell The Story Together
Performance and Film Installation (16mm Film, Performance)
Group Show: Every Artist is a Person at FluxSpace, The Art Making Machine,
Philadelphia PA, November 2007
Birthmarks
Experimental Non-Fiction, (16mm, Digital Video, Archival Footage)
Screenings: New Filmmakers at Anthology Film Archive; Black Lily Film and Music Festival; Athens Film and Video Festival; Scribe Video Center; Cinema du Parc in Montreal; Drexel University Television; Open Student Television Network; Emerson College; Hayti Heritage Film Festival
Awards: Best Sound Design, NextFrame International Student Touring Film Festival; Best Experimental Film; Newark Black Film Festival; Regional Finalist, 35th Student Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
2006
Residue
Mixed Media Performance
(16mm, Stop-Motion Animation, 5 channel video projection w/live feed)
Solo Show: Temple University Television Studio 1, April 2006
Grave Robbers
Experimental Non-Fiction Video
Screenings: Termite TV/Drexel University TV, March 2006
2005
Devices
Mixed Media Performance (35mm Stills, Audio, Live Performance)
Traveling Group Show: Ann Arbor Film Festival, The Knitting Factory, UT Austin, UCLA, Capitol Theater, Café Du Norde, Bard College, Zeitgeist Gallery, Flying Monkey Arts
Whores, Pigeons and Other Things of Beauty
Performance and Writing
Solo Show: The Philadelphia Fringe Festival
A Simple White Dress
Full Length Play
Sedgwick Cultural Center – Philadelphia, PA
Curatorial Work
2009
Weighty Proposition – Films For The Flickering Light Film Series
-Experimental and Documentary Film Program centered around the theme of fatness, food, and bodily excess, co-curated with Flickering Light Film Series Founder Sara Zia Ebrahimi
2008
Black Girl in The Wilderness: A Salon/ Philadelphia PA
-Salon series involving two artists from different disciplines presenting and discussing their work with an invited audience of artists, educators, activists and friends.
2007
Documentary and Experimental Film Programs
Third Tree Arts Collective at the National LGBTI Health Summit / Philadelphia PA
-Collaboratively curated arts program designed to highlight the role of creativity in health and wellness for LGBTI people and their families
2001-2003
TMI: All Queer, All Genders, All Feminist Performance Series / Providence, RI
-Monthly series and open mic featuring emerging and local writers, filmmakers and performance artists
Conference Presentations
2009
Allied Media Conference
Imagining Ourselves: Trans Identities in Independent Media
2008
Console-ing Passions: International Conference on Television, Video, New Media and Feminism
Pushing Porno’s Buttons: Spectatorship in Narrative Pornography
2005
Actions of the Body Politic in Extreme, Temple University New Media Interdisciplinary Concentration
Labors of Love: Sex Work, Art and The Creative Body
Teaching
2010-Present
Faculty - The Evergreen State College, Experimental Media
2009-2010
Faculty – Goddard College, Individualized Studies
Faculty Advisor with focus in Film, Video, Performance, Cultural Studies
2007-2010
Adjunct Professor – Temple University, Gen Ed and Film and Media Arts
Courses: “The History of Race and Ethnicity in Cinema”; “Video Production Workshop”; “Media and Culture: Introduction to Media Theory and Media Studies”; “Introduction to Film and Video”
2009
Instructor – Congreso Summer YouthWorks
“Web Design and Media Literacy”-6 week intensive course for urban youth creating web and design projects focused on community involvement and social change.
2008
Senior Lecturer - University of the Arts, Program in Communication
“Cinema Arts” Introduction to Film and Video Analysis, 24 Students, Lecture and Discussion
2006-2007
Teaching/Research Assistant – Temple University, Film and Media Arts
Courses: “The History of Race and Ethnicity in Cinema”; “Video Production Workshop”; “Introduction to Film and Video Analysis”; “Narrative Film History”
2005
Instructor - SexEtc (Youth Sexual Health Education)
“Video Production for the Web”
2002
Instructor/Program Supervisor - Mt Hope Adult Literacy
“Introductory and Intermediate ESOL” -Program supervision and program design
1999-2001
Instructor/Program Supervisor SPACE Prison Arts for Women
“Playwriting and Theater” –Curricular development, program design, volunteer supervision
Other Experience
2006-2010
Board of Directors - The Leeway Foundation
2009
Board of Directors - NOLOSE
Now I'm 30 and an Artist 2009