A Collective

CV

Related Tactics is an artistic collaboration between artists and cultural workers Michele Carlson, Weston Teruya, and Nathan Watson. Formed in 2015, Related Tactics projects are made at the intersection of race and culture. Our projects explore the connections between art, movements for social justice, and the public through trans-disciplinary exchanges, collective making, and dialog. Related Tactics is also a conceptual space and platform where we employ curatorial strategies as artistic gestures to create opportunities within our communities and construct space for collective voice. We confront systemic and institutional racism or inequities that influence our immediate socio-cultural lived experience—a practice that benefits from collective support and sharing knowledge or resources. We do this through collaboration and critical thought strategically implemented amongst and for communities of color and the diaspora.

Solo Exhibitions & Projects:

2023  Disclosure: The Whiteness of Glass, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY

2022 Thick Solidarity, artist convening project, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA

2022 Disclosure: The Whiteness of Glass, exhibition of collaborative artistic & social research project, Center for Craft, Asheville, NC

2021 Who Else But Americans Can…, storefront installation, The Luminary, St. Louis, MO

2020 The future now, offsite public art project in the Bayview neighborhood, Thatcher Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2020 Become the Monuments That Cannot Fall, online exhibition, Thatcher Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2020 Never Again Is Now, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

2019 Ready, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

2017 No matter the intentions, Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016 Declarations for the New Year, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

Group Exhibitions

2023 A Two-Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA

2023 Fight and Flight: Crafting a Bay Area Life, Museum of Craft & Design, San Francisco, CA

2022 Print Public, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA

2021 Climate Changing, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH

2021 Dear America, contributing artists for public project organized by Christy Chan, Oakland, San Jose, and Saratoga, CA

2019 Museum of Capitalism, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY

2019 Task of Remembrance (Present Tense Biennial), Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco, CA

2018 Added Value, collaboration with lead artist Stephanie Syjuco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

2016 Issued ID: Minority As Brand, Black & White Projects, San Francisco 


Writing/Publications by Related Tactics

2024    “On Hospitality for Artists of Color,” (w/ Related Tactics), ed. Donna Conwell, Hello, Goodbye, Hello: The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program, published by Lucas Artist Residency Program at Montalvo Arts Center, 2024 [publishing delayed due to COVID-19]

2024    “Us is _____,” (w/ Related Tactics), Locating a Collective Lyric I, eds. Jennifer Stager and Leila Easa, The Hopkins Review, Johns Hopkins University, 2024

2023    “Monumental Sense,” (w/Related Tactics), Beyond Granite: Pulling Together Exhibition Guide, Monument Lab, 2023. Pg. 21

2022  “Asian American Art is a Monument” The Brooklyn Rail. edited by Amy Sadao & Susette Min. full article online, printed excerpt, Vol. 22, Issue 6 (July/Aug 2022). pg. 47.

2020  “The Whiteness of Glass.” New Glass Review, vol. 41, Corning Museum of Glass. pg. 4-5.

2019  Shelf Life, Sming Sming Books. 18pgs + 5 sticker sheets.

Visiting Artist & Lectures:

2023 artist talk and workshop, Ruth Arts, Milwaukee, WI

2023 artist talk, Visual & Public Art program, Cal State Monterey Bay, Monterey, CA 

2023 artist talk, MA in Critical Craft Studies program, Warren Wilson College/Center for Craft

2021 artist talk, FAR and Away visiting artist series, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

2021 artist talk, GEEX talks, Glass Education Exchange

2021 artist talk, Wagman Lecture Series, Tyler School of Art & Architecture, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

2020 panelist, Zine for Change, alongside Jen White-Johnson, DC Design Week, Washington, D.C.

2020 visiting artists, Curatorial Studies Practicum, classroom lectures, University of San Francisco, CA

2019 visiting artists, Augusta University, Augusta, GA (lecture, class visit, & workshop)

2019 artist talk, “Artist Collectives in San Francisco, Saigon, and beyond,” San Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

2019 panelist, Prompts for Inclusion, Inclusion as Resistance, moderated by Christian Frock, alongside Micah Bazant, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA

2018 panelist, Protest Work Ethics: Institutions after Capitalism, moderated by James McAnally, alongside Fictilis, Anti.Lab, and Artists for a Democratic Society, Museum of Capitalism, Oakland

Awards & Honors:

2023-2025 Ruth Arts, Future Studies Grant (inaugural cohort), (w/ Related Tactics)

2023    Kenneth Rainin Foundation, (w/ Related Tactics), 2023 Rainin Fellow in Public Space (administered by United States Artists)

2022 CoLAB residency, Lucas Artists Residency Program, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA

2022 Core Grant, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Chicago, IL

2022 University Facilitating Fund, George Washington University, Washington D.C.

2021 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellows, Center for Craft, Asheville, NC

2021 Artists-in-Residence, The Luminary, St. Louis, MO

2021 Print Public Fellows, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA

2021 Cultural Equity Initiative grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA

2021 Humanities Facilitating Fund, George Washington University, Washington D.C.

2016 artists-in-residence, Real Time & Space, Oakland, CA

2015 Alternative Exposure grant, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

Collections

ArtCenter College of Design Library

Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, FL

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Ricker Library of Architecture and Art

University of Richmond - Boatwright Memorial Library