About

Lydia Gravis, (b. 1981 Spokane, Washington), is a visual artist, curator, and consultant. While working as a university gallery director from 2014-2024, she directed large-scale indoor and outdoor exhibitions for on and off-campus public audiences that featured work and live performances by nationally and internationally renowned contemporary artists, including Guggenheim, Joan Mitchell Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation fellows.

During her time in this role, she also directed robust public programming that included visiting artist lectures, curated Q&A’s with artists, a film series and individual screenings, community focused outreach programs, and professional development opportunities for emerging artists and exhibition install and fine art service teams.

Lydia earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Visual Arts and Human Studies in 2003 from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Contemporary Visual Art from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University in Boston, Massachusetts in 2013. Her identity and practical knowledge and experience as a studio artist is integral to her professional expertise as an arts administrator, curator, and public programming director. She exhibits her studio work in solo and group exhibitions, along with non-gallery public and private settings in order to increase original fine arts visibility, accessibility, and understanding among non-traditional contemporary art audiences. Her work is held in the Salt Lake County, State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne, and Weber County art public art collections and private collections around the world.  Her artwork was featured in American Art Collector magazine in 2019, and she regularly participates in national and international artist residency programs that support artists with time and space to make new work, expand their professional networks, conduct site-specific field research in remote locations with close proximity to public lands and natural environments, and learn from other artists and cultures. She’s currently based out of Northern Utah, and continues to advocate for the cultural capital return on financial investment in the arts along with the advancement of employer change leadership and workforce support through a lens of health equity, fiscal best practices, and operational sustainability.