About

Lydia Gravis, (b. 1981 Spokane, Washington), is a visual artist, curator, arts administrator, 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. Her artwork is held in the Salt Lake County, State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne, and Weber County public art collections and private collections around the world.  Her artwork was featured in American Art Collector magazine in 2019, and she regularly exhibits her work in solo and group exhibitions, and participates in national and international artist residency programs to make new work, conduct site-specific field research in remote locations, and expand her understanding of other artists in cultures around the globe. She’s based out of Northern Utah, and continues to advocate for the cultural capital return on financial investment in the arts within communities, and the advancement of change leadership and workforce support through a lens of health equity, fiscal best practices, and operational sustainability.