Jace Clayton Named Director of Graduate Studies

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON – Bard College is pleased to announce the appointment of Jace Clayton as Director of Graduate Studies at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts. Clayton, an artist and writer based in New York who is also known for his work as DJ /rupture, will additionally join Bard’s Studio Arts faculty as a tenure-track assistant professor. He has performed in over forty countries, both solo and as director of large ensemble performances, and gives frequent artist talks and keynote lectures across cultural institutions worldwide. His interdisciplinary approach focuses on how sound, memory, and public space interact, with an emphasis on low-income communities and non-Western geographies.

“We are delighted that the national search for a director of graduate studies has come to such a successful conclusion,” said Christian Ayne Crouch, Dean of Graduate Studies. “Jace Clayton brings long experience with the program and is invested in developing new possibilities, in order to not only maintain but to also expand Bard MFA’s position as a leader in innovation and space for creative dialogue.”

“The Studio Art program is thrilled to welcome Jace Clayton as a new colleague,” added Nayland Blake, professor of Studio Arts. “Jace’s brilliant thinking, wide ranging practice and compelling writing will serve to inspire our students and our fellow faculty and will help to strengthen connections between Studio Arts and many of Bard’s other programs both on campus and at large.”

Clayton places a strong emphasis on working globally—often outside of traditional gallery or tour circuits—and on cross-cultural collaboration. His recent projects include They Are Part, a solo exhibition currently on view at MassArt Art Museum; Sufi Plug Ins, a free suite of music software-as-art based on non-western conceptions of sound and alternative interfaces; and the Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner, a touring performance piece for grand pianos, electronics, and voice. His essays have appeared in ARTFORUM, Frieze, and the New York Times Magazine, and he is the author of the book Uproot: Travels in 21st Century Music and Digital Culture, published in 2016.

For the past two years, Clayton has been the interim director of the sound arts program at Columbia University, where he is also an assistant professor of visual arts. He has also served as the 2017-2018 Duke University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Nannerl Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor. He is a 2014 New York Foundation for the Arts Nonfiction Literature fellow, a 2013 Creative Capital Performing Arts grantee, and recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Art artists award. He joined the Music/Sound faculty of Bard College’s MFA program in 2013, and has been an artist-in-residence with the Harvard Art Museums, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Eyebeam Art + Technology Atelier, and was a USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism fellow.