Celeste Ivory is an artist based in Tallahassee, the capital city of the Sunshine State. Ivory holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Florida State University. She was employed in historic preservation for a decade. Her many craft practice and artmaking experiences led her to found Ivory Tower Collective and return to FSU to pursue the field of studio art as a career. She currently works for the Florida State University’s Department of Art, both as part of the administrative team and as an adjunct faculty member.
Contact ivorytowercollective [at] gmail [dot] com
Ivory is a member of the Ladies of the Northern Tier art collective, and has also enjoyed collaborations with Kelly Lorraine Hendrickson and Jessica Smoleroff.
Statement
Ivory's work investigates contemporary craft. Aspects addressed therein include the history of craft, the relationship of craft to fine art, various classifications of craft throughout time, the hierarchy of art and craft, ‘woman’s work’ connotations associated with textile arts, the quest for a current definition of craft, craft as feminized work, craft as a radical act, craft as a force working against consumerism, craft as a tool for material investigation, making as an act of community-building, and the future of craft.
Education
MFA Florida State University, Studio Art. 2019.
BA Florida State University, Anthropology. 2003.
● Florida State University Archaeological Field School led by Dr. Rochelle Marrinan, RPA at the Castro Site/8LE00151. Fall 2002.
Usui Reiki Level I Practitioner, Leah Rains, Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Master. 2019.
Certified Coastal Systems Master Naturalist, FL Master Naturalist Program, University of Florida IFAS. 2003.
Licensed Massage Therapist, CORE Institute School of Massage Therapy. 1996.
Teaching Areas
Strings of Culture: Textiles, Materials, and Process
3D Foundations
Exploring Opportunities in the Arts
Professional Experience
2023 - present Academic Program Manager, Department of Art, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University
2021 - present Adjunct Professor, Department of Art, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University
2021 - 2022 Administrative Assistant, Department of Art, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University
2020 - 2021 Office Associate, Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University
2019 - 2020 Operations Manager, Facility for Arts Research, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University
2019 Ceramics Lab Technician, Department of Art, Florida State University
2017-2018 Instructor of Record in 3D Foundations, Department of Art, Florida State University
2016-2017 Lab Technician, Sculpture Lab + Digital Media Fab Lab, Department of Art, Florida State University
2011-2016 Division Operations Administrator, Director’s Office, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State
2007-2011 Assistant Supervisor, Florida Master Site File, Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State
2007 Historic Sites Specialist, Compliance Review Office, Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State
2006-2007 Archaeological Data Analyst, Florida Master Site File, Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State
Awards + Honors
2023 Vault Gallery Vision Prize, awarded by the School of the Arts at the University of West Georgia (2023)
Award of Excellence, THOM Collective Exhibition, Thomasville Center for the Arts (2021)
Omicron Delta Kappa, National Leadership Honor Society
Sculpture Award, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University (2018)
Superior Performance Award, Florida Department of State Sunshine Award (2013)
Award of Distinction, Archaeological Resource Management Training Team Department of State, Prudential Davis Productivity Award (2010)
T.E.A.M. Award, Florida Department of State Sunshine Award (2009)
Employee of the Month, Bureau of Historic Preservation (July 2009)
Florida State University Association of Field School Survivors, The Castro Site (8LE151), certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists (2002)
American Archer and Archer Sharpshooter, Camp Archery Association (1993)
Residencies
Praxis Digital Weaving Lab, Praxis Fiber Workshop, Cleveland, OH (February 2024)
Gray Cottage, Newnan Artist-in-Residence Program, University of West Georgia, Newnan, GA (April 2023)
Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, Georgia (October 2020 - February 2021)
Textíllistamiðstöð - Icelandic Textile Center, Blönduós, Iceland (December 2018)
REBOOT Laboratory, Facility for Arts Research, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Summer 2017)
Solo Exhibits + Two Person* Exhibitions
2023
Moments of Intersection, Vault Gallery in the historic Wadsworth Auditorium, UWG, Newnan, GA
2018
hrynjandi, Bílskúrs Gallerí, Textílsetur Íslands, Blönduós, Iceland*
girl w/ blond hair at crl k, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL*
2017
floccus, SOUP experimental, Tallahassee, FL
Select Group Exhibitions
2025
Stop & Smell the Roses!, Due South 2025, Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA
2024
Behind the Curtain, FAB Gallery, FSU Fine Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
2023
WEFT: women empowering fiber traditions, City Hall Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
2021
THOM Collective, Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA
2019
WOUND TIGHT, S E T L O O S E, FSU MoFA, Tallahassee, FL
2018
Adaptation: The Haunted Life, Walmsley Gallery, FSU MoFA, Tallahassee, FL
&c., Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
Elements | Happening, Dye Shed, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
Portal 4, SOUP experimental, Tallahassee, FL
2017
ACCelerate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival, National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
Extraction, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
noodz, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
Nasty Women, SMALLS, Tallahassee, FL
[PRINTMAKING] in the Expanded Field, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
2016
Aqua Art Miami at the Aqua Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
Super Fresh, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
Aqua Preview, Working Method Contemporary Gallery, John R. Carnaghi Arts Building, Tallahassee, FL
2015
Encore! Of Vision and Variety, 22nd Floor Capitol Gallery, Florida Capitol Building, Tallahassee, FL
Florida Department of State Art Show, Gallery for Innovation and the Arts, R.A. Gray Building, Tallahassee, FL
Postcards from The Edge, Visual Aids, Luhring Augustine, New York, NY
2014
First Friday Dec. 5 @ 621 Annex, 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
Florida Department of State Art Show, Heritage Gallery, R.A. Gray Building, Tallahassee, FL
Involved: A Collaboration Between Printmakers & Non-profits, Bread and Roses Kitchen, Tallahassee, FL
Peep: Pop Up Art Show, Ivory Tower Collective, Tallahassee, FL
3 Guilds, LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts, Tallahassee, FL
2013
Glass at the Walmsley, Walmsley Gallery, FSU MoFA, Tallahassee, FL
To Collaborate or Not to Collaborate, Artist League, FSU MoFA, Tallahassee, FL
Workshops
Material Code, Samantha Bittman, Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists' Residency and SAIC
Introduction to Drafting, Samantha Bittman, Catskill Weaving School (online)
Woven Cloth, Raw Material, Andrea Donnelly, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
Sculptural Fibers, Gabrielle Duggan, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
Fiber Foundations and Futures, Marianne Fairbanks, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
Alternative Materials & Inventive Solutions, Nicole Jacquard & Anne Fiala, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
The Skin of Objects: Kiln Working Class, Silvia Levenson, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Compelled by Metaphor, Sgraffito technique on glass, Michael Janis, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
Mold Making Mash-Up, Mold making and casting intensive, Matthew Day Perez, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Glass Casting, Jude Schlotzhauer, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Glass Fusing, Petra and Wolfgang Kaiser, John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC
Papermaking As Personal Expression: Papermaking Workshop, Drew Matott, Facility for Arts Research, Florida State University
Weaving and Macramé, Natalie Miller, April Rhodes Studio, Columbus, OH
Small Structures, Printed Layers: a Book Arts Workshop, Sarah McDermott, Facility for Arts Research, Florida State University
Little Worlds + Mask Making, Linda Hall, Goose Hall in Smokey Hollow, Tallahassee, FL
Pressure Printing, Allison Milham, 209 Studio, Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA
Letterpress Printing, Mika Fowler, Sangha Press, Tallahassee, FL
Professional Art Affiliations
Founder and Director, Ivory Tower Collective (ITC), a creative arts workspace, gathering place for arts organizations, and an exhibit venue
Treasurer, League of Graduate Artists (LGA), an organization by and for graduate students in the Master of Fine Arts (Studio Art) Program of the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University
Member, Working Method Contemporary, an alternative, non-traditional space dedicated to showing recent works by MFA students in the Studio Art program at Florida State University
Member, Ladies of the Northern Tier (LNT), a North Florida collective of female artists
Member, Southern Art Glass Alliance (SAGA), a local glass guild that formed with the purpose of promoting glass as an artistic medium in the community
Member, The Seven Hills Handweavers Guild, a textile guild for weavers and spinners within North Florida and South Georgia
Member, 'Sup 'er Club: Meals for the Clueless, a FSU MFA art making collective
Member, Vaginas Across Space and Time (VAST), a MFA critique and discussion group
Member, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts Artists’ League (FSU MoFA AL)
Member, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA)
Member, The Studio, Corning Museum of Glass
Member, 621 Gallery, Railroad Square Art Park
Ladies of the Northern Tier
a North Florida collective of female artists