S. Elliot Bowers

Shane Elliot Bowers is a detailed research scholar and multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores gender theory, sound art, and philosophy. He has over ten years of experience as an artist, arts administrator, ceramics, fabrication, and researcher. Bowers advocates for the development of emerging artists and actively promotes cultural diversity and underrepresented artists.

2021 - Present Ph.D. Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, Portland, ME, Expected in 01/2026 

2019 Master of Fine Art, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

2018 Bachelor of Fine Art, University of Little Rock at Arkansas, Little Rock, AR

2023 Instructor, College of Dupage, IL

● Course: Drawing 1101

As the instructor of the course, I am responsible for developing curricula, creating lesson plans, delivering lectures, conducting demonstrations, facilitating discussions, and providing leadership for critique purposes. I develop cultural awareness among students and a collaborative environment to bring students together.

2020 Co-Founder and Board Member, Dispatch Gallery, Online counterpart to Unpacked Mobile Gallery October 2020 - present | www.dispatchgallery.org

● Co-curate and organize video, sound art, animation and performance art opportunities and corresponding virtual exhibitions | Dispatch Gallery exhibitions feature artists based in South Korea, China, Romania, Egypt, Finland, Canada, Puerto Rico, and across the U.S. | Conduct Zoom interviews, discussions, screenings, and performances with participating artists as part of gallery programming | Design promotional materials | Host panel discussions and online workshops

2020 Purple Window Co-op Member, Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 2020–Present

● Co-curate exhibitions | Help execurate gallery programming | Help facilitate public art initiatives such as Hello Neighbor, a series of satellite exhibitions held in domestic and storefront windows to showcase artwork to the outside world during shelter in place | Hello Neighbor exhibitions took place across the United States in Illinois, Washington, West Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, California, Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, Massachusetts and New York, and outside of the US in England, France, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia | Help facilitate Community Mail Art Initiative Hello USPS, and more

2018 Featured Guest Speaker, Unpacked Mobile, Northern Illinois University's Second Annual Arts Convocation, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

2017- Present Coordinator, Co-Founder, Unpacked: Mobile Gallery, DeKalb & Chicago, IL | www.unpacked-mobile-gallery.com

● Curate exhibitions | Install shows | Grant writing | Fundraising | Create and manage website and newsletter | Collaborate with Chicago galleries and public spaces | Build and manage social media profiles and presence | Write and distribute Unpacked: Mobile Gallery newsletter | Apply to exhibition opportunities | Participation in art fairs such as Mdw Fair 2022 at Mana Contemporary

2017 Instructor of Record, 3D Design, School of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 2017 - 2019

● Curriculum writing | Lesson plans | Lecture | Demonstrations | Lead discussion and critique Intermediate and Advanced Sculpture, School of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL ● Instructed over 50 students over the course of four semesters | Wood Shop Demonstrations | Oversaw lab equipment such as table saw, jointers, planners, pneumatic tools, drill press, and other power tools | Metal Shop Demonstrations, including MIG welding equipment, Digital Fabrication CNC routers, CAD Programs, 3D Printers, Laser engraving, and other metal fabrication processes | Lead discussion and critique

2016 Graduate Research Assistant, School of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 2016 - 2019

Facilities Coordinator, Sculpture, School of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 2016 - 2019

● Maintain and fix various wood shop equipment; SawStop, jointer, planner, bandsaw, horizontal sander, and lathe machinery | Maintain and fix various metal shop equipment; MIG and TIG welders, sandblaster, grinders, and plasma cutter | Assist students from introduction level through advanced on projects | Ensure a safe work environment for students | Assist students with Adobe Programs such as Auditions, PPremier, Photoshop, and After Affects | Assist students in project implementation and material procurement

2013 Youth Coordinator, Center for Artistic Revolution, Little Rock, AR

2013 - 2016

● Center for Artistic Revolution (CAR) is a not-for-profit LGBTQ-centric organization working with diverse communities and allies for equality for ALL in Arkansas | Mentor to CAR members ages 13-22 years old | Organized public performances, art installations, and spoken word poetry events

APPRENTICESHIP

2015-2016 Sabbatical Assistant, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR

Apprenticeship to Associate Professor Mia Hall, Little Rock, AR

● Assist with wood, digital  fabrication, and casting

2014 Intern Apprenticeship, Kevin Kresse Studio

● Assisted Kevin Kresse with a bronze sculpture commission dedicated to World War II Lt. William Darby | The sculpture is permanently displayed at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, in Cisterna Park. Mockup oil-based clay sculpture using digital fabrication, and final product was foundry welding from cast bronze. 

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

McNair Scholar Program

University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR

Mentored by Michael Norton, Ph.D., 2015-2016

Promise Neighborhood Plan

University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR | Mentored by Laura Amrhein, Ph.D., Kristin Mann, Ph.D., and Stacy Moak, Ph.D., 2014

Study Abroad Research

University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR

Yucatan, Mexico; mentored by Laura Amrhein, Ph.D. I studied and visited 14 different states within the Yucatan peninsula over two weeks in 2012.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025 PolyGender  Northeastern Illinois  University, IL

2019 Levees Were Blown, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

2018 Southern Drawl, Rubberneck Gallery, Chicago, IL

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 Rhizome, Two-person exhibition with Giselle Mira-Diaz at Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, IL

2022 Orientation, Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, IL

2021 CICA Experimental Film and Video, CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, Korea

2019 Masters of None, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL

2018 Return to 90/39, Jack Olson Gallery, DeKalb, IL

Sculpture National, Clay Center of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

The Frost Bound Fast The Tears Between Them Rubberneck Gallery, Chicago, IL

Discontent, Unpacked Mobile Gallery at Comfort Station, Logan Square, Chicago, IL Come As You Are, Unpacked Mobile Gallery, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

2017 NIU Graduate Show, Kishwaukee College Art Gallery, Malta, IL

Winter Convocation Exhibition, Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb, IL

Northern Illinois Alumni Association Luncheon, DeKalb, IL

Back To For Ward, Northern Illinois University, Gallery 215, DeKalb, IL

2016 Gallery One Fine Arts, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR

UALR Student Competitive, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

2013 Governor’s Dinner, Little Rock Governor's Mansion, Little Rock, AR

2012 UALR Student Competitive, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Messy Misfits Club: Zine Fifth Edition, Chicago, IL, 2023 

The Edge of Equilibrium: Chicago Art Community 2017-2021, Manchester University Press, 2021 Purple Window Gallery: Brings Public Art to Our Windows Sixty Inches from Center, 2020 The Insider’s Guide to the Gallery Scene You Don’t Know About, Chicago Magazine, 2019 Mobile Museums and Galleries, PhD Thesis, San Francisco Art Institute, Bertha Rodriguez, 2018 Arkansas Democratic Gazette, Little Rock, AR, 2015

Equinox Literary Magazine, Cox Center, Little Rock, AR, 2014

Equinox Literary Magazine, Cox Center, Little Rock, AR, 2013

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Unpacked Collective | Purple Window Co-Op Board | Dispatch Gallery | College Art Association (CAA) | Graduate Arts Association, Northern Illinois University | McNair Scholars Program | TRIO Scholars Program

PROJECT COORDINATION | Unpacked Gallery & Dispatch Gallery Online 2017 - present

Home Grown, Unpacked Mobile Gallery at MdW Fair 2022, Mana Contemporary Chicago Documentation Photography Workshop Featuring Amy Shelton, Free online workshop via Zoom Danielle Hatch and Jenny Rafalson Screening, Artist Talk and Q&A, “ALL THE SOARINGS OF MY MIND BEGIN IN MY BLOOD” by Danielle Hatch, “Sunset’s burning late” by Jenny Rafalson, Connections Series proctored by Lauren Iacoponi, Giselle Mira Diaz, and Shane Elliot Bowers, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Hal Baum Artist Talk + Q&A, Connection Series, Discussion of Baum’s animated music video Buzz Aldrin’s Love Song For The Moon composed of over 1,000 hand-drawn frames, Dispatch Gallery Online Dis/connect, Juuso Kuivila animation screening, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Every Choice is a Contradiction to Itself, Cynthia Post Hunt and Erin Peisert Performance, (Minneapolis, Minnesota and Fayetteville Arkansas, USA) Dispatch Gallery Online 

Ahl Al Medinah, Shurafa’ Al Ayn, Amanda Assaley, and Qais Assali Performance, presented as a table-reading and performative virtual tour exploring language, mistranslation, connections, and disconnections of the culturally appropriated Shriners’ Medinah Temple in Chicago, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Going Together, Bobby Sax, Recorded Sound Art Performance, Dispatch Gallery Online Kesha Lagniappe, Farihah Shah, Jezabeth Roca Gonzalez Film Screening, Artist Talk, and Q&A, “Come Wash with Me” by Kesha Lagniappe, “And With These Hands” by Farihah Shah, and “House Tour” & “Cotidiano” by Jezabeth Roca Gonzalez, Connections Series, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Theology, Jian Lin, Recorded Sound Art Performance, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Asphyxia. Plastic. Affective Memory and Waste. Screening, Artist Talk and Q&A, Connection series, Alina Tofan, Alexandru Claudiu Maxim, Georgiana Vlahbei, Teo Radlescu, Dispatch Gallery Online One Day We’ll Waltz Again, Millicent Kennedy, Live Performance, Dispatch Gallery Online Notation, Eetu Linnankivi, Film Screening, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Grace DeVies, Jeremy Wong, and Millicent Kennedy Screening, Artist Talk and Q&A, “Telephone Tango” by Grace DeVies and Jeremy Wong and “One Day We’ll Waltz Again” by Millicent Kennedy, Connection series, Dispatch Gallery Online 

Meghan Moe Beitiks and Wild Actions Screening and Q&A, “it is not unusual” by Wild Actions, “Systems of Pain/Networks of Resilience” by Meghan Moe Beitiks, Connection series, Dispatch Gallery Online Sophia Munic Artist Talk + Q&A, Connection series, Discussion of Munic’s project “I Am Here For You”, public art, quarantine projects, and the Minneapolis art scene, Dispatch Gallery Online 

CONNECTION Virtual Gallery Walk Through via Zoom, Dispatch Gallery

Maktub, Lamia Abukhadra, Essma Imady, and Zeinab Saab, Unpacked: Mobile Gallery, Chicago, IL Discontent, Brian Selke, Allen Moore, Elyse Sawka, Rebecca Griffith, and Vodstrup, Unpacked: Mobile Gallery, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL

Come As You Are, Elyse Sawka, Zeinab Saab, Millicent Kennedy Nora, Antoinette Viola, and Ana Cortes, Northern Illinois University Winter Arts Convocation, Unpacked: Mobile Gallery, DeKalb, IL

Unpacked, Rafael Rocha Jr., Faith Wittrock, Naomi Elson, Samantha Mendoza, Terrance Gray, Noah Kashiani, Steven Lockwood, Rebecca Griffith, and Lauren Iacoponi, Unpacked: Mobile Gallery, Chicago, IL