Meet 2022 Inbreak Resident Whitney Mashburn

Whitney Mashburn (she/her) is a Boston-based independent curator and writer, whose work resides at the intersection of contemporary art and disability justice. She lives with chronic environmental illness. She is currently building the Holding Space archive (2021-present), a burgeoning curatorial project which bears witness to the lived experiences of those marginalized by chronic illness: through interviews, art works, and manifestos. The content encompasses social justice work, access equity, meaningful inclusion, and radical joy in the seemingly mundane. Since 2016, she has collaborated with Vancouver-based social practice artist, Carmen Papalia, on tactile aesthetics projects: Let's Keep in Touch (2016-present), Meaningful Inclusion (2018-19), and Fireflower (2020-present). Another current collaboration is the exploration of the work of Daisy Patton, alongside Minerva Projects, culminating in an upcoming panel event (Davis Museum, Wellesley College, 2021-22). She holds an M.A. in Critical and Curatorial Studies in Art, an M.A. in Disability Studies, and a B.A. in History of Art and Studio Art. Her current research is a testament to chronic and invisible illness, access as a ritual act of care, communal support, tactile aesthetics, social accessibility, disability activism in curating, meaningful inclusion, and the role of dialogue in social practice and institutional critique. Upcoming exhibitions include: curatorial efforts: Fireflower, Grunt Gallery, Vancouver, BC (Fall 2021); Let’s Keep in Touch (with Papalia, Georgina Kleege, and Fayen d’Evie), Wellcome Trust, London, UK (2022); as writer/artist: My Dearest Friends, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI (2021) and InPublic: What are You Tending?, Boston, MA (2021). She is currently a 2021 EastTopics cohort resident, and a 2021-22 Collective Futures Fund Fellow (supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Tufts University Art Galleries).