UPCOMING PROGRAM

/// Artist-run Program

Emily Burkhead

The 3D Pen: A Tool of Abstraction and Expression

September 15–26, 2025

/ Description

This two-week workshop invites participants to explore the 3D printing pen as a tool of abstraction, composition, and sculptural expression. Over the course of the program, participants will move between artist lectures, technique-based exercises, theoretical discussions, and extended studio practice. Each stage is designed to open new possibilities for collage, assemblage, linework, and spatial experimentation.

The workshop culminates in the installation of a collective exhibition, giving participants the opportunity to follow the full arc of a project — from initial experiments to the mounting of a public show. Along the way, they will develop technical knowledge of the 3D pen, expand their approaches to composition and theory, and experience the challenges and rewards of working in a collaborative setting.

/ Program Schedule

The program meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for two weeks. Each session runs 2.5 hours, with studio days extending to 3 hours. Start times are flexible, with a preference for 10:00 am, 11:00 am, or 2:00 pm.

  • Day 1 (Mon, Sept 15): Overview of the workshop, introduction to Emily’s practice, schedule review, participant introductions, lecture on relevant artists, and a guided composition exercise.

  • Day 2 (Wed, Sept 17): Introduction to 3D pen basics including settings, safety, and temperature; line and texture exercises; discussions; support and material experiments.

  • Day 3 (Fri, Sept 19): Theory exercise and discussion followed by collaborative planning for the final exhibition.

  • Days 4–7 (Mon–Thu, Sept 22–25): Extended studio days for experimentation, production, and refinement of individual and group projects.

  • Day 8 (Fri, Sept 26): Installation of the group exhibition.

/ Program Directors’ Bio

Emily Burkhead (she/they) is an artist and educator from Memphis, Tennessee. She received her B.A. in Urban Studies and Film/Media Studies from Rhodes College and completed her MFA in Studio Art at Michigan State University in 2024, where she was awarded the MFA Prize for her thesis exhibition Trigger/Glimmer/Something Else. Emily has exhibited work at the Indie Memphis Film Festival and now lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Henry, and their beagle mix, Phineas.