School of Visual Studies alum, Simon Tatum, an international student from Grand Cayman, graduated in December 2016 and now works for the Engine for Art Democracy and Justice (EADJ for short) research project at Vanderbilt University. Check out this Q&A to find out more about how his time at Mizzou.

Q: When did you graduate and what was your major? 

A: During my time at Mizzou, I received a Bachelors of Art degree with a major emphasis in Studio Arts and a minor in Art History. I also received the International Studies certificate, which functioned as a secondary minor. I was also very fortunate to get financial support to attend the “Museum Studies” study abroad program in the Netherlands and Belgium during June 2016. I was able to receive a small international grant from the Cultural Foundation in Grand Cayman and I used my summer employment at the Columbia Art League in Columbia, MO to pay for a month-long residency in Aruba with the Caribbean Linked program in August 2016.   

Q: How has Mizzou's art program helped you in your career? 

My time at Mizzou was really important to me because it introduced me to art careers. I came to the Mizzou program from Grand Cayman, my island of birth which is in the Caribbean. During my upbringing on the island, there were only a few examples of artists who made their living from their creative practice. I had no references growing up about what a career as an artist might look like. When I came to Mizzou, I began being introduced to the creative careers of the visual artist historically and I was also introduced to how contemporary artists work through their own personal studio practice and/ or how they work within academia. I learned about these career paths through the example of the faculty and the staff that work within the Art Department and the Art History Department at Mizzou. I also learned from the example of faculty alumni and visiting artists and curators that the university faculty brought to campus for class presentations, art exhibitions, and student critiques.  

Q: What were some pivotal moments for you while emerging into the artist you are today? 

A: Here are some highlights for the development of my creative career after Mizzou: 

1. After my time at Mizzou, I worked within a small museum on Grand Cayman. I worked there from 2017- 2019 and took three months in the beginning of 2018 to live in Germany and complete an artist residency at the Leipzig International Artist program. I also spent a small amount of time in Barbados participating as both an artist and a curatorial intern for curators Veerle Poupeye and Allison Thompson, who put together the “Arrivants: Art and Migration in the Anglophone Caribbean World” exhibition at the Barbados Historical Society. It was presented by the University of the West Indies in association with the University of St. Andrews. The exhibition took its title and conceptual focus on “the journey” from Kamau Brathwaite’s The Arrivants trilogy, and the exhibition, as the curators described, “explored the diasporic nature of Caribbean society as documented and interrogated through its artistic production."
    
2. Through the Arrivants exhibition, I was really happy to help install projects of many emerging artists like Nadia Huggins, Cosmo Whyte, Ewan Atkinson and Leasho Johnson. Artists who have had flourishing careers within the last 5 years. I was also very able to work in association with artists who’ve had long careers both within and outside of the Caribbean region, artists like Eddie Chambers, Paul Dash, Hew Locke, Caroline Holder. 
    
3. In the beginning of 2019 I spent three weeks traveling around Havana, Cuba and Matanzas, Cuba exploring the 13th iteration of the Havana Biennial and what would become the 1st iteration of the Rios Intermitentes Biennial project in Matanzas. The Rios project was led by artist Dr. Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons. It was incredible to spend time in Cuba which has a unique creative output within the Caribbean region, and it was rewarding for me to feel the island’s influence of many incredible art institutions, like museums, galleries, art schools, and a biennial association. These influences alongside the country's constant negotiation of social political climates created a zone where I learned a lot. I still think back on my time in Cuba and wonder how the creative practices of the Caribbean region would have changed if there were less restrictions caused by the US.  
    
4. In the fall of 2019 I got a scholarship to continue my studies and get a master's degree. I decided to study at Kent State University, and chose to secure a master's degree in Sculpture and Expanded media. During my master's program at Kent, I also worked for Anderson Turner at the Kent State School of Art Collection, helping with their collection database and also helping students, professors, visiting lecturers, and visiting artists install exhibitions. The university gallery had 8 different gallery spaces and did about 32 shows a year. It was a great space for me to think about the installation and display format of exhibitions as a vital component for sharing conversations through the visual arts. I was also able to work with many great faculty members like Eli Kessler, Isabel Farnsworth, Dr. Joseph Underwood and Davin Ebanks. Working with Davin Ebanks was especially rewarding for me because he is one of a few Cayman-born artists that works with art in academia. I learned a lot from our conversations together.  
    
5. I completed my MFA in 2021. Afterwards I moved to Nashville to work for the studio of artist Dr. Maria Magdelana Campos-Pons, helping with her studio archive in preparation for her monograph exhibition (Behold) at the Brooklyn Museum. I completed the archive assignment at the end of 2022/ early 2023. In January of 2023, I started working for the Engine for Art Democracy and Justice (EADJ for short) research project at Vanderbilt University. EADJ is my current placement for employment. The EADJ project was founded by Dr. Campos-Pons. It hosts various series of webinars, discussions, workshops, exhibitions, and creative activities.The EADJ project creates programming that has been conceptualized through various iterations by visiting curators to the university that were invited by Dr. Campos-Pons.