Denise Whitebread Fanning is an artist, curator, and mother living in Central Michigan. She is an observer, explorer, gatherer, and maker. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and a BFA in painting and sculpture from Eastern Michigan University. She is the Art Coordinator for Central Michigan University Libraries and the Gallery Director for the University’s Baber Room Gallery, and is a former Instructor of Sculpture at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI. She is also an avid gardener, sky-gazer, and nature enthusiast. Her sculptures and site-specific installations were exhibited in galleries from Detroit to Berlin before moving to Central Michigan, where she began to take her artwork out of the gallery, creating ephemeral installations in the woods and by the lakes and rivers. Her work as an independent artist and installation sculptor blends her unique perspectives on motherhood and human nature with her care for the natural world, and emphasizes the urgency of tending and nurturing in times of societal and environmental turmoil.   

 

As a curator, Denise focuses on presenting a diverse array of exhibitions to her Central Michigan community, prioritizing diversity in perspectives, backgrounds, and approaches to creating. She believes that art is a vital vehicle for enhancing community and connections and can be a powerful tool to challenge conventional thinking. Denise curates exhibitions that amplify the voices and visions of a diverse collective of contemporary artists, especially those whose work invites questions, conversations, or emotions, and inspires new ways of thinking about humanity, community, and the world we inhabit.

Follow her on instagram @denisewfanning_maker & @denisefanning44