Art Hx centers artistic practice to explore the convergences of medicine, colonial legacies and practices of radical care.
Our work investigates how historical and contemporary narratives of health are constructed, challenged, and reimagined.
Through a combination of research, artistic collaboration and public engagement, we support new ways of thinking about the relationships between art, health, and social change.
Creative practice offers powerful methods for questioning established narratives and fostering new forms of collective understanding.
Bridging disciplines and perspectives, we aim to create spaces for dialogue and transformation through three interconnected frameworks: materials, memory, and methods.
Our work involves
Artist residencies that support creative responses to themes of medicine, memory, and materiality
The development of health literacy and teaching tools designed to make critical conversations about health and history accessible to a wide audience
Artist-led experiments and pedagogic initiatives
Community outreach workshops that engage people in hands-on explorations of art, environment, and historical objects
A dynamic online platform and database that brings together research, objects, and artistic interventions
Experimental publications that explore alternative forms of storytelling and academic inquiry
Credits
Art Hx was first conceptualized in 2020 by Professor Anna Arabindan Kesson, Princeton University and Dr. Jessica Womack. It has since extended into a collaborative partnership with Dr. Kate Keohane, Dr Jess Bailey, Dr Sharbreon Plummer, Gabriella Nelson, and Dr Amanda Herbert
Art Hx Speaker Series
Art Hx Speaker Series
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What does it mean to see the heart? Join us for a film screening and keynote lecture with artist Sophie Hamacher on the poetics of intimacy, biological experience, and what it means to feel.
Read more here
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Stories have always been told at quilting bees: stories of legacy, of resistance, and of community care. Dr Sharbreon Plummer, independent scholar and author (sharbreonplummer.com), and Dr Jess Bailey, Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Edinburgh & @publiclibraryquilts, re-imagine the quilting bee for public pedagogy. Their work is grounded in the rich and diverse histories of patchwork, connecting past and present practice as a mode of education.
Sunny A. Smith is a queer, trans* nonbinary artist, educator, and institutional leader whose work investigates how history is constructed, remembered, and contested. They have engaged with quilting and quilts throughout their practice creating impactful work that critically examines cultural inheritance. Smith’s work has been widely exhibited, including at P.S.1/MoMA among other museums and is included in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, UCLA Hammer Museum, and LACMA. They are the executive director of Creative Growth in Oakland, California.
Join our free online discussion to learn about Sunny’s artistic practice and how it connects to socially engaged histories of quilting. Closed captioning will be available on zoom and you will have the opportunity to ask questions via the question submission. This webinar will not be recorded.
Dr Sharbreon Plummer, independent scholar and author, and Dr Jess Bailey, Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Edinburgh
Consuelo Jiminez Underwood is a practicing artist based in California who has been making and exhibiting her art since the 1980s with nuanced contributions across the ‘fine art – craft divide.’ She has taught at several universities, her work has been collected by numerous institutions, and she was awarded the American Craft Council Gold Medal in 2026. Her practice has consistently grappled with issues of borders, indigeneity, immigration, and maternal knowledge in large scale textile installations. Gather for a conversation about land, ancestors, and cloth.
Join our free online discussion to learn about Consuelo’s artistic practice and how it connects to socially engaged histories of quilting. Closed captioning will be available on zoom and you will have the opportunity to ask questions via the question submission. This webinar will not be recorded.
Art Hx Past Events
Art Hx Past Events
Art Hx Speaker Series: Hettie Judah on Art and Motherhood
Our first event for the year will be held at Princeton University on October 27th when we’ll be hosting writer and curator Hettie Judah on the Princeton University Campus in the East Pyne Building room 010 from 4.30-6 pm.
Read more here