Carissa Rodriguez

Adjunct Instructor

Arriving at art from other fields (literature, cinema, subculture), I often feel like a non-artist trespassing in the field of art. The task therefore is to carve a temporary space to exist within it and through it. This requires taking possession of space but also accepting a job; in both senses – an occupation. Art for me is a way of living and working that necessitates being ready to exit art at any time so that I may consolidate the internal, external, conscious and unconscious conditions of each departure in the form of an image, an object, an exhibition.
--Carissa Rodriguez

Carissa Rodriguez (born NYC) lives and works in New York City. Solo institutional exhibitions include Kunstverein Munich (2024), The Art Institute of Chicago (2020), the Walker Art Center (2019), MIT List Visual Arts Center (2018), SculptureCenter (2018), and the Wattis Institute (2015). Rodriguez has participated in the Whitney Biennials of 2014 and 2019 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She holds a Bachelor of Art in Literature from The New School (1994) and attended the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program (2001-2). From 2018-2022, Rodriguez was a Professor of Art at Harvard University in the Department of Art, Film and Visual Studies and is a two-time recipient of Harvard’s Film Study Center Fellowship (2019 & 2020). Rodriguez was a director and core member of Reena Spaulings Fine Art from 2004-2015. Her work is in the permanent collections of the following museums: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, Haus Konstructiv (Zurich), the Columbus Museum of Art.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

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  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.