Profile

Faheem Majeed

Education


University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) | M.F.A. Studio Arts (2009) Thesis: Demise of the South Side Community Art Center
Howard University | B.B.A. Sculpture and Mixed Media (2000)


Faheem Majeed (American, b. 1976) is an artist, educator, curator, and community facilitator.  He blends his unique experience as an artist, non-profit administrator, and curator to create works that focus on institutional critique and exhibitions that leverage collaboration to engage his immediate, and the broader community, in meaningful dialogue.  As part of his studio practice, he transforms materials such as particle board, scrap metal and wood, discarded signs, and billboard remnants, breathing new life into these often overlooked and devalued materials.

As its former executive director (2007-2011), Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center serves as  Majeed’s primary muse.  Majeed also serves as a co-director and founder of Floating Museum. Floating Museum is an arts collective and non-profit that creates new models to explore relationships between art, community, architecture, and public institutions. Using site-responsive art, design, and programming Floating Museum explores the potential in these relationships by considering the infrastructure, history, and aesthetics of a space. 

 Majeed is a recipient of the Field and Macarthur Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago Award (2020),  Joyce Foundation Award (2020), the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant(2015), and the Harpo Foundation Awardee(2016). Majeed’s work has been exhibited in numerous institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, SMFA at Tufts, and the Hyde Park Art Center. 

Majeed received his BFA from Howard University and his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago(UIC). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at the UIC.

Courses Taught


ART 140, 240 Sculpture The study of major directions and underlying historical precedents in contemporary sculpture. Orientation to concepts of 3-dimensionality through use of relevant processes and heuristic approaches to making.
ART 190, 290 Socially Engaged Art Introduces the concept of socially engaged art, a practice that blurs the line between art and life, emphasizing participation, dialogue, and action. Includes field visits and dialogue with artists. Students design and realize a public art project. Course Information: 3 hours. Previously listed as AD 190. Field trips required at a nominal fee. No previous art and studio experience is necessary for this class. Field Trips Required: Mess Hall, Dorchester Projects and Rebuild Foundation, Threewalls, Hyde Park Art Center, Experimental Station, and South Side Community Art Center, are all site-specific resources for this course. Students will visit at least two of these sites as part of their analysis and exploration of socially engaged art practices.