Artist and Educator Caroline Woolard Brings Collaborative Vision to the Department of Art and Design
Joining the Department of Art & Design as Assistant Professor of Foundations
Posted in: Announcements
Caroline comes to Montclair State University from the University of Hartford, where she was a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Hartford Art School. An artist, designer, educator, and technologist, Woolard is recognized for making collaboration inevitable. She is the co-founder of numerous cooperatives and nonprofits, including Art.coop, TradeSchool.coop, Pollinator.coop, BFAMFAPhD, and the NYC Real Estate Investment Cooperative. Her practice is rooted in designing thoughtful systems that expand possibilities for collective work.
Woolard has been teaching undergraduate and graduate students since 2011 and brings a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach to the classroom. Her teaching philosophy is outlined in her book Making and Being (2019), which provides practical tools for art and design pedagogy. “As Assistant Professor of Foundations, I look forward to playing a pivotal role in shaping the experiences of first-year students in the department in collaboration with students, faculty, and staff,” Woolard shared.
Her artwork has been commissioned by and exhibited at major national and international museums including MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and Creative Time. Woolard’s work has been featured twice on Art21’s New York Close Up (2014, 2016), broadcast on PBS, and has been written about in Artforum, Art in America, The New York Times, and The Brooklyn Rail.
Woolard is also the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the 2023–24 W. W. Corcoran Professorship of Community Engagement, the 2018–20 inaugural Walentas Fellowship at Moore College of Art and Design, and residencies and fellowships at Pilchuck, the Queens Museum, Eyebeam, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, MacDowell Colony, and the Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund. She currently serves on the Research Advisory Board for the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) and contributes to advisory committees for The Laundromat Project and Creative Time.
Her published books include Making and Being (2019), Art, Engagement, Economy (2020), and Trade School: 2009–2019. She has also authored influential reports for cultural organizations such as Solidarity Not Charity (2021), Spirits and Logistics (2022), and Prefiguring A New Economic Paradigm (2024).
We are excited to welcome Caroline to Montclair State University and look forward to the vision, creativity, and collaborative energy she brings to our students and faculty.
To find out more information about Caroline, please visit: