SHAWNDEL N. FRASER
Curriculum Vitae
Environmental Psychologist | Interdisciplinary Artist | Field Researcher
SUMMARY
Shawndel N. Fraser is an environmental psychologist and interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges art, psychology, place-based inquiry, and public discourse. Grounded in environmental psychology and qualitative research, her practice currently examines masculinity, labor, devotion, and care through sculptural work, field observation, and facilitated public encounters. Her projects invite audiences to reconsider how tenderness, responsibility, and emotional expression are carried and communicated through bodies, craft, and everyday acts of work.
Fraser works through her proprietary methodology, Artful Transcendence©, which integrates material engagement, conversation, and witnessed presence as sites of inquiry. Her work takes the form of sculpture, artist books, public talks, and relational encounters, and is situated within the social sciences, public humanities, contemporary craft, and social research contexts.
EDUCATION
M.A., Environmental Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center (2012)
B.A., Psychology with Honors, Brooklyn College, CUNY (2007)
SELECTED ARTIST RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
Sculpture Fellow, The Station, Onchiota, NY (Sep–Nov 2025)
Craigardan Fellow / Artist-in-Residence, Elizabethtown, NY (Aug 2025)
Artist-in-Residence, The Station, Onchiota, NY (May–Jun 2025)
John Brown Lives! Fellow / Artist-in-Residence, Craigardan, Elizabethtown, NY (May 2024)
Artist-in-Residence, The Station, Onchiota, NY (Jun–Jul 2024)
Writing Fellow, Paden Cottage, Essex, NY (Jul 2024)
Writing Fellow, Lake Flower Landing, Saranac Lake, NY (Sep 2023)
SELECTED INVITED TALKS, LECTURES & KEYNOTES
Lecturer & Workshop Facilitator, SUNY North Country Community College, Saranac Lake, NY (Spring 2026)
“Seeing Men Without Projection: On Listening, Contact, and Interaction with Masculinity.”
Panel Speaker, Adirondack Center for Writing, Saranac Lake, NY (Jan 2026)
Plenary discussion: “Are the Boys Okay? Growing Up White, Rural, and Male in a Changing World.”
Guest Speaker, Connections with Evan Dawson, WXXI Rochester, NY (Jan 2026)
Panel discussion: “Are the Boys Okay?”
Guest Lecturer, John Jay College, New York, NY (Nov 2025)
Lecture: “Reversing the Gaze: A Black Feminist Methodology for Sociocultural and Emotional Repair through Craft and Clay.”
Guest Lecturer, John Jay College, New York, NY (Nov 2025)
Lecture: “Hands That Nurture: Art, Labor, and the Healing of Structural Power.”
Guest Speaker, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY (Nov 2025)
Black Solidarity Day Social Justice Teach-In: “Hands That Nurture: Exploring Perceptions of Masculine Devotion.”
Guest Lecturer, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY (Sep 2025)
Artist talks delivered to Introduction to Sculpture and Advanced Sculpture courses.
Artist Lecturer, Craigardan AppleBarn Talk, Elizabethtown, NY (Aug 2025)
Artist talk: “Hands That Nurture: Exploring Perceptions of Masculine Devotion.”
Invited Speaker, John Brown Farm State Historic Site, North Elba, NY (Jul 2025)
Reading and commentary at the unveiling of “Good Trouble Lives On: American Truth Tellers.”
Opening Speaker for Dr. Tiya Miles, John Brown Lives! Beacon of Hope Programming,
Lake Placid, NY (Oct 2024)
Keynote Speaker, “Beacon of Hope” Monument Unveiling,
John Brown Farm State Historic Site, North Elba, NY (Jul 2024)
Artist Lecturer, Craigardan AppleBarn Talk, Elizabethtown, NY (May 2024)
Artist talk: “Quantum Entanglement of the Abolitionist Kind.”
SELECTED SIGNATURE PROJECTS
Hands That Nurture — Sculptural and research-based inquiry into masculine devotion, labor, and care, examining how tenderness and responsibility are expressed through hands, craft, and work.
SELECTED ARTICLES
Commentary: “Are the boys ok?”, Adirondack Almanack, (Feb 2026)
Newsletter
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