LSU Vet Med announces its fifth artist-in-residence, Emily Ward Bivens

The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine announces its fifth artist-in-residence, Emily Ward Bivens, an acclaimed visual artist and educator whose work is inspired by the intersection of art and science.

Bivens, distinguished professor of humanities and director of Graduate Studies in the School of Art at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, will be in residence Monday, July 13, through Friday, August 7, 2026.

A widely exhibited artist whose work bridges a wide variety of disciplines, Bivens will meet with key members of the LSU Vet Med community and create sketches, drawings, and paintings that she will develop into larger pieces. She will donate one piece of art from her residency to LSU Vet Med’s growing permanent collection generated by its artists in residence.

Her residency will culminate with a public art exhibition and presentation that will include works arising from her residency. More information about the exhibition to take place in the LSU Vet Med Library will be announced soon.

“I studied biology later switching to art when I realized that there are limits to what science can explain,” she said. “I found the residency at LSU Vet Med while searching for opportunities to engage more deeply with animals from both a historical and biological perspective. I am thrilled with this opportunity because it is interdisciplinary by nature and design. This is a model that I hope could inspire other institutions to value relevancy across disciplines. It is in line with my work in a research group with colleagues in the sciences at UTK,” said Bivens.

Bivens’ fascination with the natural world began at an early age. Growing up in southern Louisiana, her childhood bedroom was set apart from her family on the far side of an old house under which a large colony of armadillos would root and cavort all night. That early curiosity continues to inform her artistic practice.  

She has had exhibitions and performances in festivals, museums, galleries, and washaterias.

Bivens works in a wide array of materials and techniques, including but not limited to film/video, sound, animation, printmaking, ceramics, installation, and performance. Her current body of work investigates attitudes of complacency in survival and the transformative power of awe in the nearly overlooked. She has produced performances and installations that have been presented at the Inverse Performance Festival at the Momentary, Bentonville, AR; Skulpturens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO; Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA; and DEMO project in Springfield, IL; Press Street for Prospect 3+, New Orleans, LA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA; The Texas Biennial, San Antonio, TX; Currents: The Santa Fe International New Media Festival, Santa Fe, NM; and the Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX.  She has been a guest artist and resident at the Centro De Arte Curaumilla in Chile and will be a resident at Millay Arts in Austerlitz, New York this October 2026.  Bivens studied biology at the University of Oregon, an experience that significantly influenced her artistic practice. She holds a BFA from Colorado State University and an MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a certified Tennessee naturalist. Her writing has been published in Feminist Art Practices and Research and Feminist Formations. 

LSU Vet Med Artist-in-Residence Program

LSU Vet Med’s Artist-in-Residence Program—the first of its kind at a U.S. veterinary school—was launched in 2022. Each year, the program invites a new artist to explore the intersection of art and science, with disciplines ranging from visual art and music to poetry and filmmaking.

Past artists-in-residence include:

• Shelby Prindaville, visual artist (2022), who produced an exhibition of paintings and ceramics utilizing materials from veterinary medicine
• Charlie Rauh, composer and musician (2023), whose residency produced an album of 13 songs and a concert with LSU’s A Cappella Choir
• Brandon Kilbourne, poet and evolutionary biologist (2024), who concluded his residency with a public poetry reading
• Pippin Frisbie-Calder, visual artist (2025), who created a collection of art spanning painting, printmaking, woodcutting, and silk screening.

EXPLORE BIVEN'S WORK

For more information about the Artist-in-Residence Program at LSU Vet Med, contact Sandra Sarr, communications manager, at sarr1@lsu.edu.

About LSU Vet Med: Bettering lives through education, public service, and discovery

The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 33 veterinary schools in the U.S. and the only one in Louisiana. LSU Vet Med is dedicated to improving and protecting the lives of animals and people through superior education, transformational research, and compassionate care. We teach. We heal. We discover. We protect.