Speaking


2023
Board Fundamentals Panel 
Santa Fe Community Foundation
September 8, 2023

Panel Discussion: Women in Art
(video)
El Paso Museum of Art
May 5, 2023
As the exhibition, There Is a Woman in Every Color: Black Women in Art, explores women in art, EPMA offers our community a way to see women in art besides being an artist or subject. This panel will provide an opportunity to experience firsthand testimonials from successful women in the arts in a casual setting. Each presenter will share their experiences and offer advice to those considering pursuing a career in the arts.

Panel participants include Sereka Barlow, El Paso Museum of Art Foundation Board Chair; Dr. Elvira Carrizal-Dukes (E.C.-Dukes), Assistant Professor of Instruction for Chicana/o Studies at The University of Texas at El Paso, one of the creative forces behind DUKEScomics, filmmaker, writer, director, and producer; Jessica Fuentes, News Editor for Glasstire and Executive Director of Kinfolk House; and Sheetal Prajapati, Principal & Founder of Lohar Projects. Moderated by EPMA’s Assistant Curator, Claudia S. Preza.


Curators’ Dialogue - Intersectionality through Creative Practice
ESEA Contemporary (U.K) (online)
March 25, 2023
Together with Guest Curator Hanlu Zhang, Anna Harsanyi and Sheetal Prajapati, co-curators of the project series Progressive Diasporas, will lead a curatorial talk and discussion with participants that outlines how intersectionality shapes their collaborative work. They will share prompts for discussion and reflection, as well as selections from video works developed as part of their curated project, Progressive Diasporas, which explores the experiences and intersections of immigrant diasporas through a set of collaboratively developed, cumulative experiences and events. The first iteration of the series was presented in Fall 2022 at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (New York) and featured work by artists Umber Majeed and Adobo-Fish-Sauce.

2022
Beyond Sunsetting: Common Field’s Collection

Los Angeles Contemporary Archive 
December 8, 2022, 7-9pm
On the occasion of Common Field’s organizational materials arriving at LACA, this discussion led by writer, curator, and educator Anuradha Vikram, with gloria galvez, artist, organizer and co-director in the art program at the California Institute of the Arts and Sheetal Prajapati, Executive Director of Common Field, will reflect on larger institutional concerns within the arts nonprofit sector, including the challenges of sustainable fundraising and the exclusionary structures of whiteness in leadership.

Valuations: Artwork, Labor and Project Budgeting
(virtual, closed door)
The Dots Between
November 9, 2022 

Mapping Your Practice
(closed door)
Joan Mitchell Center
June 11, 2022

Podcast Interview: Outgrow the Grind, Season 5, Episode 3,
April 4, 2022

Artist Coaching Series
The Dots Between
January, February and March 2022 (virtual, closed door)
Developing and presenting three seminars on mapping creative practice,  writing artist statements, financial valuation for your labor, and building agency in the field for BIPOC practitioners for the 2022 cohort of 60+ artists across the U.S. who part of The Dots Between coaching program developed and led by Tamara Bates.  

2021

Towards Success: Mapping Your Practice (virtual, closed)
Kresge Foundation Artist Seminar
September 28,  5:00pm ET 
This workshop will guide artists through establishing a set of goals to meet their ambitions and needs related to their artistic, personal and professional practices. Approaching career and life as holistic work, participants will create their own frameworks for success in this workshop by approaching their creative practice as a larger part of their life’s work to map a sustainable path forward. Through a series of dialogs, writing reflections, and conversations, artists will leave the workshop with a clear set of 2-3 goals and a timeline for moving towards them with a clear idea of next steps.

Creative Capital Series 

PART II: Make Your Interdisciplinary Practice Work for You

May 11, 7PM EST (virtual)
This workshop will explore how artists and arts administrators with inter- and cross-disciplinary practices can develop their own definition of their work and paths to career development. Participants will reflect on their current practices, build language to identify their practices as a set of skills that can support any number of roles they may take on, identify their larger career objectives (beyond any one identity or role), and consider how to strategically build new skills and gain necessary experience towards meeting them. This workshop will include participatory components including reflection writing and group discussion.

Creative Capital Series

PART I: Bringing It Together: Interdisciplinary Practices in the Arts (Video Recording)
April 13, 7PM EST (virtual)

How can interdisciplinary artists use their “generalist” skill set to benefit them in a range of roles across various arts institutions? Sheetal Prajapati and Creative Capital Awardee Pablo Helguera have spent much of their careers conceiving of and organizing public programs with curators, academics, and artists at museums. In this free online conversation, the two discuss their paths working across the field and among creative disciplines, and how this multiplicity of “identities” supports and speaks to their larger practices today.

The Virtual Studio Visit
March 24, 2021
Joan Mitchell Center
A virtual closed-door workshop for artists in residence at the Joan Mitchell Center (New Orleans) offering artists clear guidance to prepare for virtual studio visits during and after their residency.

New Renaissance in Feminist Art
March 30, 5PM EST (virtual)

Residency Unlimited & Polish Cultural Institute New York
Artists Anna Orbaczewska (Poland) and Rotem Reshef (Tel Aviv and New York) with moderator  Sheetal Prajapati  will discuss their engagement with feminist activism as women and artists, and how it impacts their participation, position, and presentation of their work in Poland, Israel, the U.S. (respectively) and across borders.

Professional Development for Artists
February 11, 2021, 4 - 7:30pm EST (virtual)
Watch video recording
KODA’s professional development bootcamp invites artists to benefit from four comprehensive online seminars, each lasting 30 minutes, plus 15-minute Q&A. The insightful and practical sessions will be led by art and cultural engagement expert Sheetal Prajapati, environmental policy leader Mark Chambers, interdisciplinary artist and design specialist Tatiana Arocha, and social media and editorial content authority Robin Cembalest.

2020

Survival and Success: Women of Color in the Arts 
November 12, 2020 (virtual)
Watch Video Recording, POWArts  
A panel discussion with Suhaly Bautista Carolina, Jasmine Wahi, and Sheetal Prajapati sharing stories of how they navigated the field to their current roles in the art world.

Professional Development: The Virtual Studio Visit 
September 24, 2020 (virtual)
Joan Mitchell Center
A virtual closed-door workshop for artists in residence at the Joan Mitchell Center (New Orleans) offering artists clear guidance to prepare for virtual studio visits during and after their residency.

Chautauqua Visual Arts Lecture Series: Sheetal Prajapati

September 8, 2020 (virtual)
Watch Video Recording, Chautauqua School of Arts

Community & Conversation: Intimacy
April 13, 2020
POWArts 
POWarts member, Sheetal Prajapati, facilitates an informal conversation about building intimacy during a time of physical distancing.  (virtual)

Visiting Artist Lecture 
February 19, 2020 
Wassaic Project

Professional Development for Artists

(video recording and summary report available here)
February 11, 2020
KODA Lab, New York
Community building and business bootcamp. Artists are invited to participate in shaping the program of the organization and benefit from insightful and practical seminars by Patton Hindle, Kenseth Armstead and Dread Scott. Event hosted by Sheetal Prajapati.

Friends and Colleagues Conversation
January 15, 2020
POWArts, New York, New York 
Jean Cooney, Director at Times Square Arts, one of the largest platforms for public art, is joined by Natasha Logan, Deputy Director at Creative Time, and Sheetal Prajapati, Principal and Founder at Lohar Projects. These leaders in the field of contemporary art and public engagement will discuss how they work to address some of the most complex and timely issues of our current social and political landscape, and share their experiences and collegial collaborations across various forums and venues.

2019
Alternative Art School Pedagogy
December 16, 2019
Artists Talk on Art, New York, New York 
Andrew Freiband, founder of Artist Literacies Institute, Kyle Dacuyan, executive director of The Poetry Project, Tal Beery of Eco Practicum and Sheetal Prajapati, founder of Lohar Projects and faculty at School of Visual Arts MFA program, will join Cat Tyc, writer, videomaker and organizer of this panel, in conversation for the last ATOA winter panel of the decade.


Labor As Resistance: Spinning for Liberation
November 16, 2019
Creative Time Summit X, New York, New York 
This workshop will explore spinning cotton as a form of collective labor resistance, started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918 during the Khadi Movement. The movement was established to promote economic and social resistance to the ruling British Empire in rural communities during the Indian Independence Movement. Taking Gandhi’s approach of self-reliance as a collective practice to promote a localized self-sustaining economy, participants will learn and practice the basics of hand spinning cotton with a wooden drop spindle. Through this dialogical and hands-on experience, we’ll consider radical system building and collective labor as forms of resistance.

Public Think Tank on High Line
October 5, 2019
The High Line
New York, New York
This conversatin will circulate around a question posed by Monument Lab: What timely revision would you make to our inherited monuments? Participants: Manuel Acevedo (Artist), Nadia Elokdah (Grantmakers for the Arts), Patricia Eunji Kim (New York University), Karyn Olivier (Artist), Sheetal Prajapati (Lohar Projects), fayemi shakur (curator/writer), Mountain Pollen (Artist), and Marisa Williamson (Artist). Moderated by Paul Farber (Monument Lab)

Artist Reading
Pocoapoco Residency
August 14
20-minute table reading of excerpt from current writing project 

MFA Lecture Series: Sheetal Prajapati (see video here)
March 26, 2019
School of Visual Arts, MFA Fine Arts, New York, New York 

MoMA R&D Salon 30: White Male 
March 25, 201 9
The Museum of Modern art 
New York, New York 
Contributed one-minute video response to the question:  What role does gender play in framing the American racial binary? Panelists and video contributors include Aruna D’Souza, Whitney Dow, Rich Benjamin, and Homi Bhaba amongst others.  Organized by Paola Antonelli and Samantha Ozer.

2018
Keynote Speaker: Artists Working in Communities
September 20-23, 2018
Art School Collaborative
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Deer Isle, Maine

The Future of Culture
June 7, 2018
Northside Festival,
 Brooklyn, New York
Panel discussion participant exploring the ways arts organizations consider their role in the future of culture building including Inessah Selditz, creative director, Lab at Rockwell; Kimia Kline, curator, Wythe Hotel; Sheetal Prajapati, Pioneer Works; and Joe Hall, founder/director, Ghetto Film School.

Visiting Critic/Artist Talk
March 16, 2018
Wassaic Project, Wassaic, New York

2017
Architecture of Games: Simulations and Structures of Play
August 6, 2017
Spectral Event Summit, New Rochelle, New York

Fatal Love: Where are We Now?
June 30 - July 2, 2017
Asia Society and Queens Museum, New York, New York
Moderated curator’s panel with with Anuradha Vikram, Jasmine Wahi, Leeza Ahmady, Jaishri Abichandani, Namita Gupta Wiggers, and Megha Ralapati.

KIP TALK/REAL TALK (Episode 3)
April 8, 2017
Abrons Art Center

REAL TALK / KIP TALK is a series of live talk shows about the state of contemporary performance in New York City, hosted by Kippy Winston. Episode 3 included Risa Shoup, executive director, Spacework; Geoffrey Jackson Scott, creative director, Peoplmovr; Starr Busby, artist; Diana Scholl, social media manager, ACLU; Amy Khoshbin, artist; Sheetal Prajapati, Pioneer Works; and George Emilio Sanchez, artist. 

NOW//NOW//NOW//NOW
March 25, 2017
SOHO20 Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Artist panel discussion instigating conversation around the question of ‘What do we do now?’ in regards to the issues that the Women’s March has brought to the foreground of consciousness in regards to race, sexuality, gender binary identification, and class. Moderated by Cat Tyc. 

Artist/Admin: Doing Both
February 11, 2017
CUE Art Foundation, New York, New York
Artist panelist in discussion about working in the field as a practitioner and administrator also including artists Natalia Nakazawa and David Borgonjon. 

Embedded, Embedding: Artist Residencies, Urban Placemaking and Social Practice
February 10, 2017
Residency Unlimited and The New School/Parsons, New York, New York
Moderated Artist Roundtable on Sustaining the Creative Practice with Regine Basha, Tania Bruguera, Steffani Jemison, Will Powhida, and Francesa Fiore.

2016
Artist Talk
December 1, 2016
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
 
Artists on Art
October 20, 2016
The Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Art in Practice:
Keynote Speaker: Exploring the Intersections between Art, Education & Public Engagement

Art School Collaborative
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Deer Isle, Maine
September 22-25, 2016

Ignite Talk: Sacrifice and Social Impact
KinnerLat 2016, Antigua, Guatemala
August 23, 2016

Office Hours
Black Art Incubator | Recess Art, New York
August 8, 2016

Artist Talk
Elsewhere Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
July 23, 2016

Guest Artist Talk
Visiting Artist, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Department of Art
March 1 and 2, 2016

2015
Creative Time Summit: The Curriculum NYC
Creative Time, New York
Saturday November 14, 2015
Conversation on public engagement and museums with Sandra Jackson Dumont, Chairmen of Education, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Sarah Schultz, independent consultant, curator and educator

LES CONVERSATIONS MUSEOMIXMTL
MuseoMix Montreal 2015
Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal, Cananda
November 7, 2015
Panelist, Visitor as Actor and Thinker

Design Social: Design and Arduino
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 6, 2015
Organized and moderated converation exploring how artists are using Arduino for innovative practices with Juan Cortes, artist and David Sheinkopf, artist and Director of Education and Tech Integrator, Pioneer Works. 

Third Annual Symposium: Photography, Expanded
Magnum Foundation, New York
Sunday November 1, 2015
Moderated respondent's panel with Fred Richin, Dean of the School of International Center for Photography; Hatuey Ramos-Fermin, artist, Director of Programs and Community Engagement, Laundromat Project; Ivan Sigal, photographer, Executive Director, Global Voices; Dread Scott, artist

Artist as Educator: Exploring Two Identities
Dedalus Foundation, New York
October 28, 2015
Panelist include artists Cecile Chong, Archie Rand, Sheetal Prajapati, and Jamie Powell, moderated by Jack Flam, President, Dedalus Foundation

Design Social: Design and Technology
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 23, 2015
Moderated artist converation with artist Yuri Suzuki, musician Kenneth Kirshner, and visualist Joshue Ott 

Digital Communications and Engagement in Museums
Propeller Strategies, Mexico City, Mexico, September 22, 2015
Delivered closed-door talk on methods for incorporating digital communications into engagement strategies for museums

Indian Americans in Non-Traditional Professions
Indiaspora Leadership Forum, May 9, 2015
Panelists include Raghava KK, artist; Sheetal Prajapati, Assistant Director, MoMA; Arvind Manocha, CEO, Wolf Trap Foundation; Reena Esmail, composer; moderated by Balan Ayyar, COO, Sevatec Inc.

Yesterday and Tomorrow: Socially Engaged Art and Institutional Practice
Open Engagement Pittsburgh, April 19, 2015
Moderated panel including Sarah Bernhardt, Director, Intersect Art Center; Maori Holmes, Founder, BlackStar Film Festival; and Diane Borsato, artist.

Open Forum Conversation
Open Engagement Pittsburgh, April 19, 2015
Co-moderator with Ariana Jacob, artist

MSLCE Speaker Series
Northwestern University, February 4, 2015
Medill School of Journalism
Master of Science in Leadership and Creative Entrepreneurship

2014
Fighting Words: Should social practice be in art museums?
Portland Art Museum, June 7, 2014
Speakers include Harrell Fletcher, Chair, Social Pratice Department, Portland State University; Phaedra Livingston; Sheetal Prajapati, Assistant Director, MoMA; Paul Ramirez Jonas, Artist; Deborah Fisher, Director, A Blade of Grass; Amy Haywood, activist

Getting Personal: Fostering Creative Collaborative Spaces
Open Engagement, New York, May 18, 2014

WHAT NOW? 2014: Collaboration & Collectivity
Art in General, New York, April 4 and 5, 2014
Respondent for "Collective Bargaining" panel with moderator Carin Kuoni and panelists Robert Sember, Tercerunquinto, and The Yes Men

Experiments in Extra-Institutional Education Unconference
The New School, March 30, 2014

2013
Museum Career Lab
American Alliance of Museums
Resume Writing Seminar and Management workshop
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, November 16, 2013

Power of Giving Arts Forum: Arts and the Millennial Generation
Philanthropy New York, November 20, 2013
Participants include Ben Cameron, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Sheetal Prajapati, Museum of Modern Art; Casey Reitz, Second Stage Theatre; Steven Tartick and Kyle Young, SpotCo

Agora: What makes an artwork successful?
The Museum of Modern Art, July 22, 2013

Studio Conversations: Ted Purves and Shane Aslan Selzer
The Museum of Modern Art, June 21, 2013
Panelists included Ted Purves and Shane Aslan Selzer with artist Caroline Woolard. Moderated by Sheetal Prajapati.

Studio Conversations: Caroline Woolard and MoMA Educators
The Museum of Modern Art , June 13, 2013
Speakers included artist Caroline Woolard and MoMA educators, Pablo Helguera, Sheetal Prajapati, and Sarah Kennedy

Playtime Online: Wandering Monsters: Games and Art in the Institutional Wilderness
Institute of Play, June 5, 2013
Panelists included Nancy Nowacek, Institute of Play, artist; Shane Selzer, artist; Ted Purves, writer and artist; Eric Zimmerman, game designer; Pedro Reyes, artist; Sheetal Prajapati, MoMA

Games, Play & Organizing For Engagement In the Workplace
Institute of Play, May 8, 2013
Panelists include Brian Waniewski, Nancy Nowacek, and Greg Trefry from Institute of Play with Sheetal Prajapati, MoMA

Connecting Communities: Museums as Creative Hubs
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, March 22, 2013

2008-2012
Common Senses at Lunchtime: Are Games Art?
The Museum of Modern Art, October 22, 2012

American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting
Managing from the Middle (2010-2012)
Resume Writing (2010-2012)
Wanna Start Something? Programming from the Ground Up (2011)
Networking Mini Session (2010)
Trials and Tribulations: Experimentation in Museum Careers (2009)

National Art Education Association conference
Creating Communities with Teens in Art Museums (2012)
Teaching Contemporary Art to Families (2008)

Career Development Advisory Panels and Roundtables
Art Table (2012)
American Alliance of Museums (2012)
College Arts Association (2010)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2010)