erika nelson

FORMAL ART WORLD

institutional dalliances


Erika navigates Art World spaces with an eye for subverting traditional pathways, highlighting art practices that have grown to robust proportions within their own communities, with their own sets of rules.

She utilizes her terminal degree and institutional knowledge to foster expansions of structures to more fully reflect contemporary practice.


Museum + Gallery Shows

white wall wonders



H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City MO. Your Voices, Your Votes solo exhibition, October 14 - December 19, 2024

Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City MO. MdW Summit Exhibition, November 19 - 23, 2024

Plains Museum of Art, Fargo ND High Visibility: On locastion in Rural America and Indian Country November 23 2020 - May 30, 2021

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA. here. October 22 - December 31, 2011 (Reviewed in ArtForum, Frieze)

Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan KS.   World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Sideshow Extravaganza host, part of the Museum of Wonder exhibition. October 5-6, 2013.

Belger Art Center, Kansas City MO. Rare Visions - Detour Art. March 6 - May 1, 2009 (Reviewd on KCUR’s Arts Podcast)

Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington DE. Worlds Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things Mobile Museum host site. Spring 2005 (Featured in Zippy the Pinhead strip “Keep On Meta-Truckin’”)

City Museum, St. Louis MO. WLCoWSVoWLT Mobile Muesum host site. Spring 2005


VISITING ARTIST

workshops + explorations



 Peabody Main Street, Peabody KS. 2025 - 2026

Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, Houston TX. The Texas-Sized Road Trip Diorama of Wonder community-build installation and workshop series. August 22 - September 26, 2025

Kansas City Art Institute/ Block Artspace, Kansas City MO. Social Practice studio critiques + flag making workshop. October 14 - 20, 2024
        
University of South Dakota, Vermillion SD. Graduate studio critiques + guest lecturer, Mural Arts class. October 25 - 27, 2016

Rove LA Guest Artist, Los Angeles CA. Air Date October 14, 2012 (Season 2, Episode 3)

Conan O’Brien Guest Artist, Time Warner, Los Angeles CA. Mistletoe Mayhem. Air Date December 22, 2010 (Season 1, Episode 27)

Mountainfilm, Telluride CO. May 28, 2010

Topeka Shawnee County Public Library/Sabatini Gallery, Topeka KS. Monumental SPAM Carving July 29, 2007

The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington DE. Team Storytelling and Image Quilt Making with Wilmington Senior Center and Kujmba Academy. Spring 2005
                
Kimmel Harding Nelson, Nebraska City NE. 2004

University of Kansas, Lawrence KS. Alternative Career Paths in the Arts 2002



LECTURES

Spreading Ideas




    School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL. Guest Lecturer, Better Homes & Gardens: Vernacular Environments. 2025        

  • Kansas City Art Institute/ Block Artspace, Kansas City MO. Social Practice Guest Artist Lecture. October 15, 2024
            
  • Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita KS. Cabinets of Curiosities evening. April 20 2023

  • School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL. Guest Lecturer, Better Homes & Gardens: Vernacular Environments. 2023
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  • University of South Dakota, Vermillion SD.  Guest Artist Lecture. October 25, 2016  
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  • Kansas Field Arts Forum, Pratt KS. Kansas Arts Commission & M12 Arts Collective. Guest Lecturer. 2022

  • Society for Commercial Archeology/Kansas History Museum, Zoom Event. June 15, 2022

  • School for Rural Culture and Creativity, Matfield Green KS. Guest Lecturer. 2018

  • Art + Rural Environments Field School, University of Colorado and M16 Art Collective. Guest Lecturer. 2017

  • threewalls gallery, Chicago IL.  inCUBATE Public Lecture Series.  Roadside Vernacular Architecture Slideshow Extravaganza 2011
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  • Iowa State University, Iowa City IA.  Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Banquet Keynote Speaker. A History of Roadside Attractions. 2008

  • The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts Wilmington DE. Artist Lecture.The Road to Alternative Art - Outsider Art, Big Things, & Roadside Attractions. 2005

  • The City Museum St. Louis MO. Featured Artist Lecture. Roadside Attractions as Cultural Identity & Slide Show Extravaganza! 2005


CONFERENCES + THINKTANKS

strategic storytelling



  • Artist-Built Environment Network (ABEN) Convening, Philadelphia PA.  Steering Commmittee.  November 5-8 2025.

  • Kansas Art Network Conference, Wichita KS. Panel: Art(ist) Town of Lucas. July 23-25 2025.

  • Society for Commercial Archeology (SCA) 48th Annual Conference, Niagara Falls, Ontario CA. Paper Session: Artist-Built Environment Network - A Secret Society of Site Stewards.  June 18-21 2025

  • Springboard for the Arts Rural Futures Summit, Fergus Falls MN. Story Circle Leader: Tales from the Art Town Underbelly.  June 11-13 2025

  • ABEN Convening, Sheboygan WI. Steering Committee, Panel: Connecting with Community. Breakout session facilitator: Board Development.  October 3-5 2024

  • College Art Association’s 112th Annual Conference, Chicago Il. Panel: Print on Demand: Evolving Tools for the Creation and Distribution of Activist and Extremist Printed Ephemera. February 14-17 2024

  • Rural Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C. Panel: Collaborations in Rural Arts & Cultural Wealth Practice & Scholarship. 2022

  • ABEN Convening, Columbus GA. Steering Committee. Panel: Site Stewards and Community Collaboration. 2023 

  • Kansas Sampler Foundation Big Rural Brainstorm, Lindsborg KS. Brainstorm facilitator: How can communities encourage creatives to thrive?  April 6, 2023

  • Community Build Arts Conference, Omaha NE. Paper Session: No one expects anything out of Rural Kansas: A permission slip for rural artin’.  2022

  • Kansas Preservation Conference, Online. Artist-Built Preservation of Sites: Kansas. 2020

  • Springboard for the Arts Rural Arts and Culture Summit, Grand Rapids MN. Panel: Spectacular Failures: How Failure Feeds the Creative Spirit. October 3-5, 2019

  • Society for Commercial Archeology Conference, Wisconsin Dells WI. Paper Session: Shaping the View - Perception and Manipulation in Artist-built Environments.  June 5-8, 2019

  • Artists Sharing Knowledge, Salina KS. Panel: Portfolio Careers - Building a Sustainable Career. March 26, 2018

  • National Center for Preservation Technology and Training/John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan WI. The Road Less Traveled: Divine Disorder Conference. Panel: TURN SIGNALS - Current Issues Facing Site Stewards. 2017

  • Rural Arts and Culture Summit University of Minnesota, Morris MN. Session Presenter : Self-Made Art Environments. 2015

  • Kansas Travel and Tourism Heartland Byways Conference, Manhattan KS. Panel: Arts Impact and Partnership in Rural Redevelopment. 2015

  • Society for Commercial Archeology Southwest Detours Conference, Albuquerque NM. Artist Lecture: On the Road with the WLCoWSVoWLTs. 2008

  • National Coalition on Organized Resistance Conference, American University, Washington DC. Speaker: Combating Genericana - Preserving Endangered Public Art. 2006

  • Eccentric Kansans: 30 Years of Vision Conference, Grassroots Art Center, Lucas KS. Panel Moderator: When does “Outsider” become “Insider”? 2004

  • Art Car Symposium, Rice University, Houston TX. Speaker: Grassroots Art Environments as they relate to the Art Car Phenomenon. 2003



CURATION

Crafting Narratives




Kansas editor, MdW Atlas. 2024

Volland Store, Volland KS. Wabunsee County Wonders exhibition curator, October 5 - December 15 2024.

M.T. Liggett Art Environment, Mullinville KS. Information Panel text, object curation. 2020.

Department editor, American Road Magazine. 2009 - 2021.

Special Collections design, interpretation, Worlds Largest Things Roadside Sideshow Expo. 2017 - present.

Tour development, exhibition design, WLCoWSVoWLT Mobile Museum and Sideshow units. 2002 - 2020. 

Installation design: Miller’s Park, 2013.


PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

adjucating, advocating, and coordinating 



  • Juror:

  • NEA Our Town Grant panel 2024
  • Nebraska Arts Commission grant panel 2024
  • Mid-America Art Association Interchange grant panel 2024
  • MAAA Catalyze grant panel 2023
  • MAAA Art 360 Creative Impact Award panel 2021
  • Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts Apprentice Program juror, 2020
  • Wormfarm Institute Farm Art Dtour panel 2022
  • Charolotte Street Rocket Grant panel 2017

  • Consultant:

  • Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, Folk and Traditionals Arts program coordinator, Field Representative, Northwest and North Central Kansas. 2019 - 2023.
  • Preservation planning, Florence Deeble’s Rock Garden, Lucas KS.
  • Conservation Corps Special Project, Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, Houston TX. March 15 2023
  • City of Salina/Salina Arts and Humanities, Artists Sharing Knowledge initiative. Facilitation and co-implementation, Focus area: Amplify - Telling Your Story and Getting the Word Out. 2012 - 2013
  • Kansas Sampler Foundation, PowerUp Movement development and launch. 2010

  • Non-profit work:

  • Artist-Built Environment Network co-founder, steering committee. 2017 - present.
  • Friends of S.P. Dinsmoor’s Garden of Eden co-founder, Cultural Resources Director. 2014 - present.
  • World’s Largest Things founder, director. 2002 - present.
  • Lucas Historical Society, steering committee. 2022 - present.
  • National Focus Group, Wormfarm Institute strategic planning.
  • Humanities Kansas Strategic Planning.

Plots and Schemes 

reaching out




 Interested in developing alternative art practices within your institutional framework?  Erika’s always up for exploring pathways that help audiences, artists, and institutions find their way! 

Book (in Kansas) through the Kansas Touring Artist Roster, or email directly to discuss possibilities:

worldslargestthings@gmail.com