Ruth Burke is an interdisciplinary artist from and of the Midwest who collaborates with animals in her creative practice. She lives and works in Central Illinois, lands that were once home to the Illini, Peoria, and the Myaamia, and later due to colonial encroachment, genocide, and displacement to the Fox, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee, Winnebago, Ioway, Mascouten, Piankashaw, Wea, and Kickapoo Nations. Straddling the practice of contemporary art and the fields of human-animal studies, and agriculture, Burke has exclusively focused on human-animal relationships in her practice since 2015. As part of a broader socially engaged practice, her current focus is a series of large-scale native plant earthworks powered by animal traction (Domestic Rewilding series).
Ruth Burke is a 2024 Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Partnership Award Grantee and the 2022 Illinois State University (ISU) Creative Activity Initiative Awardee. Burke has been a resident artist at ACRE, Detroit Community School, and was a fellow in the 2017 inaugural cohort at the Animals & Society Institute. She has published articles and creative work in the peer-reviewed journals Society & Animals, Zoophilogia, Social Work in Mental Health, is featured in the Interspecies Performance book and has a forthcoming chapter in the book Visualising Multispecies Encounters: Art, Affect, Indigenous Knowledge, and ontology in Other-than-Human Worlds.
Burke has presented her work at venues and institutions nationally and internationally, created earthworks in three US states, and received numerous grants from various entities. She was recently honored with the Harold Boyd Endowed Professorship (2024-2026) from the ISU Wonsook Kim School of Art and the ISU Teaching Initiative Award (2024).
Ruth Burke holds a BFA from the Ohio State University, an MFA from the University of Michigan. She is currently an Associate Professor of Video Art in the Wonsook Kim School of Art at Illinois State University.
DAP STUDIOS LLC is Ruth's art-and-agriculture business through which her animals are available for hire on public artworks, small-scale agricultural and garden cultivation, compost production, garden consultations, and presence at events. Burke also runs Oxeye Farm, a farmstead and native plant nursery that produces sustainable native plant (IL) plugs, small-scale egg and pastured pork production, and occasionally, vegetables and garlic.
Ruth Burke is a 2024 Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Partnership Award Grantee and the 2022 Illinois State University (ISU) Creative Activity Initiative Awardee. Burke has been a resident artist at ACRE, Detroit Community School, and was a fellow in the 2017 inaugural cohort at the Animals & Society Institute. She has published articles and creative work in the peer-reviewed journals Society & Animals, Zoophilogia, Social Work in Mental Health, is featured in the Interspecies Performance book and has a forthcoming chapter in the book Visualising Multispecies Encounters: Art, Affect, Indigenous Knowledge, and ontology in Other-than-Human Worlds.
Burke has presented her work at venues and institutions nationally and internationally, created earthworks in three US states, and received numerous grants from various entities. She was recently honored with the Harold Boyd Endowed Professorship (2024-2026) from the ISU Wonsook Kim School of Art and the ISU Teaching Initiative Award (2024).
Ruth Burke holds a BFA from the Ohio State University, an MFA from the University of Michigan. She is currently an Associate Professor of Video Art in the Wonsook Kim School of Art at Illinois State University.
DAP STUDIOS LLC is Ruth's art-and-agriculture business through which her animals are available for hire on public artworks, small-scale agricultural and garden cultivation, compost production, garden consultations, and presence at events. Burke also runs Oxeye Farm, a farmstead and native plant nursery that produces sustainable native plant (IL) plugs, small-scale egg and pastured pork production, and occasionally, vegetables and garlic.
|
Photo by Tyler Mardis
|
some interests, in no particular order:
interspecies relationships and performance / Interspecies labor / pragmatic ecofeminism / multi-sensory thinking / human-animal studies / human-animal bond / land art / earthworks / performance / video art / animal cognition / phenomenology and technology (sound, moving image, responsive environments) / chosen family: queer and animal kin / mediating interspecies relationship / multispecies ethnography / small-scale agriculture & livestock farming / animal powered agriculture / sustainable & regenerative agriculture / site-specific art making / colonial/indigenous relationships to animals & agriculture / social practice - socially engaged art / community building through a multispecies art practice / animal creativity / interspecies collaboration / land back / animal welfare / animals in settler colonialism / systems restoration / pollinators |
RUTH K. BURKE SELECTED CV
EDUCATION
2017
MFA, Interdisciplinary Studio Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
2012
BFA, Art & Technology, cum laude, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2025-PRESENT
Associate Professor, Video, Wonsook Kim School of Art, Illinois State University
2020-2025
Assistant Professor, Video, Wonsook Kim School of Art, Illinois State University
2018-2020
Assistant Teaching Professor, Digital Arts, Bowling Green State University
2017
Adjunct Teaching Professor, Art, Adrian College
SOLO / TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS (**denotes two-person exhibition)
2024
- Of Love, A Labor, Co-Prosperity, Chicago, IL
- What Water Feeds, w/ Jin Lee, Milner Library, Illinois State University, Normal, IL**
- Near Dwellers: Creative Collaborators, w/ Julie Andreyev, Street Road Artists’ Space, Cochranville, PA**
- Perfect Prep, w/ Dulcee Boehm, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA**
(canceled due to covid)
- In Heaven, Love Comes First w/ Dulcee Boehm, Project Three Gallery, Akron, OH**
- Susurrus, Mantle Art Space, San Antonio, TX
- Ruminant, Stamps Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
- Mapping Empathy, halka art projects, Istanbul, Turkey
- Bound, Paper Center Gallery, Nelsonville, OH
- Burke, R. K., (2025). Kinmaking & Settler Response-ability: Cultivating Moral Obligations through Interspecies Earth/Work. Chapter in book. Visualising Multispecies Encounters: Art, Affect, Indigenous Knowledge, and ontology in Other-than-Human Worlds. Routledge, Taylor & Francis. In Press.
- Burke, R. K., & Rosen, D. (2025). webs of interdependencies: an interview on Vampire Bats and more-than-human worlds with Ruth Burke and D Rosen. Sixty Inches from Center. https://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/webs-of-interdependencies-an-interview-on-vampire-bats-and-more-than-human-worlds-with-ruth-burke-and-d-rosen/
- Burke, R.K. (2024). Markings: a photo essay. Social Work in Mental Health, https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2024.2388008
- Vincent, A., & Burke, R., & Coates, K. (2023). A Competition Question: Horse Welfare, Pentathletes, and Competitive Riding. Zoophilologica. 1-23. DOI:10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2023.S.04
- “Animal Assisted Interventions in the Community”, (2021) Contributor to chapter, Dr. Aviva Laurent LMSW, editor, Comprehensive Guide to Interdisciplinary Veterinary Social Work.
- Burke R. & Copper R. (2021) “Interspecies Collaborations & Socially Engaged Art”. Interview. The Social Forms of Art (SoFA) Journal. http://psusocialpractice.org/interspecies-collaborations-socially-engaged-art%EF%BB%BF/
- Burke, R., & Landau J., (2021) “The Process of Coming and Going in This World: Interspecies Collaboration, Domestication, and Sound”, Society & Animals, Special Issue: Perceptual Encounters. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10052
- Burke, R., (2020) “A Trace of Fashioned Violence”, Contributor, Narrative and Violence, Nordic Summer University, D Rosen, Editor http://fashionedviolence.com
AWARDS/HONORS
2024
- University Teaching Initiative Award, Illinois State University
- College Teaching Award, Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts
- Harold Boyd Endowed Professorship, Illinois State University
- College Teaching Initiative Award, Wonsook Kim School of Art
- University Creative Activity Initiative Award, Illinois State University
- College Creative Activity Initiative Award, Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts
- Creative Art Honoree, Friends of the Library, Bowling Green State University
- Rick Valicenti Collaborative Teaching Initiative, Bowling Green State University
- 7th/8th Showcase Winner, Artslant
- First Year Award, Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan
- Vermi-Prize, Vermiculture Makers Club
- Best in Show, Masterwork Juried Exhibition, Tacocat Collective
- Aida Carnassa Snow Award, Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Ohio State University
- Juror’s Award, Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Ohio State University
GRANTS
2024
- Partnership Grant, Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education, North Central Region
- Faculty Development Grant, Illinois State University
- Mills Grant, Illinois State University
- Faculty Professional Development grant, Illinois State University
- University Research Grant, Illinois State University
- Faculty Professional Development grant, Illinois State University
- Dean’s Faculty Professional Development and Travel Award Program
- University Research Grant, Illinois State University
- COVID19 Support Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY
- GTC Grant, Wonsook Kim School of Art, Illinois State University
- Emergency Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY
- Faculty Development & Instructional Improvement Grant, Bowling Green State University
- Travel Grant, Teaching Social Practice Conference, UMass Dartmouth
- Interdisciplinary Project Grant, ArtsEngine
- Rackham Graduate Research Grant, Rackham Graduate School
- Rackham Travel Conference Grant, Rackham Graduate School
- Smucker Wagstaff Project Grant, Stamps School of Art & Design
- Rackham International Research Award, International Institute
- Rackham Travel Conference Grant, Rackham Graduate School
- Library Project Grant, University of Michigan Libraries
- Smucker Wagstaff Project Grant, Stamps School of Art & Design
- International Travel Grant, Stamps School of Art & Design
- Greater Columbus Arts Council Professional Development Grant
- Greater Columbus Arts Council Artist Supply Grant
SITE-SPECIFIC / PUBLIC ART
2025
- Domestic Rewilding: A Living Land Acknowledgement, flagship earthwork, Illinois State University Horticulture Center, Normal, IL (in progress)
- Domestic Rewilding: PA, earthwork, Street Road Artists Space, Cochranville, PA
- Graze, earthwork, Towanda, IL
- Domestic Rewilding: WI, earthwork, 4Ground Land Art Biennial, Steuben, WI
- This Land is not my Land, site-sensitive earthwork, Towanda, IL
- Goldenrod, Earthwork, Terrain Biennial, Enos Park Sculpture Garden, Springfield, IL
- Gift, site-sensitive edible installation, ACRE Projects, Steuben, WI
- The Process of Coming and Going in this World, site-specific installation, Firesign Family Farm, Whitmore Lake, MI
RESIDENCIES / PROGRAMS
2019
- Resident Artist, ACRE, Steuben, WI
- Resident Artist, Firesign Family Farm (Self-Guided Residency), Whitmore Lake, MI
- Inaugural Animal Studies Summer Institute, Animals & Society Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign
- Resident Artist, Michele Schara Residency, Detroit Community Schools, Detroit, MI
- Resident Artist, halka art projects, Istanbul, Turkey
PERFORMANCES
2025
- Performer, Sunset on the Longest Day, dir. Shannon Epplett, ISU Horticulture Center, Normal, IL
- Performer, Sunset on the Longest Day, dir. Shannon Epplett, ISU Horticulture Center, Normal, IL
- Polyrhythms (Fuerst Rendition), performance, Hunter Oak EQ Center, Carlock, IL
- Polyrhythms (Fuerst Rendition), Site-specific performance, The Muted Horn/H-Space Gallery, Cleveland, OH
- Epona, Performance, InterVal, Juror Doo Sung Yoo, ROY G BIV Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Countering the Bull, Site-specific performance, Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey
- Herd II, Site-specific performance, Faculty/Graduate Studios, Ann Arbor, MI
- Trough, Site-specific performance, Guerra Farm, Ypsilanti, MI
- Herd, Site-specific performance, Superior Stables, Ypsilanti, MI
- Gopi, Performance, Sasha Farm Animal Sanctuary, Manchester, MI
- FAR, Site-specific performance, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon, Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland
- Disease (4,320 steps), Site-specific performance, Sunday Creek Coal Co. Mine #6, Athens, OH
- Mirror, Performance, Second Sight Studio, Columbus, OH
- Aichmaltos, the Captive, Performance, Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, OH
- I Love America & America Loves Me, Site-specific performance, Bricker Federal Building, Columbus, OH
- Phantasm, Site-specific performance, Ohio State House, Columbus, OH
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2027
- title tbd, curators Holly Cahill & Melissa Oresky, University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery, Springfield, IL (forthcoming)
- Grass Grows in the Icebox, curators Nathan Byrne & Emily Staugitis, Cluster Museum, Ann Abor, MI (upcoming)
- Faculty Biennial, University Galleries, Normal, IL
- Breath, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA), Gyeonggi-do, Korea
- Inter/Intra, curator Rebecca Copper, Wave Pool Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
- International Door Depot, curator Lease Agreement, MDW Fair, Mana Chicago, Chicago, IL
- Faculty Biennial, University Galleries, Normal, IL
- Field Measure, Curator Vincent Uribe, LVL3 Gallery, Chicago, IL
- All in this Together, Curator Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Distance Gallery, Virtual
- Well Behaved Women, Curator Janet Bloch, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN
- TechnoMEME, Jurors Tyler Cann, Amy Youngs, Doo-Sung Yoo,Fuse Factory, Columbus, OH
- Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Professional Division, Juried Exhibition, Cox Fine Arts Center, Columbus, OH
- Systems Processing, Invitation by Dept. of Visual Studies, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI
- 69th Annual Faculty Exhibition, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, Bowling Green, OH
- A Future in the Arts, Juried Exhibition, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, MI
- How Do I Get There From Here, Curator Dulcee Boehm, OxBow School of Art, Oxbow, MI
- Igniting Change, Curator Saul Ostrow, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, Bowling Green, OH
- Wordplay, juror Vernita Nemec, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Excavations; Shindig, juror Saralene Tapley, Mantle Art Space, San Antonio, TX
- Grassroots, jurors Pam Callahan & Deb Flagel, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
- First Year MFA Exhibition, Faculty/Graduate Studios, Ann Arbor, MI
- 19th International, juror Wai Kit Lam, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Facing Forward, UM MFA/MDes Exhibition, Work Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
- Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Professional Division, juried exhibition, Cox Fine Arts Facility, Columbus, OH
- Masterwork, juried exhibition, Tacocat Cooperative, Columbus, OH
- Born into This, curator AJ Vanderelli, The Vanderelli Room, Columbus, OH
- Material Evidence, curator by Mona Gazala, EASE Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Professional Division, Juried Exhibition, Cox Fine Arts Facility, Columbus, OH
- Of Body, Group Exhibition, Second Sight Studio, Columbus, OH
- Columbus Museum of Art Photo Hunt, juried exhibition, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
- February Showcase, juried exhibition, 83 Gallery South, Columbus, OH
- Under My Skin, curator Katie Herbst, Wild Goose Creative, Columbus, OH
- Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Professional Division, juried exhibition, Cox Fine Arts Facility, Columbus, OH
- Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Swing Space Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Twitch, juried exhibition, Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Quantum Tunnel, juried exhibition, Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Plug, juried exhibition, Silver Image Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Future Photon, juried exhibition, Silver Image Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Inventeur, juried exhibition, Silver Image Gallery, Columbus, OH
- Mind is a Beautiful Beast, juried exhibition, Medicine Wheel Gallery, Boston, MA
SELECTED SCREENINGS / FILM FESTIVALS
2025
- Official Selection, Cambodia International Film Festival, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Black Dirt (2023)
- Semi-Finalist, Blow Up Art House Film Festival, Chicago, IL, Black Dirt (2023)
- Official Selection, Goa Short Film Festival, Goa, India, Black Dirt (2023)
- Screen Test, Roman Susan Art Foundation, Chicago, IL, Black Dirt (2023)
- Post-Industrial Labor, curated by Jacob Koestler, Worthington Yards, Cleveland, OH, Quiet (2018), Itchy in the Grass (2018), Emblem of Rural Quiet (2017), Forever Heifer (2017), Boustrophedon (2018), Trough (2016), Perfect Prep (2019)
- An Evening with ATOM-R, Ruth Burke, Emily Roll, Light Box, Detroit, MI, The Social Life of Meat (2018), Itchy in the Grass (2018)
- Columbus Moving Image Art Review, Juror Matt Swift, Columbus, OH, The Social Life of Meat (2018), Itchy in the Grass (2018)
- Best of: Columbus Moving Image Art Review, Comfest, Columbus, OH, Paedagogo (2011)
- Columbus Moving Image Art Review, Hagerty Hall Theatre, Columbus, OH, Paedagogo (2011)
- Quantum Tunnel, Juror Andrew Frueh, Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, OH, Solution Propaganda (2011 w/ Nicolas Dies & Umar Rashid)
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS / PANEL CHAIRS
2025
- Co-Presenter, “Considering Power: Building Trust in the Classroom through Labor-Based Grading Practices”, with Kitty Davies (ISU MFA ’25). SECAC Annual Conference 2025, Cincinnati, OH
- Co-Presenter, “Considering Power: Building Trust in the Classroom through Labor-Based Grading Practices”, with Kitty Davies (ISU MFA ’25). Illinois State University Teaching & Learning Symposium 2025, Normal, IL
- Presenter, “Draft Animals as Creative Collaborators”, World Draft Cattle Symposium, Lauresham Open-Air Laboratory, Lorsch, Germany
- Poster Presentation. “A Competition Question: Horse Welfare, Pentathletes, and Competitive Riding.” International Society for Anthrozoology Annual Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Co-Chair, New Media Caucus Media Lounge Event, Panel: Digital Realms as Radical Performance Space: embodied experiences of data, language and presence. College Art Association Annual Conference 2022, Chicago, IL, Virtual
- Co-Chair, Panel: Animal/Material, with Dr. Jessica Landau, SECAC 2020, Virtual
- Presenter, “Interspecies Reciprocal Inquiry as Socially-Engaged Co-Labor/Collaboration”, Panel:Intersectional Engagement: Practicing Art & Design with Human and Nonhuman Communities. College Art Association Annual Conference 2020, Chicago, IL
- Presenter, A Susurrus of Multispecies Intimacy, Panel: The Mythic Bestiary SECAC Annual Conference, Chattanooga, TN
- Co-Presenter, “The Process of Coming and Going in This World: Interspecies Collaboration, Domestication, and Sound”, With Dr. Jessica Landau. Panel: Art and the Animal, 4th Bienniale Living with Animals Conference, Eastern Kentucky University, Lexington, KY
- Panelist, Unleashed: What Do We Owe Animals?, ASAP/10, Tulane University, Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present, New Orleans, LA
- Presenter, “Practicing Interspecies Kinship”, (Un)Common Worlds, Finnish Society of Animal Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Presenter, “Navigating the Ethics of Working with Farmers & Livestock”, Teaching Social Practice Conference, UMass Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA
PUBLIC TALKS / ARTIST TALKS / VISITING ARTIST / GUEST LECTURES
2025
- Co-Presenter, Sunset on the Longest Day – An Act of Act of Relational Community / An Act of Relatives in Communion, with Dr. Shannon Epplett, TEDXNormal, Heartland Community College, Normal, IL
- Guest Lecturer/Artist talk, Domestic Rewilding: More than Human Social Practice, on invitation of Amy Youngs, Ohio State University Eco Art Course, Spring 2025
- Presenter, A Life with Oxen, on invitation of the Draft Animal Power Network, DAPChats, Spring 2025
- Presenter, Interspecies Performance Book Event, with Dr. Shannon Epplett, hosted by School of the Art Institute Performance Department
- Julie Andreyev, Ruth Burke, and Jane Desmond in discussion, hosted by Street Road Artist Space
- Jin Lee & Ruth Burke in discussion, as part of the What Water Feeds exhibition, hosted by Milner Library
- Artist talk, Interdisciplinary Inquiry with a Multispecies World: Human-Animal Studies & Contemporary Art, University Club, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
- Artist talk, An Informal History of Oxen in McLean County, on invitation of Barnkeepers Agricultural History group, Bloomington, IL
- Artist talk, Portland State Social Practice MFA Program, on invitation of Rebecca Copper and PSU Social Practice MFA
- Artist talk, Oberlin College, on invitation of Jacklyn Brickman
- Visiting Artist & Guest Critic, Ohio State University, on invitation from the OSU Graduate Student Art Club
- Visiting critic, University of Michigan, Stamps School of Art & Design, Integrative Studio, Ann Arbor, MI, on invitation from Holly Hughes
- Visiting critic, Grand Valley State University, Visual Studies Program, Grand Rapids, MI, on invitation from Dulcee Boehm
- Artist Talk, Performing Interspecies Kinship, SAIC Performance, Chicago, IL, on invitation from Mark Jeffery & the Performance Department
- Visiting Artist & Guest Critic, Performing Interspecies Kinship, SAIC Performance, Chicago, IL, on invitation from Mark Jeffery & the Performance Department
- Artist talk, Ruminant, Animal Studies Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
- Artist talk, becoming cow/ becoming horse, University of Michigan Animal Studies Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI
- Artist talk, Speaking Material, Sculpture Course, McConnell Arts Center, Columbus, OH
WORKSHOPS / PUBLIC
2025
- Community Planting Day at the ISU Horticulture Center, Normal, IL
- Exhibitor and Organizer, Field Day Event, Illinois State University Horticulture Center
- Inaugural Community Garden Cultivation with Oxen, Village of McLean Community Garden, McLean, IL
- Exhibitor with Oxen, 2025 Boone County Illinois Fair, Belvidere IL
- Exhibitor with Oxen, Autumnal Festival, Illinois State University Horticulture Center, Normal, IL
- Exhibitor with Oxen, ARC Senior Center, Normal, IL
- Exhibitor with Oxen, Autumnal Festival, Illinois State University Horticulture Center, Normal, IL
- Assistant instructor, workshop: Oxen Basics, Tillers International, Scotts, MI
- Workshop: Earthen Seed Tiles & Poetry, Wave Pool Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
- Exhibitor with Oxen, Autumnal Festival, Illinois State University Horticulture Center, Normal, IL
- Workshop: Earthen Seed Tiles, 4Ground Land Art Biennial, Steuben, WI
- Exhibitor with Oxen, McLean County Fair, Interstate Center, Bloomington, IL
- Workshop: Portfolio Prep for High School Teachers, Saturday Art School Training, Bowling Green State University, on invitation from Shari Densel
- Assistant instructor, workshop: Cheesemaking, Firesign Family Farm, Whitmore Lake, MI
- Workshop: Portfolio 101, University of Michigan Open House & Recruitment Day, Ann Arbor, MI
- Images & Poetry, Detroit Community High School, Garden Design, Detroit, MI
- Goat Milk Soap Making, Detroit Community High School, Garden Design, Detroit, MI
- Assistant instructor, workshop: Cheesemaking, Firesign Family Farm, Whitmore Lake, MI
- Workshop: What We Hold, motive., Brothers Drake Meadery, Columbus, OH
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
2024
- T Scott, Bloomington, IL
- L Sims, Marengo, OH
- Tinnerman Lofts, Cleveland, OH
2025
- Small-scale oxen powered pollinator restoration, R Wildflower Fields & Farm, Gibson City, IL (in progress)
- Small-scale oxen powered pollinator restoration, Navis Farm, Heyworth, IL
(in progress) - Small-scale oxen powered pollinator restoration, The Shire, Downs, IL (in progress)
- Co-Curator, Heav’n Rescued Land, The Neon Heater, Findlay, OH
- The Land Institute, Salina, KS (remote) in Whitmore Lake, MI, Silphium Civic Science Project, Researcher/Participant
- Organizer, Culture: The Art of Plants Skillshare Festival, Whitmore Lake, MI
- Video editor & archivist, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH
- Farm Apprentice, Firesign Family Farm, Whitmore Lake, MI
- Research Assistant, Brightmoor Maker Space, Detroit Community School, University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design, Detroit, MI
- Photo Researcher, McGraw-Hill Education, Columbus, OH
- Curator, Of Body, Four Woman Show, Second Sight Studio, Columbus, OH
- Store Graphic Artist, Whole Foods Market, Columbus, OH
- Technical Director, Community Future Casting/Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
- Studio Assistant/Archivist, Ann Hamilton Studio, Columbus, OH
- Volunteer, Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center, Chagrin Falls, OH
PRESS / MENTIONS
Mishka, J. (2025, August/September 2025). Earthwork Installation with Draft Animal Power. Rural Heritage Magazine. Pg 70-73.
Mishka, J. (2025, aired June 28). Earthwork Installation with Draft Animal Power. Rural Heritage on RFD-TV.
Mishka, J. (2025, June 20). Earthwork Installation with Draft Animal Power. Rural Heritage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eisi4g9m0Lw
Warnecke, L., Holden, C. (2025, June 17). 'Sunset on the Longest Day' reboot plants a living land acknowledgment at ISU's Horticulture Center. WGLT.
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-06-17/sunset-on-the-longest-day-reboot-plants-a-living-land-acknowledgment-at-isus-horticulture-center
Warnecke, L., Conroy, C. (2025, May 6). A living land acknowledgment breaks ground at Horticulture Center — with the help of horses and oxen. WGLT.
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-05-06/a-living-land-acknowledgment-breaks-ground-at-horticulture-center-with-the-help-of-horses-and-oxen
White, J. (2025, April 29). FINDING “HORSEPOWER” IN UNIQUE PLACES. https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/finding-horsepower-in-unique-places/
Miller, S. (2025, April 16). Interview with Ruth Burke, Scott Miller Show, WJBC. Radio.
Schroeder, D. (2025, March 20). Ruth Burke merges art and nature on Redbird Buzz. Redbirds News. https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2025/03/ruth-burke-merges-art-and-nature-on-redbird-buzz/
Anderson, A. (2025, March 18). Artist Uses Oxen to Build Pollinator Friendly Earthworks in Illinois. Illinois Ag Connection.
https://illinoisagconnection.com/news/artist-uses-oxen-to-build-pollinator-friendly-earthworks-in-illinois
Twork, J. (2025, March 17). Meet the oxen powering Redbird Scholar Ruth Burke's earthen artworks. Illinois State University. Video Profile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDHd9iXfFr4
Twork, J. (2025, March 17). Ag art: Ruth Burke uses oxen team to create pollinator-friendly earthworks. Cover. https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2025/03/ag-art-ruth-burke-uses-oxen-team-to-create-pollinator-friendly-earthworks/
Jacobs, O. (2024, May 8). ISU professor receives $49k grant for sustainable ag project. Pantagraph. https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/illinois-state-university-student-grant-sustainable-ag-news-local-ruth-burke/article_9b55f33c-0c91-11ef-91d8-f385d7480a61.html
Cruse, G. (2024, March 4). Milner library features exhibition what water feeds for world water day. The Vidette. https://www.videtteonline.com/news/milner-library-features-exhibit-what-water-feeds-for-world-water-day/article_d978f24e-da51-11ee-93e8-f78ed55b2056.html
Sixty Inches From Center. (2023, December 11). November art picks. https://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/november-art-picks-7/
University, Staff. (2023, June 2). Sunset on the Longest Day: An act of indigenous restoration at ISU Horticulture Center. Illinois State University News. https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2023/05/sunset-on-the-longest-day-an-act-of-indigenous-restoration-at-isu-horticulture-center/
Denison, B. (2023, June 19). “The Longest DAY” ISU horticulture center event to platform native experiences. The Pantagraph. https://pantagraph.com/news/local/education/isu-horticulture-center-event-to-platform-native-experiences/article_0b15e8d6-0e13-11ee-873b-8761724c045a.html
Jones, L. (2023, June 22). Sunset on the longest day — and a new earthwork at ISU’s Horticulture Center. WGLT.Org. https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-06-22/sunset-on-the-longest-day-and-a-new-earthwork-at-isus-horticulture-center.
Denison, B. (2022, November 1). Rural bloomington ox driver moving earth for art, social change. The Pantagraph, pp. 4–4. https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/rural-bloomington-ox-driver-moving-earth-for-art-social-change/article_e5efbcd6-5ca0-11ed-8a84-ebcb84288da8.html.
Hatch, R. (2022, January 28). 2022 Outstanding University Creative Activity Awards, Initiative Awards named.Illinois State University News. https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2022/01/2022-outstanding-university-creative-activity-awards-initiative-awards-named/
Byrne, H. (2021, November 4). Illinois State art students create documentary for local nonprofit. Illinois State University News. https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2021/11/illinois-state-art-students-create-documentary-for-local-nonprofit/
Zacarias, D. (2019, June 23). Leaving Traces of Communication with Ruth K. Burke. Unfiltered San Antonio. https://unfilteredsa.com/2019/06/23/leaving-traces-of-communication-with-ruth-k-burke/
Freeman, E. & Tolton S., (2019) Ruth Burke. Muff Magazine, Issue 3. Pp 7-10.
Hawkbaker, K. (2018, July 5). Woman Made Gallery uses its words. Chicago Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-0706-see-it-now-20180705-story.html
Sharp, S.R., (2017, April 13) “Setting the Course for the New Stamps Gallery at University of Michigan” Culture Source.
https://www.culturesource.org/201704132686/stories/setting-the-course-for-the-new-stamps-gallery-at-university-of-michigan
Tigges, J. (2015, May 15). Bound: Forthright Reflection on Complex Ideas. Columbus Alive, Pp 22.
Tigges, J. (2014, December 25). Year-In-Review: Best Exhibits of 2014, Columbus Alive, Pp 23.
Tigges, J. (2014, April 9). “Of Body is impressive and strikingly wild” Columbus Alive. Pp. 25.