CV
Education
University of California, Berkeley
Bachelor of Arts, Architecture and Bachelor of Arts, Music
2008 - 2012
Experience Institute, Chicago
Founding Student, Experiential Design
2013 - 2014
School for Poetic Computation, NYC
Sep - Nov 2017
Hackbright Academy, San Francisco
Software Engineering Fellowship (part-time)
Mar - Sep 2021
Experience
UX Engineer | Join, Oakland, CA (Remote)
Frontend design and engineering.
October 2021 - June 2023
Freelance Creative Director/Experiential Designer | NYC
Concept strategy/ideation, experiential installations, and digital-physical environments. Clients included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Second Story, Campfire.
April 2018 - September 2021, November 2023 - Present
Independent Artist | Seattle & NYC
Running my own independent creative practice including multiple public art commissions, product sales, and immersive productions
January 2017 - Present
Visiting Assistant Professor/Instructor | NYC & Portland, OR
Teaching narrative design, installation, and game design classes for undergraduates and adult continuing education
• Narrative Constellations: Exploring Choice, Time, and Location-based Storytelling; School for Poetic Computation (Spring 2023)
• Interactive Storytelling class; Portland Community College (Winter & Spring 2021)
• Products, Environments, Materials class; Pratt Institute (Spring 2019)
• Installation/Showcase class; School for Poetic Computation (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
Experience Designer | NBBJ, Seattle, WA
Created digital/physical experiences for the built environment, from initial phases to final fabrication. Collaborated with the Digital Practice team on UI/UX tech integration projects. Clients included Amazon, Microsoft, and Seattle City Light.
Feb - May 2014, Dec 2014 - August 2017
Design Fellow | Latent Design + Curmudgeon Group, Chicago, IL
Collaborated on all aspects of a public storytelling art installation, including designing the architectural form, user experience, and graphics.
July - August 2014
Creative Strategy Fellow | Leo Burnett, Chicago, IL
Creative ideation and strategy for a nonprofit arts awareness campaign.
June - July 2014
Associate Project Manager Fellow | Doejo, Chicago, IL
Led client negotiations and managed an internal team to launch websites to completion. Contributed to project discovery sessions and content strategy through user and design research.
October 2013 - January 2014
Engineering/Design Intern | JumpSport, San Jose, CA
Designed, built, and tested prototypes in Solidworks, Rhino, and Arduino. Collaborated with engineers and marketing to develop concepts for new product lines.
Feb - Aug 2013
Skills
- Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
- 3D Modeling (Rhinoceros, SketchUp, Blender)
- Familiarity with game design tools (Twine, Unity)
- Languages - Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, CSS, SQL
- Frameworks & Libraries - React, Flask, jQuery, Bootstrap, Jinja
- Database & Industry Tools - PostgreSQL, Git, GitHub, Command Line
Select Talks
- Panelist, Themed Entertainment Association SATE Conference, online, 2021
- Speaker, This Immersive Globe: The Series, online, 2021
- Panelist, TWIML Fest, online, 2020, “How Artistic Practices Can Adopt Machine Learning”
- Speaker, 100s Under 100 at A/D/O, New York, 2019
- Artist Talk, Living Room Light Exchange, New York, 2019
- Artist Talk, Stink Labs, New York, 2019
- Artist Talk, Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University, 2018
- Speaker, Techfest Club & CivicWomen, New York, 2018, “Evoking Emotions Through Technology”
- Main Speaker, SF Tech Poetics, December 2017
- Speaker, Best of Ignite 2017, “Weird Side Projects”
- Speaker, EYEO Ignite 2017, Minneapolis, "Weird Side Projects"
- Speaker, Seattle Ignite 2017, "Why I Make Weird Side Projects"
- Keynote Speaker, Bend Design Con 2016, “A Working Theory of Delight: Sound, Space, and Emotion in Design"
- Panelist, Google Design for Education 2015, “Design Thinking for Education”
Select Press
- This Public Audio Installation Helps Listeners Take the Long View on Life, The Slowdown, May 2021
- Enjoy A Quiet Moment of Contemplation with ‘The End of the Day’ (Review), No Proscenium, December 2020
- NoPro Critic’s Picks for 2020, No Proscenium, December 2020
- ATTENTION: Public Warning Signs by April Soetarman Engage the Emotions of Unsuspecting Pedestrians, Colossal, November 2018
- Modified Street Signs That Display Unexpected Thoughtful Messages of Random Kindness, Laughing Squid, November 2018
- A Museum of Almost-Real Pasts, Presents, and Futures, KUOW Public Radio, Sept 2018
- April’s Almost Realities, Bushwick Junction, May 2018
- A Seattle artist shows you the ‘life you might have had’ at her Museum of Almost Realities, The Evergrey, April 2018
- The Sign Says You 'Deserve Every Happiness', KNKX Public Radio, April 201
- Meet the artist posting mysterious signs around Seattle, The Evergrey, August 2017
- Meet the Seattle artist behind these mysterious signs, King5 News, August 2017
- Interview with April Soetarman, PHLEARN, May 2017
Exhibitions/Performances
- Porch Scenes from Across the Space-Time Continuum (reading), Primary Stages/59E59 Theaters, NYC, 2023
- The End of the Day, CultureHub Re-Fest, NYC & Los Angeles, 2022
- Millennial Museum (guest star), Please Don’t Touch The Artist, online, 2022
- The End of the Day, online, 2020
- Alter/Altar, Shadow Traffic, NYC, 2019
- The Department of Emotional Labor, Underland, San Francisco, 2019 (solo)
- Hello Goodbye Viaduct Arts Festival, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle, 2019
- The Museum of Almost Realities, Boombox, Chicago, 2018 (solo)
- The Museum of Almost Realities, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 2018
- The Museum of Almost Realities, School for Poetic Computation, NYC, 2017
chimeforest, Seattle Center Sculpture Walk, Seattle, 2017
- PROTOSTELLAR, Hybrid Space, Seattle, 2017
- 30+ guerrilla installations in Minneapolis, Berkeley, Seattle, Chicago, NYC, 2015 - Present
Awards and Recognition
- IxDA Interaction Awards Finalist, 2021
- This Immersive Globe/Epic Immersive grant, 2021
- Awesome Foundation Seattle grant, 2018
- Kickstarter Projects We Love, 2018
- Seattle Office of Arts and Culture Public Artist Roster, 2017 - 2020
- Best of Ignite Seattle, 2017
- NBBJ Innovation Award, 2016
- Bakewell Brown Prize for Architectural Drawing, 2012
- UC Berkeley Musical Theater Prize, Honorable Mention, 2012
Residencies and Programs
- Epic Immersive Underland Residency, San Francisco, 2019
- New York Immersive Challenge, 2019
- School for Poetic Computation, NYC, 2017
- Seattle Public Arts Bootcamp, 2017
- Creative Collision, Domaine de Boisbuchet, France, 2016
- Danish Institute for Study Abroad, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2012
Teaching
- Narrative Constellations: Exploring Choice, Time, and Location-based Storytelling, School for Poetic Computation, Spring 2023 (online)
- Interactive Storytelling class, Portland Community College, Winter & Spring 2021 (online)
- Products, Environments, Materials class, Pratt Institute, Spring 2019
- Installation/Showcase class, School for Poetic Computation, Fall 2018 & Spring 2019