SPEAKING + PRESS
I enjoy speaking about my creative practice - creating narratives in space, mapping emotional journeys, art in odd places, and what happened behind the scenes. I craft my talks the same way I craft my art pieces - with a narrative arc, unexpected emotions, and a bit of humor.
I've been a featured speaker and panelist at over two dozen conferences focused on art, design, and technology, in addition to engagements at universities and corporate events. For potential bookings, please reach out at hello [at] aprilsoetarman.com
Select Talks:
- Speaker, “The End of the Day: Turning a Solo RPG into an IRL Public Art Installation,” Narrascope, Rochester, NY, 2024
- Speaker, “Imagining Emotional Bureaucracies,” World Experience Organization Summit, NYC, 2024
- Panelist, “Ten Years of Poetic Computation,” Software for Artists Day #8, New York, 2023
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Panelist, “Pandemic Lemonade: Quarantine-Friendly Experiences,” Themed Entertainment
Association SATE Conference, online, 2021
- Speaker, This Immersive Globe: The Series, online, 2021
- Panelist, TWIML Fest, online, 2020,
- 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
- Featured Speaker, “Evoking Emotions Through Technology,” Techfest Club & CivicWomen, New York, 2018,
- Artist Talk, Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University, 2018
- Featured Speaker, SF Tech Poetics, 2017
- Speaker, “Weird Side Projects,” Best of Ignite Seattle, 2017
- Speaker, "Weird Side Projects," EYEO Ignite, Minneapolis, 2017
- Speaker, "Why I Make Weird Side Projects," Seattle Ignite, 2017
- Keynote Speaker, “A Working Theory of Delight: Sound, Space, and Emotion in Design," Bend Design Con 2016
- Panelist, “Design Thinking for Education,” Google Design for Education 2015
Previous workshops have included Intro to Sound Design, Developing an Artist Portfolio, Documenting Your Work, Intro to Making Physical Objects
Highlights:
“Why I Make Weird Side Projects” at Ignite Seattle 2017, also given at EYEO and encored as a Best of Ignite Seattle (5 minutes)
SF Tech Poetics at Github, San Francisco December 2017 (18 minutes)
Select Press:
- 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 (play reading), Primary Stages/59E59 Theaters, NYC, 2023
- The End of the Day, CultureHub Re-Fest, NYC & Los Angeles, 2022
- Cosmic Cherry Arts Festival, NYC, 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, 2017-20
- 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:
- Echoes Writers Group at Primary Stages, NYC, 2022-23
- 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