Neon as Soulcraft — Philadelphia Teaching Residency

Written By Opie Project (space)

Tyler School of Art + Architecture, Philadelphia, PA
April - June 2024
Teaching Residency

Teaching Artist: Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez
Student Artist: Christen Baker

Teaching artist Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez and student artist Christen Baker developed You are here (2024), a collaboratively authored neon installation structured like a “mind map.” Beginning with two matching signs—each reading “you are here”—the artists expanded outward in branching webs of words, colors, and shifting typography, exploring how emotional, observational, and conceptual knowledge can be visualized and interconnected. Inspired in part by Manuel Lima’s Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information, the work references the sketchbook as a site of process and the long relationship between text and neon.
Throughout the residency, Ahmadizadeh refined her pedagogical approach while Baker focused on learning the technical and conceptual challenges of bending words in glass—a foundational but demanding neon skill requiring careful sequencing and repetition. The residency also enabled Tyler School of Art and Architecture to expand its neon equipment and instructional capacity, supporting ongoing access to neon education for future students.
This work was exhibited in Neon as Soulcraft at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco (2024).

Opie Project (space)

An arts & culture firm working with companies, institutions and philanthropists to develop artist-centric programs, collections and special events.

https://www.opieps.com
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Neon as Soulcraft — Los Angeles Teaching Residency