Céline Downen

Céline Downen pieces together community voices with elements of her natural surroundings to create a sense of place. Her artistic process can be summed up in three words: gather–piece–stitch. Gather represents the collecting of materials, piece is the various processes used, and stitch is the end result, how everything comes to fruition. Trained as a photographer, Céline also explores mediums such as printmaking, book arts, and sculpture. She is UMOCA’s first Educator-In-Residence.

Céline grew up in Salt Lake City and moved to Evanston, IL when she was 11. She graduated with a BA in Photography from Columbia College in 1996, returning to Utah in 2006. In 2016, she completed an MFA in Community-Based Art Education at the University of Utah. She currently teaches Art in The Community at the University of Utah, and is the director of community outreach for the Downtown Artist Collective.