BIO
Adele 이슬 Kenworthy (she/they) is a 1.5 generation Korean American artist-organizer.
Her work centers the AANHPI femme experience, exploring what gestures and rituals we hold onto as sites of comfort and resistance during occupation and war—through participatory performance, sculpture, and photographic archives.
Using organic, ephemeral materials— cut florals and fruits—she transforms embodied gestures of care into sculptural forms and durational performances, each a living monument to resilience and counter-memories existing in public.
She is a recipient of the 2025-26 Virginia Museum of Fine Art Visual Arts Professional Fellowship and the Wherewithal Research Grant managed by the Washington Project for the Arts and funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
She participated in Transformer Gallery’s 19th Exercises for Emerging Artists program and has held residencies at Washington Project for the Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington Innovation Studio, the Torpedo Factory Arts Center, and the Elizabeth Murrary Family Residency (upcoming August 2026).
Their work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Transformer, Rhizome, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Corcoran Gallery of Art, and American University (Washington, D.C.); Brentwood Arts Exchange and Towson University’s Asian Arts and Culture Center (Maryland); Bond Millen Gallery (Richmond, VA); and Art Basel Miami (Florida).
Kenworthy holds her MFA in Social Practice Art with a focus in public policy from the Corcoran School of Arts and Design at George Washington University, receiving the 2022 Outstanding MFA Award.
Their past DC community organizing collaborators include Empower DC, Chinatown Arts Studio, 411 Collective, and Rising Organizers. In 2023, she gave birth to her daughter, was in a group exhibition at the DCCAH gallery, and worked with Monument Lab’s project management team on Beyond Granite: Pulling Together—the first outdoor art exhibition on the National Mall.
Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Hyperallergic, District Fray, Bmore Art, Washingtonian, NBCWashington, and Fox45 Baltimore.
She lives and works on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank (Anacostan) people, in the Washington, D.C metro area.
C/V
ADELE 이슬 KENWORTHYthemeowingbird.com · @themeowingbird · Washington, D.C. Metro Area
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, & AWARDS
2025–26 · VMFA Professional Visual Arts Fellowship (New + Emerging Media), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
2025 · Wherewithal Research Grant, Washington Project for the Arts x Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
2022 · Outstanding MFA Award in Social Practice Art, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University
2020–22 · Edna Wattis Dumke Memorial Scholarship, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University
2020–22 · Hortense Mae Boutell Scholarship, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University
2021 · Visual Storyteller Fellowship, Women Photograph
2021 · Community Organizers Fellowship, Rising Organizers, Washington, D.C.
2015 · Baltimore City Council Resolution for Ruined (Everyman Theatre), Baltimore, MD, 2015
RESIDENCIES
2026–28 · Long-Term Residency, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA
2026 · (upcoming August) Elizabeth Murray Family Residency (Collar Works), Granville, NY
2025 · Post-Graduate Residency, Torpedo Factory Arts Center, Alexandria, VA
2025 · Innovation Studio Residency, MoCA Arlington Innovation Studio, National Landing, VA
2022 · Artist-Organizer Residency, Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), Washington, D.C.
2022 · E19: Artistic Interventions, Transformer Gallery, Washington, D.C.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES
2027 · (upcoming Fall) Title: TBD, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA
2026 · (upcoming July) A [New] American Dream: CUT FRUIT/과일깍자!, Heurich House, Washington, D.C.
2024 · We Should Talk: CUT FRUIT/과일깍자!, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
2022 · to carry within us an orchard, Transformer Gallery, Washington, D.C.
2022 · lacuna blossoms, Gallery 102, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 · Sensing Place, Torpedo Factory Arts Center, Alexandria, VA
2026 · A Distinct Terroir, Flatfile collection, Transformer Gallery x Friendship Heights Alliance, Washington, D.C.
2026 · HeartBreakers Ball, Flatfile collection, Transformer Gallery, Washington, D.C.
2025 · BOLD+bright, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA
2025 · EMERGE, Bond Millen Gallery, Richmond, VA
2025 · what is something you always wished I had asked and knew about you?, Goethe-Institut Washington x Thomas Mann House LA, Washington, D.C.
2025 · BLOOM, National Landing x Amazon with USAN USAN x MoCA Arlington
2025 · Collector’s Night, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
2024 · Asia North 2024: Love Letters to Baltimore + the DMV, Towson University Asian Arts & Culture Center, Baltimore, MD
2024 · Transcendence, Transformer Gallery at Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington, D.C.
2024 · For the Ground We Walk On: an earthly arts salon, Rhizome, Washington, D.C.
2023 · The Invincible Visible, Transformer Gallery at Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
2023 · RE/ENVISIONING, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, D.C.
2023 · Collector’s Night, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
2022 · your presence is the best art, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C.
2022 · TREEHOUSE, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brentwood, MD
2022 · what is something you always wished I had asked and knew about you?, NEXT 2022, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
2022 · Interconnected, Korean Community Services, Queens, NY
2021 · Floralscapes, The Fearless Artist, Art Basel Miami, FL
SELECTED TALKS, PANELS, & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS
2025 · Panelist, Professional Practices, Corcoran School of Arts and Design at George Washington University
2025 · Artist Talk, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington Innovation Studio Residency
2025 · Panelist, Action Reconciliation Service for Peace, Goethe-Institut Washington, D.C.
2024 · AAPI Artist Panel, IlluminAsia Festival, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
2024 · Interview, Action Through Art with Adele Kenworthy, Journeys Podcast Season 4, KAMA DC
2022 · Artist Talk, Radical Self Care, Corcoran School of Arts and Design at George Washington University
2022 · Artist Talk, Becoming Asian American: Migration, Melancholia, and Memory, George Washington University
2021 · Artist Talk, The Fearless Artist Young Curators Program (virtual)
SOCIALLY ENGAGED PROJECTS & PARTICIPATORY WORKS
CUT FRUIT
Ongoing immersive public art and performance series exploring matrilineal care, cultural loss, and memory through the ritual of cutting fruit.
2024 · Rhizome, Washington, D.C.
2023 · RE/ENVISIONING, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
2022 · Transformer Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Floralscapes
Public installations activating community spaces with flowers as protest, remembrance, and reclamation.
2024 · Museum Square Blooms, Chinatown, Washington, D.C.
2023 · Right to Roots, Ivy City 150th Celebration, Washington, D.C.
2021 · Let Ivy City Bloom, Washington, D.C.
The Durational Performance of Cut Fruit
Participatory clay and sound project embedding memories into sculpted fruit using voice messages and NFC technology.
2026 · (upcoming Summer 2026) The Nicholson Project
2025 · MoCA Arlington Innovation Studio, National Landing, VA
2025 · KID Museum, Bethesda, MD
2025 · Amazon HQ2 Creative Expressions Lab, National Landing, VA
Flowerhands: Bongseonhwa Natural Nail Dye
Community ritual rooted in Korean floral dyeing practices. Reimagined as participatory care-based gathering for Korean diasporic connection.
2024 · Asia North 2024, Baltimore, MD
2024 · KID Museum, Bethesda, MD
2022 · The Nicholson Project, Washington, D.C.
2022 · Corcoran School of Arts and Design + George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Memory in Material Form: Cotton Candy + Dragon’s Beard + Clay
This workshop is an exploration of memory in material form, how memory can be held, transformed, and shared through tactile, ephemeral, and joyfilled materials.
2026 · Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA
2025 · Teen Artist Residency Program, The Nicholson Project, Washington, D.C.
PRESS & BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hahn, Fritz and Solano, Sophia. “The 32 best things to do in D.C. this weekend and next week.” Washington Post. May 3, 2024.
Benjamin, Kayla. “Northeast Neighborhood Ivy City Celebrates 150th Anniversary.” Washington Informer. October 25, 2023.
Niuman, Olivia. “East City Art Reviews – RE/ENVISIONING.” Eastcityart.com. August 1, 2023.
Mengüç, Murat Cem. “10 Art Shows to See in Washington, DC, This Summer.” Hyperalleric.com. July 13, 2023.
Mahoney, Katherine. “Reflect on Your Story at the RE/ENVISIONING Exhibition.” District Fray Magazine. July 6, 2023.
Bechky, Aviva. “Your Guide to AAPI Month in D.C.” District Fray Magazine. May 1, 2023.
Bechky, Aviva. “Cut Fruit Means I Love You in Adele Kenworthy’s New Exhibit.” District Fray Magazine. August 11, 2022.
Steinhardt, Ruth. “Student Art Shines at NEXT 2022.” GW Today. May 2, 2022.
Jenkins, Mark. “In the galleries: Artistic portals leading to and encouraging wonder.” Washington Post. June 17, 2022.
Westcott, Emma. “Flowers As the Medium for Protest and Change.” Corcoran School of Arts and Design at George Washington University. August 3, 2021.
“Community Renovation Project Attempts to Restore Ivy City.” NBCWashington. May 16, 2021.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
2022–24 · Board Member, Secretary, Fiber With A Cause, Washington, D.C.
2022–24 · Staff+Contractor, Monument Lab, Philadelphia, PA
EDUCATION
2022 · M.F.A., Social Practice Art
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.