Associate Professor Wendy S. Walters Awarded NYSCA Independent Project Grant

Associate Professor Wendy S. Walters has been awarded an Independent Project Grant from the NYSCA and Architecture League. The multimedia project, titled Seeds of Diaspora: Plants, Migrations, Settlements, Cities, is in collaboration with Columbia Climate Professor Lynnette Widder and Syracuse Associate Professor Sam Van Aken.  

Seeds of Diaspora traces the interactions of humans and plants through both print and digital forms. Walters explained, "The map of any human settlement includes seeds in the traces of its botanical practices. From healing to cuisine to rogue plant life, seeds define the communities that benefited from them. Plants reveal histories of human diaspora and environmental instability. They contain epistemologies of healing, loss, migration, and shifting identities. Beyond these dynamics of fostering life, plant-human relations predict and index the societal transformations of every era. Our intention is to inspire both experts and novices to think about the way that seeds and plants serve as a link to the broader human experience."

Winners of the Independent Project Grant, are awarded $10,000 to support the continuation of active research projects. According to the Architecture League website, 176 different projects applied for the grant this year, and 25 received it. 

This grant will provide incredible help to Seeds of Diaspora and will bolster its future success. Walters shared that, "This support from the Architectural League and NYSCA will help support the publication of an anthology entitled: Seeds of Diaspora with ArchiTangle, a Berlin-based independent publishing house that aims to preserve the exchange of architectural knowledge through publications and archiving."

Walters is the author of two books of poetry, including Troy, Michigan, and a book of prose, Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal. Walters’s work has appeared recently in Harper’s Bazaar, BOMB, and The Yale Review. Past work appears in Harper’s, The Iowa Review, Lapham’s Quarterly, and others. Her next project focuses on the social and emotional implications of using white paint. She served on the boards of NonfictioNOW and Humanities New York for several years. With Elyse Nelson, she curated the exhibition Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast for The Met, which the Financial Times called "a masterclass in presenting complicated, troubling art." With Nelson, she edited Fictions of Emancipation Carpeaux's Why Born Enslaved! Reconsidered (Yale), a critical anthology of essays related to key themes in the show. She is a recipient of fellowships from Creative Capital, NYFA, the Ford Foundation, Mass MoCA, Yaddo, MacDowell, Bread Loaf, and the Smithsonian Institute.