Katelyn Halpern is a multidisciplinary artist from Austin, Texas living in Jersey City.
Her eclectic body of work ranges from life-sized installations to cut-and-tape zines to concert dance. Her work is frequently constructed around the idea clusters of interiority/intimacy/reflection, strangeness/humor/freedom, and the lived experience of moving through the world in a feminine body.
After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Houston with a B.A. in English Literature and a minor in Dance, she moved to the east coast where she has made work including the evening length danceworks JUICE (June ‘17) and Loose Heart (December ‘17), the immersive installations disaster [place] (August ‘22) and Heartstrung (created with Talita Cabral, October ‘18), and the public art installation Labyrinth for Reflection and the Generation of Love [No. 9] (June ‘19).
Her creative work has received support from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Jersey (New!) Moves Fellowship, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship program (2023 Finalist in Choreography), the Exchange Place Alliance, The Iron Factory, chashama, the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts, DANCENOW Silo, Avaloch Farm, Arts On Site Residency & Retreat, and the 2017 Choreographers in Residence Program (CHIRP) at Jersey City’s County Prep High School. Her work has been performed throughout New York and New Jersey, including concerts at BAM Fisher, NJPAC, the Knockdown Center, and White Eagle Hall, and across the country at Omaha’s Under the Radar Festival, Houston's Talento Bilingue, and San Francisco’s Switchboard Presents. Katelyn received a 2023 and a 2024 Finalist award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
She holds a New Jersey teaching certificate for high school English, is a 2012 Teach for America New Jersey corps member, and is the owner and artistic director of SMUSH Gallery, an art space dedicated to creative and community work in Jersey City.
Contact: katelynhalpern [at] gmail [dot] com
PRESS
New Jersey State Counciil on the Arts Fellowship & Finalist List, 2024
The Fifteen Best Art Shows of 2023 (12/10/23, Jersey City Times)
Seven Art Openings and Closings for the Last Weekend of September (9/29/23, Jersey City Times)
SMUSH becomes monthlong ‘disaster [place],’ in a good way (9/27/23, The Jersey Journal)
New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship & Finalist List, 2023
The Eleven Best Jersey City Art Shows of 2022 (12/9/22, Jersey City Times)
Katelyn Halpern Turns Deep Space Into a “Disaster [Place]” (8/5/22, Jersey City Times)
Pro Arts Jersey City presents Curators Choice Exhibition Curated by Katelyn Halpern (5/3/23, New Jersey Stage)
Dance New Jersey Announces 2022 Mini-Grant Awardees (7/19/22, Broadway World)
The “Troublemakers” of EONTA Space Reopen With a Roomful of Good Trouble (6/17/22, Jersey City Times)
Katelyn Halpern brings her multidisciplinary art to Jersey New Moves (6/2/22, Hollywood Soapbox)
These JC choreographers among six showcased for Jersey New Moves at NJPAC, June 10 (6/9/22, NJ.com)
NJPAC Dance Showcase to Feature Two Jersey City Choreographers (5/13/22, Jersey City Times)
Art House will celebrate dance as an art form at annual Your Move festival (11/6/19, NJ.com)
10th Annual Your Move Modern Dance Festival To Take Place November 13-17 (10/10/19, NewJerseyStage.com)
Music, movement and the unexpected: mignolo dance’s ‘Translations’ (7/30/19, DanceInforma.com)
NJPAC Presents 5th Annual Jersey NEW Moves! (6/7/19, NewJerseyStage.com)
NJ Emerging Choreographers Take to the Stage at NJPAC Friday, June 14th (6/5/19, BroadwayWorld.com)