05 Aug OCA 2026 Artist-in-Residence | Zachary Fabri
Ogden Contemporary Arts Announces 5th Artist in Resident
Ogden Contemporary Arts Announces Zachary Fabri as 2026 Artist in Residence
Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist will explore Utah’s salt landscapes, extraction, and cultural memory during an eight-week residency culminating in a new exhibition and live performance opening October 2.
Ogden Contemporary Arts (OCA) is pleased to announce Zachary Fabri as its 2026 Artist in Residence. Fabri, a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist working in lens-based media and public space, will be in residence at OCA from August 1 through October 4, 2026, developing a new body of work inspired by the landscape, history, and the communities of northern Utah. The residency will result in a solo exhibition opening with a live performance on Friday, October 2, 2026.
Residency Details
During his residency, Fabri will investigate the history and presence of salt extraction in Utah, asking two deceptively simple questions: What is taken? What remains? Working across video, photography, sculpture, and drawing, he will trace how these questions reverberate from the extractive labor practices of the trans-Atlantic slave trade into Black culture today.
The project takes Fabri to the Great Salt Lake, where he will photograph and film the pink waters surrounding Stansbury Island, and to Compass Minerals’ 55,000-acre solar evaporation ponds, the source of salt for a series of new sculptures fabricated with local Ogden partners. Drawing inspiration from the Rothko Chapel and Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, Fabri is also informed by salt’s role across spiritual traditions and by his own Jamaican heritage — including ackee and saltfish, Jamaica’s national dish, whose pairing of northern European salted cod and West African ackee carries the complexities of the island’s colonial history and creative resilience. The ancient ritual of the salt covenant serves as a foundation for new works that speak to unity and peace.
“Zachary’s project embodies everything our Artist in Residence program is meant to do,” said Venessa Castagnoli, Executive Director of Ogden Contemporary Arts. “It is deeply rooted in this place, shaped through collaboration with our community, and invites us to look at the landscape around us in an entirely new way. His work connects the salt beneath our feet to the stories that have shaped this region, creating space for reflection, conversation, and a deeper understanding of where we live.”
“I make work that reveals the connective elements of people. Using abstraction and humor, I poke and prod systems of daily life.” said Fabri. “My time in Ogden provides an opportunity for immersive research around the simple mineral of salt and the unique qualities of this natural environment.”
About the Artist
Zachary Fabri is a Brooklyn based interdisciplinary artist engaged in lens-based media and public space. He works across video, drawing, and installation, often complicating the boundaries of studio research and performance. He is the recipient of awards that include The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award, the New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, and the BRIC Colene Brown Art Prize. Fabri’s work has been exhibited at Art in General, The Studio Museum in Harlem, El Museo del Barrio, The Walker Art Center, The Brooklyn Museum, and the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, Hungary. Collaborative projects include the Museum of Modern Art, the Sharjah Biennial, and Pace Gallery. Zachary Fabri is the recipient of the 2024 Nancy B. Negley Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome. Currently his film is in the exhibition Beyond Representation 2, at Pérez Art Museum Miami, Caribbean Cultural Institute.
Contribution to the Arts Community
OCA’s mission for the Artist-in-Residence program is to bring national and international artists to Ogden, UT to ignite, inspire and influence our local community, while also providing these promising artists time and resources to develop their personal studio practice. Residents are expected to engage with the Northern Utah community through programming such as artist talks, studio visits, and/or workshops. In addition to 24-hour studio space in OCA Center’s Studio Lofts, the selected resident is awarded a production budget, living stipend, housing, an artist honorarium, and childcare assistance if needed. The program embraces artists with families, collaborating with community partners to ensure it is a positive experience for the artist’s spouse and/or children. OCA also offers professional photography and videography to capture the process and exhibition that the artist can utilize for their portfolio.
ABOUT OGDEN CONTEMPORARY ARTS AND OCA CENTER
Ogden Contemporary Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that creates and shares globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advanced arts programing in Ogden, Utah. OCA’s vision is to inspire local and regional artists through active involvement with the international contemporary art community. OCA strives to be viewed as a credible and internationally respected arts organization while empowering artists with the facilities, environment and experience to excel in their medium and enrich their lives.
OCA Center is Ogden Contemporary Arts’ flagship exhibition space located in the historic Monarch building at 455 25th Street in Ogden. The multi-use space opened in November 2020 after a significant gift from the Dr. Ezekiel R. & Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation. The Center’s main gallery is titled the “Arts Garage,” named after the building’s historic origin as a 1920s industrial parking garage for the neighboring Bigelow Hotel. OCA Center also includes a digital art room, second floor gallery space, and two artist lofts that can be utilized as additional exhibition space or as studios for visiting artists.
CREDITS
OCA’s Artist in Residence program is made possible by: Weber County R.A.M.P., George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Utah Arts & Museums, Ogden City Arts, Utah Office of Tourism, and Sam and Diane Stewart Family Foundation
CONTACTS
Venessa Castagnoli
Executive Director, Ogden Contemporary Arts
venessa@ogdencontemporaryarts.org