Cara Despain

CARA DESPAIN is an artist working in film and video, sculpture, drawing and installation. Despain was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and currently lives and works in Miami, Florida. She holds a BFA from the University of Utah (2006). In 2012, she was selected for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Award in the visual arts. Despain has shown in galleries and institutions across the country. Recent exhibitions include: “Autobody”, an independent exhibition during Miami Art Week 2014 and traveling to Faena Art Center, Buenos Aires, “Optic Nerve 14” at Miami MOCA, and “Cast Set”, a solo project at Emerson Dorsch, Miami. Despain’s creative process is very informed by other work she does in the contemporary art field and beyond. In 2014 she was the Art Director and Associate Producer for the feature length film “The Strongest Man” that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year. She is a founding board member of the Davey Foundation, a grant-giving foundation that gives grants to emerging filmmakers and playwrights. She has also initiated curatorial projects, and from 2009-11, she founded and operated GARFO Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah in an abandoned schoolhouse. Despain is an arts writer who has been published in various magazines, and contributes regularly to The Miami Rail. She is currently Foundation Education Manager at the Rubell Family Collection.