Born on Council of the Three Fires and Miami lands (Illinois) to Haitian parents, Balan-Gaubert was raised between Chicago’s southside and the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn on Lenapehoking land (New York). Guided by Haitian, African, and Indigenous-based cultural traditions, Balan-Gaubert creates works that are caught between several realms. She combines personal stories, folklore, images, found and ready-made objects, and spirituality with craft materials to construct hybrid works.

Balan-Gaubert earned her MFA from California College of the Arts in 2018 and her MA in African American Studies from Columbia University in 2012. She has exhibited in Chicago at the Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC), in New York at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI), Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA), CaribBEING House in residence at the Brooklyn Museum, Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park, and in San Francisco at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), and SOMArts Cultural Center.

The cyber curation tanialaure.com is an endeavor of love, an evolving creative space, and Tania Laure’s digital homeland. 

Also catch TL at Notes from the Tenth Department.

B.  1986 ON COUNCIL OF THE THREE FIRES AND MIAMI LANDS / IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

EDUCATION

2018 | MFA, CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 

2012 | MA, AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY

2008 | BA, PSYCHOLOGY, EARLHAM COLLEGE, RICHMOND, IN

2004 | HSD, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago, il

EXHIBITIONS

2024 | Byenvini, Caribbean Cultural Center African diaspora Institute (CCCADI), curated by Yvena Despagne

2023 | bodies, Bronx ArtSpace, curated by Amanda m. johnson

2021 | AFROFUTURES: BEFORE AND BEYOND, THE DAVIS GALLERY AT HOUGHTON HOUSE, HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES, CURATED BY CHRISTINE GODING-DOTY, ANNA WAGER, AND ANGELIQUE SZYMANEK

2019 | SA SE LAKAY, GHOST GALLERY, BROOKLYN, NY CURATED BY YVENA DESPAGNE

| LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIASPORAN ART (MOCADA), BROOKLYN, NY

| VANGUARD REVISITED: POETIC POLITICS & BLACK FUTURES, SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE (SFAI), SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CURATED BY LEILA WEEFUR

2018 | BLACK NOW(HERE), MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA EMERGING ARTIST PROGRAM, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

| A WELCOMING, CARIBBEING HOUSE IN RESIDENCE AT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM, BROOKLYN, NY

| CCA COMMENCEMENT EXHIBITION, CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

| CCA MFA FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITION, MINNESOTA STREET PROJECT, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

2017 | NIGHT LIGHT: DIVINE REVOLUTION, SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED BY KAREN SENEFERU AND MELORRA GREEN

| THE BLACK WOMAN IS GOD: DIVINE REVOLUTION, SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED BY KAREN SENEFERU AND MELORRA GREEN

| THE ALTAR: RITUALS OF HEALING IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, MYRTLE AVENUE BROOKLYN PARTNERSHIP, BROOKLYN, NY, CURATED BY SUHALY BAUTISTA-CAROLINA

2016 | HARLEM IS...DANCE, MIST HARLEM, NEW YORK, NY, CURATED BY BARBARA HOROWITZ/COMMUNITY WORKS AND ÉLAN CADIZ-FERGUSON

| A FOOTHOLD ON THE ROCKS: THE INDELIBLE LEGACIES OF JACOB AND GWENDOLYN KNIGHT LAWRENCE, EQUITY GALLERY, NYC, CURATED BY TANIA L. BALAN-GAUBERT

| FAITH [IN]ACTION?, UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE TWIN CITIES, NEW BRIGHTON, MN, CURATED BY RODERIC SOUTHALL AND SHERYL SCHWYHART

2015 | (RE)VISION: WHAT IS POST-BLACK ART, JAN BRANDT GALLERY, BLOOMINGTON, IL, CURATED BY VENISE KEYS

CURATORIAL PROJECTS / COLLABORATIONS

2024 | Nan san, Haitian American museum of Chicago (hamoc), c0-curated with William l. balan-gaubert and Maya balan-gaubert Gabriel

2021 | FLAME FROM THE DARK TOWER, AS-IS GALLERY, LOS ANGELES, CA, CO-CURATED WITH 5/5 AND LEILA WEEFUR

2019 | MOONSHOTS, NEW LIFE QUARTERLY, ISSUE 5, WOLFMAN BOOKS, OAKLAND CALIFORNIA

| BLACK NOW(HERE), CCA HUBBELL STREET GALLERIES PROJECT SPACE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED WITH 5/5

| WEIGHT,  TRAP(EZOID), CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED WITH 5/5

2018 | Anybody Home?, Ctrl+Shft Collective, Oakland, CA, co-curated with 5/5 Collective

2017 | MEND, TRAP(EZOID), CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED WITH 5/5

| BLAXCESS TV, CCA HUBBELL STREET GALLERIES PROJECT SPACE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, PERFORMANCE WITH 5/5

| ASCEND, TRAP(EZOID), CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED WITH 5/5

2016 | HOLD, TRAP(EZOID),  CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, CO-CURATED WITH 5/5

| UBUNTU, LA MAISON D'ART AND HARLEM ARTS FESTIVAL, NEW YORK, NY

| WHO'S HARLEM? / WHOSE HARLEM?, LA MAISON D'ART AND HARLEM ARTS FESTIVAL, NEW YORK, NY

| A FOOTHOLD ON THE ROCKS: THE INDELIBLE LEGACIES OF JACOB AND GWENDOLYN KNIGHT LAWRENCE, EQUITY GALLERY + HARLEM ARTS FESTIVAL, NEW YORK, NY

2015 | ART AS RESISTANCE, LA MAISON D’ART AND HARLEM ARTS FESTIVAL, NEW YORK, NY

RESIDENCIES

2020 | THE GROWLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA (JAN-MAR)

2019 | BEMIS CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, OMAHA, NA (SEP-NOV)

2018 | MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIASPORAN ARTS (MOCADA) CREATOR IN RESIDENCE, GOVERNORS ISLAND, NY (JUN-

AUG) 

| REAL TIME & SPACE, OAKLAND, CA (NOV+DEC) 

2017 | TRUDY BAILEY HUDSON RESIDENCY, CTRL+SHFT COLLECTIVE, OAKLAND, CA (MAY+JUN)

2016 | S.P.A.C.E., SHAKLEE GALLERY - CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, OAKLAND, CA (OCT)

PUBLICATIONS

2020 | MOONSHOTS, NEW LIFE QUARTERLY, ISSUE 5: SUMMER 2019, WOLFMAN BOOKS, OAKLAND, CA

HONORS & AWARDS

2018 | MUSEUM OF AFRICAN DIASPORA (MOAD) EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM

| HEADLANDS CENTER FOR THE ARTS GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP FINALIST