Addison Namnoum joined Moore’s faculty in 2021, bringing her experience as an artist, educator, and curator to the classroom. Since earning her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2019, she has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level, sharing her knowledge with students across Philadelphia’s creative community. At Moore, Addison teaches in the Foundation program and Fine Arts major, where she emphasizes exploration and creative experimentation—encouraging students to ask questions, take artistic risks, and discover new ways of thinking through their work.
In addition to teaching, Addison is a curator with AUTOMAT Collective, a gallery space in Philadelphia’s South Kensington neighborhood. Her work in both teaching and curating reflects her dedication to creating spaces where artists can connect and grow with new ideas.
Read on to learn more about Addison!
What’s your earliest memory of being creative or knowing that you wanted to do something creative with your life?
I always loved people-watching, thinking about what makes others tick and why we create the social structures we do. I always liked learning analytically, but also with a love of humanity or a curiosity about the world. I think being something of an outsider is something a lot of artists and writers have in common. We like to sit on that edge and make things from there.
Who is the artist or designer who has influenced you most and why?
When I was a teenager, I was introduced to Ursula von Rydingsvard’s work for the first time. Up to that point, the introduction that I had to art in art history was limited to representational painting and drawing, as well as the traditional white male canon of artists. When I encountered her work for the first time, it was a huge realization for me of what art could be. I didn’t realize it could be sculptural and bodily, reference geological time, invoke touch, or that it could be made by a woman.
This was a really big awakening for me. I’m grateful to a lot of different artists that I encountered along the way, but this moment certainly stands out in my memory. It takes a long time for us to be introduced to contemporary artists, and that’s not necessarily wrong. We all start somewhere, and breaking through to those contemporary moments and seeing a broader range of perspectives is really important.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve done recently, professionally or otherwise?
I recently curated a two-person show at AUTOMAT Collective called Lookout. One of the artists was Basak Kilicbeyli, a really amazing Turkish artist based in Philadelphia. The other artist, Isabelle Schipper, is based in New York. The show brought their work together as two queer interpretations of femininity, gender presentation, and non-heteronormativity. Kilicbeyli is a textile artist, and Schipper is painter with a multidisciplinary practice that veers into sculpture.
I really loved bringing their work together. They have two different material practices and different conceptual directions in their work, but I love curating because I’m able to generate conversations between different artists and get at their ideas.
What is it like in your classroom at Moore?
No matter what the level or the focus of the course, I try to make the classroom a learning environment where creative experimentation and expression can happen. Whether students are experimenting with materials, testing concepts or developing a new skill, it’s figuring out what the meat of the idea is.
When I’m teaching in the Foundation program and Fine Arts major, I’m happiest when I see a student surprise themselves. When everything starts to click together, all of their labor leads them to their discovery. I try to do that through curricular structuring—it’s part of how we learn and build skills. It’s about emphasizing questions, and sometimes I model this to students through one-on-one critique. I ask them about why they’re making the decisions they make in their work. That’s also something we do through group critique. I think a big part of it is making room for inquiry and pushing students to ask questions.
If Moore had a mascot, what would it be?
You could certainly have some fantastical character that could be some kind of accumulation of different features. I think something otherworldly could be it.
Something I really love about Moore is its diverse population. Students have the opportunity to make lifelong friendships with each other and encounter each other’s differences. It’s a buzzing hub of artists and designers, and that’s alreadu the tie that a place like this needs to bind itself together. That’s what represents us—this wonderful, vibrant sense of community.
Moore College of Art & Design is the only independent art and design college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Want to learn more about the Foundation program or Fine Arts major at Moore? Contact our Admissions team at enroll@moore.edu or 215.965.4015 to set up a call or a campus visit. We'd love to tell you more!
