Ed Woodham (born 1957) is a global public artist and a NYC cultural provocateur based in the Kips Bay section of New York City. As a performer, puppeteer, and curator active in civic interventions, community art-making, and arts education for more than forty-five years,Ed Woodham, New Museum. Woodham has performed and presented in Australia, Europe, and North America.City of West Hollywood (July 2019). Art in Odd Places (Ed Woodham). He is the founder of Art in Odd Places, and the co-founder of 800 EAST, Atlanta, whose archives are housed at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University.
Early life and education Woodham was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1957.800 EAST records, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University. Accessed November 05, 2025. His mother, Carrol Woodham, was an artist, and his father was B.J. Woodham. He grew up as a southern queer in McDonough, Georgia. He graduated from Henry County High School in 1975, and studied for two years at Middle Georgia State University in Cochran. Woodham went on to attend Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia,Ed Woodham, Visual and Performance Artist. where he received a bachelor's degree in 1979.Ed Woodham. CV.
Career
In 1980, Woodham moved to New York City to become a Broadway star.Estévez, Nicolás Dumit (2022). Interview with Ed Woodham. The Interior Beauty Salon. In 1987, he left New York and returned to Atlanta to open an arts space. Woodham managed the "Living Room", an art gallery that was staged in his living room.
800 EAST In 1990, Neil Fried, William Morar, and Woodham co-founded 800 EAST,Boros, Diana and Ed Woodham (December 7, 2023). Hosting Art with Diana Boros: A Dialogue with Ed Woodham. Lynch School of Education and Human Development. and turned a derelict post-industrial spaceGallery ELL@Showroom (April 25, 2013). Artist-Run Initiatives and the DIY Movement Panel Discussion. into a multi-disciplinary arts center and collective located at 800 EAST Avenue in the Little Five Points section of Atlanta. Wayne Sizemore was an 800 EAST co-collaborator. Musicians Scott Berlin, Crash Hot Man (Robert Johnson), and Michael Kilburn were involved in the organization's early years.Kilburn, Michael (March 23, 2013). 800 East Oral History project - Scott and Robert 1 (video). Terry S. Hardy, an artist and curator, served on the 800 EAST board of directors from 1991 to 1997.Terry S. Hardy. CV. Organizations:800 EAST, Board Member, 1991-1997. Woodham served as director of the organization until its closure in 1998.Carey, Brainard (July 27, 2015). Ed Woodham. The Museum of Non-Visible Art, Yale University Radio.
During its history, 800 EAST produced more than 250 visual and performance art events.Art Prospect Festival (2012). Participant Profile: Ed Woodham. CEC ArtsLink. In 1992, 800 EAST presented "Homo" a visual and performance art weekend,Chellew, Candace (September 17-23, 1992). Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Arts Festival Southern Voice. 3.800 EAST "The Homo Show" Performances, 1992 October 23 original: VHS, Box: 6. 800 EAST records, Manuscript Collection No. 1419. Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Accessed November 05, 2025. and "The Big Style Show",Big Style Show, tape 3, undated original: VHS, Box: 6. 800 EAST records, Manuscript Collection No. 1419. Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Accessed November 05, 2025.Mister Richardson (November 27, 2017). The Big Style Show at 800 EAST - Atlanta 1990s (video). YouTube. that featured a "Tok Sho" where artists and audience talked with each other on camera.800 EAST Tok Sho 2 (February 14, 1992). 800 EAST Tok Sho 2 (video). The group's 3rd Annual "24 Hour Show" showcased performances by local bands, musicians, and other artists.Roble, Danny (September 17-23, 1992). After Hours Southern Voice. 14. In 1993, 800 EAST under the direction of Woodham and Sizemore presented the "Short Play Series", including new plays by Alice Dinnean and others.Georgia Historic Newspapers (January 28, 1993). Southern Voice, Atlanta, Georgia. January 28, 1993, Image 25.. In 2017, the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University purchased the 800 EAST archives for an undisclosed amount.
Art in Odd Places
In 1996, Woodham and a group of artists founded Art in Odd Places as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the Atlanta Summer Games.Huebner, Jeff. (Fall/Winter 2012). The Power of Impermanence: Temporary art's impact on struggling communities. Forecast / Public Art Review #47.Jacob, Mary Jane and Michael Brenson (1998). Conversations at The Castle, MIT Press. . Art in Odd Places was created as a response to the disappearance of public space and personal civil liberties. The organization took a hiatus from 1998 to 2005.
Since 2005, Art in Odd Places has been headquartered in New York City. The annual festival presents work in all disciplines outside of traditional public arts presentation and performance spaces, most notably along 14th Street in New York. In addition, Art in Odd Places has produced events in Boston, Massachusetts; Greensboro, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Los Angeles and West Hollywood, California; New York, New York; Orlando, Florida; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Sydney, Australia.Previous Years Festivals, Art in Odd Places.
In 2012, Art in Odd Places was selected as a representative in the U.S. pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good" received a special mention from the Biennale Jury,Architecture (May 3, 2025)The International Jury of the Biennale Architettura 2025 …"The Jury may also award a maximum of one special mention to National Participations". the first exhibition in a U.S. pavilion to receive the honor. Spontaneous Interventions featured 124 urban interventions by architects, artists, city planners, designers, and others designed to bring positive neighborhood and urban solution to cities.Custer, Lee Ann (September 17, 2012). 124 Ways to Change a City: Spontaneous Interventions at the Venice Biennale. Guggenheim.
In 2024, Art in Odd Places was curated by husband-and-wife team Christopher Kaczmarek and Patricia Miranda,and involved more than 75 artists, roughly half the amount who submitted proposals for the festival.Staff Reporters (October 17, 2024). How Art Changed Visual and Performance Artist Ed Woodham. All Arts.Cascone, Sarah (August 28, 2024). A Quirky Art Festival Will Be Unfolding in New York—One So Low-Key It Might Surprise You. Artnet.
In 2025, Art in Odd Places celebrated its 20th Anniversary with the multi-day outdoor festival VOICE presented by the City of West Hollywood and featuring 35 artist projects.Art and Cake LA (July 20, 2025). Voices in the Street. and "Nothing" in New York City in response to the organization losing funding from the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA).Nayyar, Rhea (October 20, 2025). ng/ Art in Odd Places Resists by Doing "Nothing". Hyperallergic.
The Keepers
In 2016, Woodham received a commission from by The Gowanus Public Arts Initiative to create a performance piece, "The Keepers", in his neighborhood of Gowanus, Brooklyn. The "durational still performative group action" as an extension of his 2013 "Numb and Number" that was performed on the beaches of Australia. In 2023, Woodham produced "The Keepers" at three different locations near New York's Penn Station: The Church of St. John the Baptist, Gimbel's Skybridge, and the demolished Hotel Pennsylvania.Peace, Katy (August 25, 2023). Coming Soon: The Keepers. Preservation League of New York State. The goal of "Keepers" is to raise awareness to the demolition and destruction of historic buildings and to encourage preservation of historic spaces and structures. In 2025, The Keepers at Coney Island appeared along Coney Island beaches in response to aggressive redevelopment of urban areas where historical environments and communities have been ignored.Coney Island USA (May 3, 2025). The Keepers at Coney Island.
Other Projects From 1995 to 1998, Woodham was the founder and director of Exciting Parlor.
In 1999, Woodham created "Useful Tables", a public art commission by DreamWorks Puppetry for the New York Village Halloween Parade. The title referred to tables that are used for collection and presentation of data, i.e. Table of contents, Periodic table, and Multiplication table. During the parade, a puppeteer walked a 10 foot wooden table up Sixth Avenue for twenty-three blocks. Woodham expanded the table concept for a puppet stage and projections at St. Ann's Warehouse.
Woodham created and co-produced the Bravo documentary series, The It Factor, about actors and actressess attempting to 'make it' in Los Angeles and New York.
In 2003, Woodham performed "Constance Holiday: Hollywood Nurse" at Labapalooza! Mini Festival of New Puppet Theater in Brooklyn.Curtis, Lisa J. (May 25, 2003). Puppet Fest. Brooklyn Paper.
In 2016, Endicott College presented "Chickenarama," a performance installation by Linda Mary Montano and Woodham and the accompanying "Dad and Mom: Art Giving Life" gallery exhibition. "Dad and Mom" featured showed works by Montano's father, Henry Montano, and drawings by Woodham mother's Carrol Woodham, who died in 2012 from Multiple System Atrophy,Legacy Remembers (July 2, 2012). Obituary: Carrol Hedger Woodham. and that were created during their end-of-life art therapeutic practice.Endicott College (April 14, 2016). "Chickenarama" Art Performance by Legendary Seminal Feminist and Public Artist.
In 2016, Woodham and Samantha Hill were selected by the Macon Arts Alliance to be the inaugural artists-in-residence for the Mill Hill Visiting Social Practice Program in Macon, Georgia.Macon Arts Alliance (March 9, 2016). Two Artists Selected for 2016 Mill Hill Visiting Social Practice Artist Program. The artists were scheduled to work in the East Macon Fort Hawkins neighborhood.Beimfohr, Chelsea (July 29, 2016). Macon Arts Alliance terminates two artists. WMAZ. Without notice, the Macon Arts Alliance terminated the artists two weeks into their three-month residency project.Mackrandilal, Maya (December 21, 2016). The Impossibility of Art. Sixty Inches from Center.
In 2020, Woodham was a featured artist in The Babel Masks exhibition.The Babel Masks (November 2020). Interview with Featured Artist Ed Woodham.
Woodham has performed around the world, including at 54 Columns; Art Prospect Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia; Center for Puppetry Arts; Cherry Lane Theater; Eramboo Art Environment, Sydney, Australia; EyeDrum, Atlanta; HERE Arts Center; High Museum of Art; Indianapolis Museum of Art; Le Poisson Rouge; Lincoln Center Out of Doors; Old Stone House; Orlando Museum of Art; Siren Arts, Asbury Park, New Jersey; St EOM's Pasaquan, Buena Vista, Georgia; Telfair Museum; and other venues. In 2025, he was part of the inaugural performance art biennial, The Enduring Power of Play, at Open Source Gallery in Brooklyn.Open Source Gallery (June 13 - June 15, 2025). 2025 Performance Festival. In addition, Woodham operates the Showroom Gallery in the Kips Bay/Murray Hill section of New York City.Fosters, Jeffery. You Can't Kill Consciousness. Arts Magazine.Showroom.
Teacher and speaker Woodham is a faculty member of the Visual and Critical Studies Department at the School of Visual Arts, where he teaches Social Malpractice Art.Social Malpractice Art, November 1 to December 6, 2025. School of Visual Arts. Since 2013, he has been an Invited Artist Faculty member at NYU's Hemispheric Institute. In addition, he has taught at Wilson College's MFA program in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.Staff Reporters (July 17, 2018). Wilson art students to present exhibition at Chambersburg library. The Herald-Mail.