Conrad Egyir Named 2026-27 Roman J. Witt Artist in Residence
In partnership with the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities, the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design is pleased to announce that contemporary artist Conrad Egyir has been selected as the 2026 – 27 Roman J. Witt Artist in Residence.
Born in Accra, Ghana and based in Detroit, Egyir is known for his monumental paintings and installations that blend West African folklore, diasporic histories, and contemporary visual culture. Working across painting, drawing, sculpture, and mixed media, his practice explores themes of migration, memory, identity, and the collective human spirit through richly layered imagery and symbolic materials.
As part of the Witt Residency, Egyir will develop a multi-part interdisciplinary project titled The River That Remembers Us, an immersive exhibition examining water as a site of memory, transition, and Black epistemology. Combining large-scale paintings, sculptural installations, archival research, and community-centered programming, the project draws from West African cosmologies and diasporic ritual practices to consider how memory is inherited through elemental and embodied experience.
“At the core of the project is a body of new paintings that depict intimate moments of ritual preparation, immersion, and reflection,” said Egyir. “These works resist spectacle in favor of stillness, foregrounding Black interiority and care.”
Egyir’s residency will include site visits, studio engagement with students, and collaborations across departments including African & African American Studies, Anthropology, and History. Throughout the process, students will have opportunities to participate in critiques, studio sessions, exhibition planning, and discussions centered on Black conceptual art histories and interdisciplinary practice.
For many years, the Roman J. Witt Residency and the University of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities have worked in close partnership to support ambitious artist residencies that extend beyond the studio and into broader conversations across campus. This ongoing collaboration has created space for artists to engage students, faculty, and the public through exhibitions, research, dialogue, and interdisciplinary exchange.
The project will culminate in a Fall 2027 exhibition at the Institute for the Humanities Gallery, an immersive and often experiential space with an ongoing commitment to social justice that explores the intersection of the arts and research through the lens of the humanities. Through painting, installation, and interdisciplinary engagement, Egyir’s residency project aligns closely with the gallery’s mission to foster critical dialogue, reflection, and new ways of understanding contemporary social and cultural experience across the University of Michigan community.
“Conrad Egyir brings a remarkable depth of vision to the Witt Residency,” said Chrisstina Hamilton, Director of the Roman Witt Program. “His work invites us to consider how history, memory, and identity are carried across bodies, places, and generations. We are thrilled to welcome him to Stamps, where his residency will create meaningful opportunities for students to learn alongside an artist whose work is both visually powerful and intellectually expansive.”
“The Institute for the Humanities Gallery is so excited to once again partner with the Stamps Witt Residency,” said Amanda Krugliak, Arts Curator and Assistant Director at the Institute for the Humanities. “Conrad Egyir’s powerful images and insights have the capacity to more fully activate our campus, connecting the dots between the visual arts and humanities scholarship, bringing people together through this experience. Our collaborations with the Stamps Witt Residency further the reach of the artist and their project… the possibility of things.”
Egyir received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Institute of Contemporary Art San José, Library Street Collective, and Jessica Silverman Gallery, among others. His work is included in the permanent collections of Pérez Art Museum Miami, Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Art Museum, and more.
The Roman J. Witt Residency at Stamps supports artists and designers whose practice engages students through collaborative production, critical dialogue, and public exhibition. The residency culminates in a major exhibition and public programming that expands interdisciplinary exchange across the University of Michigan campus and beyond.
Learn more about the Witt Residency Program at stamps.umich.edu, and the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities Gallery at lsa.umich.edu/humanities. Additional information about artist Conrad Egyir can be found at conradegyir.com.