BIO

Adam Forrester is a writer, filmmaker, and visual artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He has taught filmmaking and visual art at Emory University, Georgia State University, Louisiana Tech University, and others. He is a Hambidge Fellow, Idea Capital grantee, Southern Documentary Fund grantee, and a Fellow with The Creatives Project (2018-2020). Forrester’s fiction and essays have been published in The Baltimore Review, Drain Magazine, and BULL, among others. His film and television work has been nominated for a Georgia Film Critics Association Award (2025), won an Emmy (Southeast), been distributed via PBS across the US, and screened at DOC NYC, IFF Boston, ATL Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, indie grits, Sheffield Doc/Fest and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Forrester’s expanded media works have been screened and exhibited nationally and internationally, most notably at the Historic Center of Kalamata in Greece, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art in Poland, Weinberg/Newton Gallery in Chicago, Soap Factory in Minneapolis, STOVE WORKS in Chattanooga, and as part of the 2021 Atlanta Biennial at Atlanta Contemporary. Most recently, he co-curated (Im)Posibilidades: Performance Art for Video at Ogden Contemporary Arts.

Forrester earned an MFA in fiction from Georgia State University as well as an MFA in visual art from the University of Georgia. He lives with his wife and their dog in an old house with wavy glass window panes.


  • 2026
    Eyes on Atlanta: ULTRARUIN, APG Gallery, Atlanta, GA
    Gallery on Seven, The Leon on Ponce, Atlanta, GA

    2025
    Out on Film Film Festival, Tara Theater, Atlanta, GA
    (Im)Posibilidades: Performance Art for Video, Ogden Contemporary Arts, Ogden, UT [co-curator]

    2024
    Overlook: Assorted Viewpoints en Plein Air, whitespec, Atlanta, Georgia
    BronzeLens Film Festival, Atlanta, GA

    2023
    Truly, in All Sincerity, Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University-Bloomington, IN [curated by Linda Tien]

    2022
    SOUTHERN EXIGENCY, The Anderson, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
    Tell Me a Story, Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta, Georgia [curated by Henry Horenstein]
    Together is Better, STOVE WORKS, Chattanooga, TN
    Jacksonville Film Festival, Jacksonville FL
    Saturday Cinema: The Art of Tinkering, Osher Gallery at the Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA

    2021
    SPE West x Southwest Film Festival, Society for Photographic Education Southwest Chapter
    BROOD X, Stove Works, Chattanooga, TN
    BronzeLens Film Festival, Eventive (Virtual Screening), Atlanta, GA
    Virtual Remains, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia [curated by TK Smith]

    2020
    Archive(d), whitespec, Atlanta, Georgia - [solo exhibition]
    Indie Grits Film Festival, Nickelodeon Theatre, Columbia, South Carolina
    New Orleans Film Festival, The Orpheum Theater, New Orleans, Louisiana
    Oxford Film Festival, Malco Theatre, Oxford, Mississippi
    Salem Film Fest, Salem Access Television, Salem, Massachusetts

    2019
    DOC NYC,Cinépolis Chelsea, New York, New York
    Carrboro Film Festival, The ArtsCenter, Carrboro, North Carolina
    TRANCEND, 9th Annual Art of Community Exhibition, Atlanta, Georgia
    Rome International Film Festival, DeSoto Theatre, Rome, Georgia
    Indie Grits Film Festival, Nickelodeon Theatre, Columbia, South Carolina
    SideWalk Film Festival, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham, Alabama
    20th Annual ART PAPERS Art Auction, Southern Exchange Ballrooms, Atlanta, Georgia

    2018
    New Orleans Film Festival, The Orpheum Theater, New Orleans, Louisiana
    NOVA, 8th Annual Art of Community Exhibition, West Whitehall Street, Atlanta, Georgia
    do it, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama
    Digital Graffiti: A Projection Art Festival, Alys Beach, Florida
    Atlanta Film Festival, Plaza Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia
    International Film Festival: ZOOM - ZBLIZENIA, Kino Lot Theatre, Jelenia Góra, Poland

    2017
    Landscapes and Interventions, HATHAWAY | Contemporary Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
    Vision All Together, Durango Arts Center, Durango, Colorado - [Curator]
    Fast Forward // Rewind, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA), Atlanta, Georgia
    WonderRoot's Generally Local Mostly Independent Film Series, Plaza Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia

    2016
    Edge to Edge, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA), Atlanta, Georgia
    Every Five Minutes, ARTlab, Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia - [Co-Curator with Joshua Dudley Greer]
    Independent Film Festival Boston, Sommerville Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts
    SideWalk Film Festival, Alabama Theatre, Birmingham, Alabama
    Sheffield Doc/Fest, The Showroom Cinema, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK
    Atlanta Film Festival, 7 Stages Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia
    Indie Grits Film Festival, Nickelodeon Theatre, Columbia, South Carolina
    Milledgeville Film Festival, Russell Auditorium, Milledgeville, Georgia
    Sense Off, TWIXTlab: art, anthropology, & the everyday, Athens, Greece
    Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Fiesta Theatre, Santa Barbara, California
    Thin Line Film Fest, Campus Theatre, Denton, Texas
    Twister Alley Film Festival, Woodward Theatre, Woodward, Oklahoma

    2015
    Field Study, Filter Photo Festival, Chicago, Illinois
    Landlocked Film Festival, Englert Theatre, Iowa City, Iowa
    Rome International Film Festival, DeSoto Theatre, Rome, Georgia
    Deep End, The Wassaic Project Summer Exhibition, Maxon Mills, Wassaic, New York
    ARCANUM: Video & Animation Festival, D'Clinic Studios, Lendava, Slovenia
    Summer Vacation, Gallery @ Indigo, Athens, Georgia
    Four Acts of Movement: A Study of Stillness, Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles, California
    Live-Action, MINT Gallery,Atlanta, Georgia
    Digital Graffiti: A Projection Art Festival, Alys Beach, Florida
    Ever So Much More So, Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia
    Eat White Dirt, Patrick Theater, The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia

    2014
    Atlanta Celebrates Photography: Ones to Watch, Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
    ReCulture III: RISK, Skagiopoulio Foundation, Patras, Greece
    Picture Books, Power Plant Gallery, Durham, North Carolina
    Videholica International Video Art Festival, Graffit Gallery, Varna, Bulgaria
    Ain't Bad at Art Now, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia
    9/50 Summit, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia
    Wayfinding Film Festival, Public Art Installation, Wassaic, New York | Portland, Maine | Providence, Rhode Island
    AIVA International Video Art Festival, Public Art Installation, Finspång, Sweden
    southXeast: Southeastern Contemporary Art, Ritter Art Gallery, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
    Live Amateurs: All-Media Juried Exhibition, MINT Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia

    2013
    Video Art Festival Miden, Historic Center of Kalamata, Kalamata, Greece
    SUBRISE - das FilmFestival, Naxos-Union Factory Floor, Frankfurt, Germany
    Recession Art Presents: Facts and Fictions, Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn, New York
    Encoding Identities: Spectatorship and the Subject, DC3 Art Projects, Edmonton, Canada
    Echoes of Eco, 6th International Winter Festival of Arts, Sochi Winter Theater, Sochi, Russia
    Double Vision II: Multi-Channel Video Art Festival, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, Indiana
    International Show and Tell Media Festival, Fluorescent Gallery, Knoxville, Tennessee
    REACH Film and Video Fest, Popcorn Noir, Easthampton, Massachusetts
    Kentucky National 2013, Clara M. Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky
    Abstraction, The Keirnan Gallery, Juror - Matthew Gamber, Lexington, Virginia
    THE 01 Video Art Review,Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery, Krakow, Poland
    Louisiana Purchase: 2nd National Biennial Juried Exhibition, LA Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana
    ALTERNATIVES: Borders and Boundaries, Ohio University, School of Art, Athens, Ohio
    MFA Thesis Candidates Exhibition, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia

    2011
    Atlanta Celebrates Photography Film Fest: Still Motion, Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia
    McNeese National Works on Paper, Abercrombie Gallery, Lake Charles, Louisiana
    Lyndon House Arts Center Juried Exhibit, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia

  • 2025
    Goat Rock, BULL, Fall 2025
    2023
    Ray’s Fine Foods, Baltimore Review, Spring 2023
    The Bottom, The Airgonaut, February 2023
    There and Back Again, Nonfiction Filmmaking for the Screen, ed. Charles Dye, Focal Press [essay]
    2022
    Up and Down and Back Again, Drain: A Journal of Contemporary Art and Culture, (un)built: Vol:18:1, 2022 [essay]
    Window #76, Oxford Magazine, Issue #49
    2021
    Surprised to See You, South Summit 2021, New Orleans Film Society, New Orleans, LA [essay]
    2018
    And Light Followed the Flight of Sound, One Day Projects, Williamsburg, Virginia, [available here]
    2016
    Inspired Georgia, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, [available here]
    2014
    Oranbeg NET 05: Bastards, Oranbeg Press, Boston, Massachusetts
    2013
    Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design, Issue 32, New York, New York
    Incandescent Magazine, Issue 3, Pine Island Press, Portland, Oregon
    Supermoon, Self-Published Edition of 300, Athens, Georgia
    2011
    Flagpole Magazine, Volume 25, Issue 28, Athens, Georgia
    2009
    Appendix Magazine, Premier Issue, Milan, Italy
    Oxford American Magazine, Issue 65, The Best of the South, Little Rock, Arkansas

  • 2025
    Runner Up, Best Documentary Short, Out on Film Festival, Atlanta, GA
    Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema (Nominee), Georgia Film Critics Association Awards
    2024
    Artist-in-Residence, The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA
    2023
    Emmy® Award (Southeast), Co-Director, “Crisis of Substance”
    IDA Documentary Awards, Best Curated Series Nominee, “Jared Dawson is the Church of Lavonia Elberton,”
    Reel South, Season 8, PBS, UNC-TV
    2021
    Artist-in-Residence, Stove Works, Chattanooga, TN
    2020
    Early Production Lab Fellow, UnionDocs, New York, NY
    2019
    Rural Project Fellowship Grant, Indie Grits Labs, Columbia, South Carolina
    Reel South SHORT Award, Sidewalk Film Festival, Birmingham, Alabama
    2018
    Artist-in-Residence, The Creatives Project, Atlanta, Georgia (2018-2020)
    SDF Research and Development Grant, Southern Documentary Fund, Durham, North Carolina
    2017
    Idea Capital Research and Development Grant, Idea Capital, Atlanta, Georgia
    Artist-in-Residence, AIR Serenbe, Chatahoochee Hill, Georgia
    2016
    Seed & Spark Award
    , Atlanta Film Festival, Atlanta, Georgia
    Best Documentary Short, Milledgeville Film Festival, Milledgeville, Georgia
    2015
    On Our Radar, Creative Capital Foundation, New York, New York
    Best Documentary Short, Landlocked Film Festival, Iowa City, Iowa
    Best Documentary Short, Rome International Film Festival, Rome, Georgia
    Curator's Choice Award, Digital Graffiti, Curated by Brett Phares, Alys Beach, Florida
    2014
    Artist-In-Residence, Wassaic Residency Program, Wassaic, New York
    Atlanta Celebrates Photography: Ones to Watch, Mary Stanley Studio, Atlanta, Georgia
    Student Technology Grant, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana
    2013
    Artist-In-Residence, Little Brown Mushroom Storytelling Camp, St. Paul, Minnesota
    Top 25: Photography, Creative Quarterly, The Journal of Art and Design
    2012
    Artist-In-Residence, Crater Lake National Park, Crater Lake, Oregon
    Willson Center for Humanities and Arts Research and Performance Grant, Athens, Georgia
    2011
    Juror‘s Award of Merit, 36th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Juror Carla Hanzal, Athens, Georgia

  • 2025
    Gina Cavallo, Bodies on Screen: The Power of Performance Video in OCA’s
    “(Im)Posibilidades,” Artists of Utah, September 4, 2025
    Les Roka, Ogden Contemporary Arts’ (Im)Posibilidades: Performance Art for Video
    is Marvelous Sampling of Media Possibilities, The Utah Review, October 2, 2025

    2024
    Jeremy Redmon, Film on Acclaimed Zora Neale Hurston Biographer to Debut in Atlanta,
    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 20,2024

    2023
    Heather Leighton, Filmmaker Interview: 'Jared Dawson' Creator on Joy,
    ‍ ‍ REEL SOUTH: Filmmaker Feature, May 7, 2023


    2021
    Rosalin Bentley, 2020 Reverberates at This Year’s Atlanta Biennial Exhibition,
    ‍ ‍The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 15, 2021

    2018
    Andrew Wasserman, Restoring the Archives Building: An Interview with Adam Forrester,
    ‍ ‍Atlanta Studies, Emory Center for Digital Scholarship, October 2, 2018

    2017
    Lara Wagner, A Behind the Scenes Look at the Newest Studio Artists of
    The Creatives Project, Gather Good, December 1, 2017
    Andrew Alexander, Artist-Funded Grants Seed Creative Ideas in 2017,
    ‍ ‍Atlanta Journal-Constitution,  January 6, 2017

    2016
    Catherine Rush, Director Adam Forrester Digs Into Stigmatized Southern Delicacy in
    'Eat White Dirt', ArtsATL, April 1, 2016

    2015
    Paul Edwards, Dishing the Dirt, Smith Journal, Volume 16, pp. 40-42, September 2015

    2014
    Jeff Rich, EYES ON THE SOUTH: Adam Forrester, Oxford American Magazine, September 29, 2014
    Christopher Kimball, Eating White Dirt: Investigation of the World's Strangest Food Obsession,
    ‍ ‍‍ ‍PRX: America's Test Kitchen, Boston, MA, August 16, 2014
    Emelyn Rude, The American South is Still Eating White Dirt, VICE Magazine: Munchies, July 23, 2014
    Linda Chen, The Old and Mysterious Practice of Eating Dirt, Revealed,NPR: The Salt, April 2, 2014
    Chuck Reece, The Down & Dirty: Making Peace with the Age-Old Practice of
    Eating White Dirt, The Bitter Southerner, February 25, 2014
    Jonathan D. Marcus, FAU Exhibit Spotlights Contemporary Art,Sun Sentinel, February 7, 2014
    Jenna Garrett, Fascinating Documentary Investigates the Strange Practice of Southerners who
    'Eat White Dirt', Feature Shoot, January 16, 2014

    2013
    Jim Reed, Favourite Photobooks of 2013: A Book Man's Book List, GUP Magazine,December 5, 2013
    Jesse Veverka, Focus on Filmmakers: Adam Forrester, The Clyde Fitch Report, September 23, 2013
    Katy Ganaway, The Talk of Troy, WTSU Troy Public Radio, Montgomery, AL, September 6, 2013
    Cynthia Adams, A PHENIX RISING: The Beautiful Polarity of Adam Forrester's Works,
    ‍ ‍The Graduate School Magazine, Summer 2013, pp. 10-15

  • 2025
    Excerpt from “Here in Watauga,” Lostintheletters, Atlanta, GA [reading]
    Moving Pixels, Ancient Myths, and Contemporary Relics,” Artist Lecture, Weber State University, Ogden, UT

    2021
    Southern Identity, Place, and Authorship Panel Discussion for South Summit 2021, New Orleans Film Society, New Orleans, LA
    Contemporary Talks | Virtual Remains, Artist Talk with Artemus Jenkins Moderated by TK Smith, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA

    2020
    Visiting Artist, Western Michigan University, Frostic School of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan

    2018
    Artist Talk, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama

    2017
    Curator Lecture, Durango Arts Center, Durango, Colorado
    Visiting Artist, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dept. of Art and Art History, Birmingham, Alabama

    2016
    Panelist, Southern Studies Conference, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama

    2015
    Artist Lecture, The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia
    Artist Presentation, Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization (HERO), Greensboro, Alabama
    Artist Presentation, Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia

    2014
    Visiting Artist, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida

    2013
    Artist Presentation, The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Visiting Artist, Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia
    Visiting Artist, DC3 Art Projects, Edmonton, Canada
    Artist Lecture, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

    2012
    Visiting Artist, Crater Lake National Park, Crater Lake, Oregon


  • 2025 MFA, Creative Writing, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
    2014   Werner Herzog Rogue Film School, Los Angeles, California
    2013   MFA, Photography & Expanded Media, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
    2006 BSEd, Art Education, Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia

  • David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
    Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA), Atlanta, GA
    The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia
    Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT
    Pike Historic Preservation Society, Pike County, Georgia