Harrison Apple Named Director of CMU’s Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry

Harrison Apple, Ph.D., (they/them/theirs) has been named the new director of the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts (CFA), effective Sept. 1. Apple is a 2013 graduate of CMU’s BXA Intercollege Degree Programs. A native of Jupiter, Fla., they earned their master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Arizona Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and College of Information Science. Apple later served as Artist-in-Residence with Pittsburgh’s Center for the Arts in Society and, most recently, as the STUDIO’s associate director since 2022.

“Harrison has been an indispensable member of our community since arriving as a student,” said CFA Dean Mary Ellen Poole in announcing Apple’s appointment. “From the beginning, they lived and breathed STUDIO culture.”

“As an interdisciplinary artist and organizer through the Pittsburgh Queer History Project, they live out loud the STUDIO’s values of exploration, curiosity, and inclusivity,” Poole said.

Apple said they are looking forward to building upon their history at the STUDIO, having been “a sounding board, a project manager, and co-conspirator to everyone in this college, and I’m grateful for a chance to cement that in my new role as director.

“The staggering breadth of investigations and experiments that are brought to life through the STUDIO is central to our mission as the laboratory for the College of Fine Arts,” they said.

Collaboration is key to all that happens in the STUDIO, Apple said, calling the space “where I feel most closely that our college has a culture and a method all its own,” reflecting how a life in higher education can be worth more than the sheer effort put into individual roles or neatly presented works. The STUDIO, Apple said, encourages risk-taking and makes room for taking chances.

“I’ve marveled at and been a part of the invigorating and permissive power of the STUDIO to change the terms of engagement for artists,” they said. “It gives people a chance to change our perspective, to mend, to repair, to reinforce, and endure.”

Apple gave a nod to the STUDIO’S history and leadership which, they said, sets up the creative space for an exciting future led by Apple as director and in concert with team members Dave Zak and Mary Sutton.

“We will continue to be the laboratory where the College of Fine Arts’ impact reaches beyond the boundaries of our campus, by taking the chance to support you in everything you do.”