Carolyn Sickles (she/her) is a contemporary arts leader and artist committed to building cultural ecosystems where artists and communities thrive together. As Executive & Artistic Director of Tulsa Artist Fellowship, a cultural initiative of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, she stewards a nationally recognized fellowship of creative practitioners and advances art as a vital civic force.

Her leadership centers long-term investment in artists, cross-sector collaboration, and the belief that ambitious creative work strengthens public life. Prior to joining Tulsa Artist Fellowship, she served as Director of Visual Arts & Engagement at Abrons Arts Center in New York, where she developed artist-centered programs recognized by The New York Times, PBS Art21, Modern Painters, Hyperallergic, and other national and regional outlets.

As an educator, she has led workshops, critiques, and lectures for the New Museum, Dia Art Foundation, Guggenheim Museum, e-flux, Rutgers University, NYU, Hunter College (CUNY), Teachers College at Columbia University, Parsons School of Design, and the University of Tulsa, among others. Across these roles, she champions rigorous artistic practice and expanded public access.

As an artist, Sickles creates site-responsive sculptural installations that engage landscape through fiber-based interventions. Her work has been presented at Material Art Fair (Mexico City), EFA Project Space (New York), Living Room Gallery (Miami), and galleries across the United States. She has participated in residencies at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts and Pine Jog Environmental Center and received the National Association of Women Artists Emerging Artist Award.

She holds an MSEd in Museum Leadership from Bank Street Graduate School of Education and degrees in sculpture, art history, and gender studies. Born in the Washington Metropolitan Area and raised in South Florida, she lives in Osage County, Oklahoma, with her partner, math educator and musician Nathan Pape, their daughter, and a clowder of cats.