UI artist and associate professor will join an international cohort at the American Academy in Rome
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Written by Office of Strategic Communication
T.J. Dedeaux-Norris came to the University of Iowa from Yale University as a Grant Wood Art Fellow in 2016 and expected to be here for nine months.
Fast forward nine years, and they are preparing to spend several months in Rome working on their project titled “Martyrs, Vessels, and Perpetual Becoming: An Emergence in Rome” as the recipient of one of the world’s most prestigious fellowship programs.
Dedeaux-Norris, associate professor in the UI School of Art, Art History, and Design and African American Studies, and area head of painting and drawing, says receiving the Rome Prize is both a personal and professional milestone.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a community of esteemed artists and scholars from around the world that comes at a critical juncture. It’s a chance to step outside the sociopolitical climate of the United States — and the Midwest in particular — and reflect more deeply on my role as an artistic citizen,” Dedeaux-Norris says.
Dedeaux-Norris is one of 35 recipients of the 2025–26 prize, a rigorous competition supporting innovative fellows in the arts, humanities, and sciences. They will reside at the American Academy in Rome for five to 10 months, starting in September.
This year’s competition received 990 applications from 44 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and 17 different countries.
Dedeaux-Norris’ project is a three-part, semi-autobiographical multimedia memoir — a visual album, an experimental biopic film, and an educational podcast series embodied through three personas. Dedeaux-Norris says Rome will serve as “a powerful historical and spiritual framework through which I’ll explore figures like saints Perpetua and Felicitas — women who resisted empire and whose narratives resonate with contemporary struggles around embodiment, sacrifice, and self-definition.”
Dedeaux-Norris is Iowa’s third Rome Prize recipient, following Jamel Brinkley, assistant professor in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, in 2022; and Brenda Longfellow, Roger A. Hornsby Associate Professor in the Classics and division head of Art History, in 2012.
Dedeaux-Norris is currently pursuing a doctorate in education and transformational leadership and coaching at Maharishi International University. Their Rome Prize work will be part of their doctorate and dissertation research.
‘Learning is lifelong’
Dedeaux-Norris’ path to Iowa was circuitous. They grew up in the Gulf Coast area, then attended community college at Santa Monica College — where, ironically, they failed painting twice before transferring to the University of California Los Angeles.
“It was really heartbreaking,” Dedeaux-Norris says. “My story goes, I had to fail, but I ended up at Yale.”
Dedeaux-Norris earned a Bachelor of Arts at UCLA, followed by a Master of Fine Arts at Yale. Then came their expected nine-month stint at Iowa. Dedeaux-Norris says their teaching and studio practice are grounded in the philosophy that “learning is lifelong and that art can be a method of inquiry.”
Dedeaux-Norris’ vast artistic repertoire — which includes fiber arts, rap, painting and drawing, and now experimental filmmaking and podcasting — and their fearless experimentation are what keep them engaged both with their own practice and in the classroom.
“I ignorantly lurch toward all the things with enthusiasm without worrying too much if I’m going to be good at it or not,” Dedeaux-Norris says. “That’s sort of the charm of my practice. It keeps it fresh, and it keeps it fun. I love exploring the boundaries of my competencies.”
Dedeaux-Norris challenges students to also imagine expansive futures for themselves, whether it be pursuing art as a vocation, a research practice, or a personal creative outlet.
“Working with students is fulfilling because it reminds me that art education is as much about cultivating voice and vision as it is about technique,” Dedeaux-Norris says.
Working at a public research institution such as Iowa has many benefits for them to sustain both a studio practice and a teaching career.
“The University of Iowa offers an important platform for inquiry and experimentation,” Dedeaux-Norris says. “The ability to work across departments with scholars in different fields fosters a rich environment for interdisciplinary thinking.”
Did you know …
In addition to teaching students in the School of Art, Art History, and Design, Dedeaux-Norris is a mentor for students in the UI Boxing Club.
“I’ve had an interest in boxing off and on, and I got introduced to Big George,” Dedeaux-Norris says, referring to George Chamberlain, who operates Big George’s Boxing Gym in Sycamore Mall in Iowa City. “We just had a synergy when we met, and I got passionate about boxing.”
The UI Boxing Club works out at Big George’s, and Dedeaux-Norris began hanging out and fell in love with the space and the community that Chamberlain created there. Dedeaux-Norris, too, began working out with him, and their friendship developed.
“He has been one of the most important figures for me in my time at Iowa,” Dedeaux-Norris says.