138.625″x258.125″; silkscreen ink, acrylic, and graphite on canvas; 1985. Courtesy of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, RRF 85.022
SYMPOSIUM AT KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS 2026
Words as Pictures, Collage as Text
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Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, 10-14 June 2026. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend.
Symposium sessions at Kolaj Fest New Orleans bring together a group of artists who speak about a central theme. Artists, writers, academics, and curators present slideshows which are followed by a Question & Answer period.
Robert Rauschenberg is recognized as the greatest collaborator of any major American artist. He fundamentally redefined art as a collective encounter rather than a solitary act. His philosophy that “ideas are not real estate” allowed him to share credit and creative space in a way that was revolutionary for the typically individualistic American art world. His use of found objects was defined by his desire to bridge the gap between “art and life” and that they were inseparable. This approach became a vehicle for Rauschenberg’s commentary on social issues. His transfer and collage work from 1958 to 1970 played a critical role in opening conversations about social justice, addressing the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War which sparked an unprecedented upheaval in politics, culture, and mores. Rauschenberg believed that his collages were a documentation of “a particular event at a particular time and is still being affected”. He described it as a “double document”, a record of the moment it was created and an ongoing, evolving entity affected by time and space.
During this presentation, Carolyn E. Oliver (Carlsbad, California) and Robin Sanford Roberts (San Diego, California) will present an overview of Rauschenberg’s life, work, and process. Oliver will share her experience with fashion designer Jason Wu, whose 2026 Spring/Summer Fashion Show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard paid homage to Rauschenberg. Rauschenberg’s transfer works were printed on large acrylic panels as the models wove in and out. Oliver wrote, “Wu’s art of layering and deconstructing fabrics offered the viewers a visual enchantment of distortion and fragmented beauty.” Rauschenberg’s art and Wu’s fashion created a “double document” of global interest. Set designer and professor Robin Sanford Roberts will share views of her theatrical set designs inspired by Rauschenberg.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Carlsbad, California, USA. As a fine artist, Carolyn E. Oliver channels her passion and expertise into visual art, including collage, monotype, and mixed media. The artist was introduced to collage in 2024 at The Athenaeum in La Jolla, California by instructor Robin Sanford Roberts. Oliver was one of thirteen collage artists selected by the British publication Contemporary Collage Magazine to participate in ColLAge LA in December 2025. Her interest in fine art includes her dedication to supporting the work of contemporary visual art by providing annual financial support to Southern California artists, exhibitions, educational programs, and art-oriented non-profit institutions, through her long-term board membership, Art Center 100, Art Center College of Design and the Pasadena Art Alliance, a non-profit founded in 1955 dedicated to supporting the work of contemporary visual art with the annual awarding of grants. Oliver’s work was featured in an Artist Portfolio in Kolaj 42. Learn more at the Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory, www.carolyneoliverart.com and on Instagram @carolyneoliverart.
San Diego, California, USA. Robin Sanford Roberts is an artist and theatrical scenic designer working in three dimensional sculpture, models and mixed media. She has designed scenery for multiple theatres including the Old Globe Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage and Broadway. She holds a degree in Architecture from Louisiana State University and a MFA in Scenic Design from the University of California, San Diego. She also studied at the École des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau and at the Sir John Cass School of Art (London Polytechnic). Roberts teaches and designs scenery for the Department of Theatre at the University of San Diego and has a studio practice at Art on 30th in San Diego. In 2024, she was a recipient of the Denis Diderot A-i-R grant for an International Artists & Writers Residency at Chateau d’Orquevaux in France. Learn more at the Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory, www.robinsanfordrobertsart.com, and on Instagram @mizrobin.