statement

My recent drawings depict homes in some of the city of Toledo's struggling neighborhoods. Like many other mid-western manufacturing cities, during the past several decades Toledo has greatly declined in population. As people leave density also declines and a once tight urban fabric begins to loosen. Empty houses, businesses and factories become vacant lots. These spaces eventually merge and large sections of the city begin "returning to nature." The condition results in unsustainable infrastructure costs, declining tax revenues for schools, and a pervasive and pernicious narrative of decline capable of undermining re-development efforts. These are genuine problems requiring real solutions, but my drawings aren't intended to cast blame or offer glib answers to complex issues. Instead I offer my work as straightforward documentation of a particular place and time.

bio

born: 1962, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

education

Yale University School of Art, 1987
University of Iowa, 1985

selected awards/honors

Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Excellence Award 2011
Fellowship - Institute for the Study of Culture and Society, Bowling Green State University 2008
Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Excellence Award 2007
Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Excellence Award 2004

selected publications

Exhibition Catalog - Small Worlds, by Amy Gilman. Published by the Toledo Museum of Art 2011
Exhibition in Print, International Drawing Annual (INDA) 6. Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 2011
Exhibition in Print, International Drawing Annual (INDA) 5 Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 2010.

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Cleveland, OH 2010
Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester, VT 2011
Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA
Miller/Block Gallery, Boston, MA 2007

selected group shows

Small Worlds (curated by Amy Gilman), Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH  2011
The Pencil Show, Foxy Production [Gallery], New York City, NY 2010
The Contemporary Landscape ˆ Eight Views, Washington Arts Association, Washington Depot, CT 2010