Sharif Bey
Sharif Bey is a Syracuse-based artist and educator. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Bey studied sculpture at The Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia. Later, he earned his BFA from Slippery Rock University, his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a PhD in art education from Penn State University. Inspired by modernism, functional pottery, Oceanic Art and Art of the African diaspora, Bey’s works investigate the cultural and political significance of adornment and the sym-bolic and formal properties of archetypal motifs, while questioning how the meaning of icons and function transform across cultures and time.
His awards include The United States Artist Fellowship (2022), The Pollock-Krasner Fellowship (2018), and The New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (2017). Bey’s works are featured in numerous public collections including: The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Columbus Museum, Art Bridges Foundation, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Mint Museum, and The Nelson Atkins Museum among others. Exhibitions in 2024 include Sand, Ash, Heat: Glass at the New Orleans Museum of Art and solo exhibitions at albertz benda, New York and the John Kohler Arts Center, Wisconsin. A forthcoming solo exhibition, Sharif Bey: Homecoming, will be presented at the The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh in 2026.
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                                          ten : an anniversarySeptember 11 - October 18, 2025 New YorkRead more
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                                          Sharif Bey: Crowns EncodedApril 18 - June 1, 2024 New YorkRead more
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                                          Endless SummerFebruary 19 - March 26, 2022 Los AngelesRead more
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                                          Fragmented Bodies III: Figuring RenewalSeptember 9 - October 1, 2021 New YorkRead more
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                                          THIS IS AMERICAKunstraum Potsdam August 7 - September 9, 2021 New YorkRead more
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                                          Sharif Bey: Revelations in PowerFebruary 18 - March 27, 2021 New YorkRead more
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                                          Fragmented BodiesFebruary 27 - April 18, 2020 New YorkRead more
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                                          FELIX Art Fair 2025Los Angeles, CA February 19 - 23, 2025Featuring works by Tanya Aguiñiga, Sharif Bey, Kevin Brisco Jr., Larissa De Souza, Jin Jeong, and Tony Marsh. VIP and Press Preview: Wednesday, February 19:...Read more
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                                          1-54 Contemporary African Art FairRugiyatou Jallow and Sharif Bey October 10 - 13, 2024VIP Preview Thursday, October 10th: 11am - 7pm Public Fair Hours Friday, October 11: 11am - 7pm Saturday, October 12: 11am - 7pm Sunday, October...Read more
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                                          UNTITLED Art Fair 2023 | Booth C11Miami Beach December 6 - 10, 2023Sharif Bey | Kevin Brisco Jr. | Lindsey Brittain Collins | Sydnie Jimenez VIP/Press Preview: Tuesday, December 5, 12pm–7pm Public Dates: Wednesday, December 6 |...Read more
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                                          The Armory Show 2021New York September 9 - 13, 2021The Armory Show | Booth 336 Sharif Bey and Patrick Quarm Javitz Center 429 11th Avenue New York, NY 10001Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey Acquired by John Michael Kohler Arts CenterMichael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI February 15, 2025We are pleased to announce that the John Michael Kohler Arts Center has added Crown Series: Opal by Sharif Bey to its collection. Created during...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey Acquired by the Hirshhorn MuseumHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. January 30, 2025We are pleased to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden acquisition of Soul Collector by Sharif Bey. The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey: Kohler ResidencyMichael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI October 8, 2024Sharif Bey completed his residency at the Kohler Arts Center, invited as part of a select group of artists returning to the factory for a...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey Commissioned by The New Orleans Museum of ArtNew Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA July 2, 2024New Orleans Museum of Art has commissioned a large-scale mixed-media sculpture by Sharif Bey, which will be featured in the upcoming exhibition Sand, Ash, Heat:...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey in Craft Across Continents | Contemporary Japanese and Western Objects: The Lassiter/Ferraro CollectionThe Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC December 9, 2023 - May 5, 2024December 9, 2023 - May 5, 2024 Craft Across Continents | Contemporary Japanese and Western Objects: The Lassiter/Ferraro Collection Craft Across Continents features more than...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey in Peace, Power, & Prestige: Metal Arts in AfricaBard Graduate Center, New York, NY September 1, 2023In September 2023, the Bard Graduate Center Gallery will host “Peace, Power, & Prestige: Metal Arts in Africa.” The exhibition will be the first of...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey Works Acquired by Carnegie MuseumCarnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania March 18, 2023We are pleased to announce that two works by Sharif Bey have been aquired by the Carnegie Musuem of Art!Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey: Ancestral VestigesBelger Arts, Kanas City, Missouri February 3 - August 5, 2023Februray 3 through August 5, 2023 Belger Arts presents Sharif Bey: Ancestral Vestiges from Februray 3 through Auguset 5, 2023. This follows institutional presentations at...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey Speaks at American Ceramic Circle 2022 SymposiumMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY October 26, 2022October 26 - 28, 2022 Please join the American Ceramic Circle for our 2022 Symposium to be held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey: FacetsEverson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York August 14, 2022On view through August 14, 2022 Over the past three decades, artist and educator Sharif Bey (b. 1974) has created a body of work in...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey Named 2022 United States Artists Craft FellowUnited Sates Artists, Chicago, Illinois June 21, 2022Please join us in congratulating Sharif Bey on being selected as a 2022 USA Fellow. United States Artists Fellowships recognize artists working across the United...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey: Colonial RupturesGardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada May 14, 2022May 14 - August 28 , 2022 “I am inspired by folklore, functional pottery, modernism, natural history, and a lifelong affinity for West African and...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey in New ArrivalsBelger Arts Center, Kansas City, Missouri April 1, 2022April 1 - August 6, 2023 New Arrivals includes recent additions to the Belger Collection by local, national, and international artists and builds on the...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey: ExcavationsCarnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania October 2, 2021October 2, 2021 - March 6, 2022 “Sometimes young people have encounters that they cannot fully articulate. I must have been nine or ten years...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey in Afrocosmologies: American ReflectionsWadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut October 19, 2019October 19, 2019 – January 20, 2020 Black artists explore spirituality and culture in Afrocosmologies: American Reflections . Alongside artists of the late-nineteenth century, contemporary...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey in A Pittsburgh AnthologyCarnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 - Ongoing A Pittsburgh Anthology celebrates stories of creative life in Pittsburgh as prompted by Carnegie Museum of Art’s collection across time...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey in Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC November 9, 2018November 9 , 2018 — May 5 , 2019 Disrupting Craft presents the work of Tanya Aguiñiga, Sharif Bey, Dustin Farnsworth, and Stephanie Syjuco, four artists...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey commission for Art in the Embassies, Jakarta, IndonesiaUnited States Embassy, Indonesia August 1, 2018August 2018 - Present Ceramic artist Sharif Bey’s commissioned work Flora resembles a large-scale necklace with bright red dots punctuating the otherwise pastel palette of...Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey receives 2018/2019 Pollock-Krasner AwardPollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, NY April 17, 2018April 2018 Pollock-Krasner grants have enabled artists to create new work, purchase needed materials and pay for studio rent, as well as their personal expenses....Read more
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                                          Sharif Bey: Dialogues in Glass and ClayPittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania March 2, 2018March 2 - May 6, 2018 Clay and glass have different rhythms. Sharif Bey learned to move to the beat of both. His solo exhibition...Read more
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                                              What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in MayYinka Elujoba, John Vincler and Martha Schwendener, The New York Times, May 17, 2024
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                                              Untitled Art Review: An Exuberant FairBrian P Kelly, Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2023
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                                              The Past and Futures of African Metal ArtsRebecca Schiffman , Hyperallergic, October 24, 2023
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                                              In ‘Colonial Ruptures,’ Artist Sharif Bey Defies the Constraints of Time through Fragmented FiguresGrace Ebert, Colossal, August 3, 2022
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                                              Sharif Bey’s Fractured and Beautiful Ceramic FiguresSarah Rose Sharp, Hyperallergic, August 2, 2022
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                                              Frieze Los Angeles / SnapshotNatalie Kovacs, The Design Edit, February 21, 2022
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                                              Opening This Week in LAArtsy, February 17, 2022
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                                              Pittsburgh-born Artist Gets a Show at the Museum Where He Took Art Classes as a KidBill O'Driscoll, WESA, October 8, 2021
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                                              In 'Excavations,' Sharif Bey Unearths his roots and shows what a Beltzhoover 'art kid' can doMarylynne Pitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 1, 2021
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                                              Sharif Bey Explores Manifestations of Power at Albertz BendaPearl Fontaine, Whitewall, March 2, 2021
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                                              Artist Spotlight: Sharif BeyJustice S., Visit Pittsburgh, January 2, 2020
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                                              Four Craft Artists Use Their Medium to Tell the Story of Our TimeAlicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, February 5, 2019
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                                              Ceramic artist speaks through necklaces, muralM. Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 28, 2018
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                                              Open Studio: Sharif Bey applies a model of open engagement to his work as an artist and an educatorJoyce Lovelace, American Craft Council, September 2, 2016
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                                              Open Studio: Sharif Bey (Print Edition)Joyce Lovelace, American Craft Council, August 31, 2016
SHARIF BEY, PhD.
B. 1974, Pittsburgh, PA
Lives and works in Syracuse, New York
EDUCATION
2007       Ph.D. in Art Education, The Pennsylvania State
                  University, University Park, PA 
 
2000       Masters of Fine Arts in Studio Art. University of North
                  Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
 
1998        Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics, Slippery Rock
University of Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock, PA
1994-95 Exchange Student in the Studio of Jozef Jankovic
(Sculpture), Academy of Fine Arts and Design
in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
1988-92  Ceramics, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Apprenticeship
Program, Pittsburgh, PA
UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2022        Associate Professor of Studio Art Syracuse University,
Syracuse, NY
2015-21    Associate Professor of Art Education Syracuse
University, Syracuse, NY
2009-15   Assistant Professor of Art Education Syracuse University, 
Syracuse, NY
2014           Visiting Professor Virginia Commonwealth University,
Richmond, VA
2005-09    Assistant Professor of Art Education Winston Salem
State University, Winston Salem, NC
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Westmoreland Musuem of American Art, Greensburg, PA
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX 
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Columbus Museum of Art (Pizzuti Collection), Columbus, OH
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum, Providence, RI
The Belger Foundation, Kansas City, MO
The Art Museum of West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
The Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
The United States Embassy, Jakarta, ID
The United States Embassy, Khartoum, SD
The United States Embassy, Kampala, UG
The John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
The Paul Robeson Culture Center, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Pittsburgh, PA
The J. William Fulbright Commission, Bratislava, SK
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Sharif Bey: Homecoming, The Andy Warhol Museum,
Pittsburgh, PA (forthcoming)
2024       Crowns Encoded, albertz benda, New York, NY
2023        Sharif Bey: Ancestral Vestiges, Belger Arts Center,
Kansas City, MO
2022        Sharif Bey: Facets, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY 
                   Colonial Ruptures, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, CA
2021         Sharif Bey: Excavations, Carnegie Museum of Art,
Pittsburgh, PA
Sharif Bey: Revelations in Power, albertz benda, New
York, NY
2019          Sharif Bey: Intuitions, Fault Lines, and Musings, Concept 
Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2018          Renwick Invitational: Disrupting Craft (24 works displayed), 
Renwick Gallery Smithsonian American Art Museum,
                                 Washington, DC 
                    Sharif Bey: Dialogues in Clay and Glass, Pittsburgh Glass
Center, Pittsburgh, PA
2017           Sharif Bey: Lived History and Cultural Memory, Baltimore
Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
2015           Sharif Bey: Recent Works, Allegany Arts Council, Cumberland,
MD
2014           Food for Thought, Touchstone Center for Crafts, Farmington, PA
                     Obsessions, Coastal Carolina Community College, Jacksonville,
NC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024          Queens, Gods, and Devotees, Frances M. Maguire Art Museum,              
Merion, PA
Sand, Ash, Heat: Glass at the New Orleans Museum of Art,
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Clocking In, Clocking Out, John Michael Kohler Arts Center,
Sheboygan, WI
2023           Recent Acquisitions, Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
                      Peace, Power, and Prestige; The Metal Arts in Africa, Bard
Graduate Center, New York, NY
2022            New Arrivals, Belger Art Center, Kansas City, MO
                       Endless Summer, albertz benda, Los Angeles, CA
2021             Sharif Bey, Eddy Kamuanga, Pat Phillips, Michael Ray Charles, 
Kathia St. Hilaire, Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Luxembourg
City, LU THIS IS AMERICA, Kunstraum Potsdam, Berlin,
DE
2020            Fragmented Bodies, albertz benda gallery, New York, NY
2019             The Pittsburgh Anthology, Carnegie Museum of Art,
Pittsburgh, PA
Conjuring Wholeness in the Wake of Rupture, De Buck Gallery/1-
                                           54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, NY
                        Afrocosmologies, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art,
Hartford, CT
2018              Art in the Embassies, Jakarta, Indonesia (Invited Commission
                                           and Permanent Installation)
                        Making a Difference, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
                        Visual Voices, Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA
2017               Making it in Crafts, The Art Museum of LaFayette,
                                             LaFayette, IN
                        Crafting Resistance, Boise State University Museum, Boise, ID
2016               Art in the Embassies, Kampala, UG
                         Tribute to the Harlem Renaissance: Works from 
Permanent Collection, The Hickory Museum of Art,
Hickory, NC
2014                Conceal/Reveal: New Work from the Faculty of the College 
of Visual and Performing Arts, SU Galleries,
                                              Syracuse University, NY
                             ARTS/INDUSTRY: Collaboration and Revelation, John
                                               Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
                              Collector's Choice: Inside the Hearts and Minds of Regional 
Collectors, The Cummer Museum of Art &
Gardens, Jacksonville, FL
INVITED LECTURER
2022                  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 
                             Gardiner Museum, Toronto, CA 
 
2021                   Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
2019                   University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
                             College Art Association, New York, NY 
                             The Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, DC
2018                    Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
                              Germana Community College, Fredericksburg, VA
2017                    George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
2016                    Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
                              Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
                              National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts
(NCECA) annual conference, Demonstrator,
Kansas City, MO
2015                    The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
                              71 Cedar Arts Center, Corning, NY
                              Community College of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
2014                    Onslow County Schools, Day of the Arts, Jacksonville, NC
                              Coastal Carolina Community College, Jacksonville, NC
                              Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
2010                   Community College of Alleghany County-Boyce Campus,
Monroeville, PA
2009                  Hunter College, New York, NY
                             Taylor Gallery, SUNY Oswego, NY
                             Reynolda House Museum of American Art,
Winston Salem, NC
2008                  The McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC
                              Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA
                              The James Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, PA
                              Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC
                              North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University,
                                                        Greensboro, NC
                              Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach, VT
2007                    California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA 
                               The Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2022                     Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts, Summer 2022
Artist in Residence, Helena, MT
2021                      Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts, Summer 2021
Artist in Residence, Helena, MT
2017                       Pittsburgh Glass Center, Idea Furnace, Spring 2017 -
                                                         Spring 2018 Artist in Residence, Pittsburgh, PA
                                 The Union Project, Spring 2017-Spring 2018 Artist in
Residence, Pittsburgh, PA
2014                       John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Arts and Industry, Spring
2014 Artist in Residence, Sheboygan, WI
2009                      Hunter College, Summer 2009 Artist in Residence, New
                                                          York, NY
                                 Vermont Studio Center, Summer 2009 Artist in
Residence, Johnson, VT
2007                      McColl Center for Visual Arts, Fall 2007 Artistin
Residence, Charlotte, NC
2003                      The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, 2003-2004 Artist
in Residence, Bratislava, SK
2002 The University of Kentucky, Fall 2002 Artist in Residence,
Lexington, KY
AWARDS,GRANTS & HONORS
2022                     USA Fellowship, United States Artist, Chicago, IL
2019                       Seinfeld Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement,
                                                          Syracuse University, NY
                                 Faculty Award for Research Excellence, College of Visual
and Performing Arts, Syracuse University,
                                                          Syracuse, NY 
                                 Conrad Nelson Fellowship, Millersville University,
Millersville, PA
2018                       Pollock-Krasner Award, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New
York, NY
2017                        New York Foundation on the Arts- Fellowship awardee in
                                                          the Crafts/Sculpture category
 
2014                       John Michael Kohler Art Center- Residency Program
                                                          Fellowship, Sheboygan, WI
2011                         Slovak Academic Information Agency, National 
Research, Bratislava, SK
2008                        Winston Salem Arts Council, Regional Artist Grant
Recipient
North Carolina Arts Council, Artis in Education/Artist in
Residence
Vermont Studio Center, Civil Society Institute Artist
Fellowship, Johnson, VT

 
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                                    
                             
                                    
                             
                                    
                             
                                    
                             
                                    
                             
                                    
                             
                                    
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                