Biography

Sharif Bey [b. 1974, Pittsburgh, PA] lives and works in Syracuse, NY, where in addition to this studio practice he is an associate professor in arts education and teaching and leadership in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and Syracuse University’s School of Education. Bey earned his B.F.A. in ceramics from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, an M.F.A. in studio art from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. in art education from Penn State University. He has participated in many artist-in-residencies and fellowships to hone his craft, and is included in numerous public collections including: The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery, Washington DC; the Columbus Museum of Art, OH; and the United States Embassies of Khartoum, Sudan; Kampala, Uganda; and Jakarta, Indonesia. His forthcoming exhibitions include a solo exhibition at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY in 2021.

 

Bey’s sculptures reference the visual heritage of Africa and Oceania, as well as present-day African American culture, exploring the significance of traditional beads and figurines through contemporary reinterpretations of these forms. He works primarily with ceramics, a medium historically used by communities to create both functional objects and objects of worship.  

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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, New York

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, Indonesia

The United States Embassy, Khartoum, Sudan

The United States Embassy, Kampala, Uganda

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


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, Canada  


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

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, Uganda

                      Tribute to the Harlem Renaissance: Works from the Permanent

                                   CollectionThe Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC


2014           Conceal/Reveal: New Work from the Faculty of the College of Visual 

                                   and Performing ArtsSU 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

                                    CollectorsThe 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

                        171 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 Artist in Residence,

                                 Charlotte, NC


2003             The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, 2003-2004 Artist in

                                 Residence, Bratislava, Slovak Republic                   


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 Scholarship for

                                Faculty Teaching and Research, Bratislava, Slovak Republic


2008        Winston Salem Arts Council, Regional Artist Grant Recipient

                   North Carolina Arts Council, Arts in Education/Artist in Residence

                   Vermont Studio Center, Civil Society Institute Artist Fellowship,

                                Johnson, VT