EDUCATION:
2008 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine
2007 MFA, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
2003 BA, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
AWARDS AND HONORS:
2008 Recipient of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine
2004-7 Recipient of Dean’s Graduate Recruitment Fellowship, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
2003 Recipient of David C. Driskell Center Scholarship for the Study of the African Diaspora University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2003 Recipient of Mary Van Tamelen Prize for Creativity in the Arts Hope College, Holland, Michigan
2003 Recipient of Hope College Purchase Award Holland, Michigan
Recipient of Herman Miller Art Award Hope College, Holland, Michigan
2002 Recipient of Stanley Harrington Art Scholarship Hope College, Holland, Michigan
1999-03 Recipient of Hope College Geneva Scholarship, Holland, Michigan
GROUP AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2019 Pepco Edison Place Gallery, Washington, DC
2018 Kruisenga Art Museum, Holland, Michigan
Parallax Art Fair, London, England
2015 Tobya Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington (solo)
2009 Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
2008 African Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ingram Hall University Art Gallery, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington
2007 Blackburn Art Gallery, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
16th Juried Annual Show, Art Institute and Gallery, Salisbury, Maryland
MSU MFA Candidate Show: The Don Brown Gallery, De Witte, Michigan
“Department of Art and Art History Master of Fine Arts Exhibition,” Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan
2006 “Art in the Senate” Lansing, Michigan
“Michigan State University and Kendall College of Art and Design,” (SCENE) Metrospace, East Lansing, Michigan
2005 Graduate Exchange, Community Arts Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
2004 MSU Graduate Art Student Exhibition: Fein Arts Building, Delta College Flint, Michigan
2004 Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
Blackburn Art Center, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
2003 Art-Sociology Building, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
DePree Art Center and Gallery Hope College, Holland, Michigan
2002 “African Art” Loveland Museum of Art, Loveland, Colorado
“Shared Sensibilities” Museo del Arte, Queretaro, Mexico
“From Monastery to Market Place: Tradition Inspires Modern Ethiopian Painting,” Exhibition Research Assistant & Participant, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
2001 “Contemporary Icon paintings” Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan
2001 “Africa Fest,” Invited Guest Artist and participant, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indian
1998 Water Street Gallery, Saugatuck, Michigan
COLLECTIONS:
Kruisenga Art Museum, Holland, Michigan
Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Martha Miller International Center, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
DePree Art Center and Gallery, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
Natural Museum of National History, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
2006 Illustrated the cover of “Ethiopia: Judaism, Altars and Saints,” Tsehai Publishers and Distributors, Hollywood, CA
2005 Gave a talk at Delta College, Flint, Michigan
2004 Demonstrated at Montgomery College, Silver Spring, Maryland
2003 Illustrated the cover of “The Cresset,” A Review of Literature, the Arts, and Public Affairs
2003 Visiting Scholar at the Natural Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
2003 “From Monastery to Market Place,” Exhibition Research Assistant, and participant at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
2003 Demonstrated traditional Ethiopian painting, The Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, Michigan
2001 Illustrated the cover of the “Christmas Vespers Program,” Hope College, Holland, Michigan
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
2007 “Art and Art History Master of Fine Arts Exhibition at Kresge,” artdaily.org, The First Art Newspaper on the Net, March 18, 2007
2007 “MFA exhibit lesson in power of abstract,” City Pulse, Lansing, Michigan March 28, 2007
2007 “Department of Art and Art History Master of Fine Arts Exhibition,”
Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan March 23 -April 6, 2006
2006 “Clash of the art titans: MSU, Kendall students show off,” City Pulse, Lansing, Michigan
2005 “10 people to watch: They demonstrate leadership, creativity,” Lansing State Journal, Lansing, Michigan
2003 The Holland Sentinel, Painting What Comes to Mind, Holland, Michigan
The Cresset, A Review of Literature, the Arts, and Public Affairs, Easter/2003 pp 14-17
2002 “Student and professor help develop Smithsonian exhibition,” Holland, Michigan
2002 The Washington Post, Weekend/Friday, Plan Ahead, January 18, 2002 pp. 62 Hope College Press Releases
2002 The Anchor, Smithsonian exhibit has Hope ties, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
2002 Smithsonian Magazine, Return of the Ocelot, June 2002 pp. 42, Washington, D.C.
2001 The Grand Rapids Press, Branches of river merge as Vespers service meets Ethiopian art, Grand Rapids, Michigan
The Holland Sentinel “Guide to Arts and Entertainment,” Passionate Pieces, Holland, Michigan
2002 The Holland Sentinel, “Student Paints Ethiopia's Goodness”
1999 Previews, News and Events for the Members of the Indianapolis Museum of Art July/August pp. 16