I live and create on the ancestral lands of the Pokanoket, the Nahaganset, and the Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) Tribes. I assume the responsibility to educate myself on the long and violent legacy of my ancestral heritage in the colonization of the United States. I will no longer overlook how this land was occupied, the effects of colonization, and the historical and ongoing injustices impacting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color today.
Bio
Shelby Head (pronouns, fluid) is a sculptor whose work challenges social constructs in the United States through precisely made artwork organized into collections. The research involved during the making of a series informs the medium, materials, and imagery used to create the work. Head has worked in public art and is widely exhibited in galleries, alternative spaces, and art fairs. Head has received numerous art residencies, fellowships, and grants, including the Artist’s Resource Trust Grant, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (2017), Jentel Artist Fellowship (2018), CT Artist Fellowship Grant (2019), Vermont Studio Center (2019), SLV Social Practice Arts Residency sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (2019-20), Tulsa Artist Fellowship (2020-23), Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Grants (2020 and 2021), OVAC Thrive Powerhouse Grant in partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts (2022), and the Tulsa Artist Fellowship Integration Arts Award (2022-23). Head’s recent solo exhibitions include Cloyde Snook Gallery (Colorado, 2020), El Pueblo History Museum (Colorado, 2020), Archer Studios Window Installation (Oklahoma, 2021), Melton Gallery at the University of Central Oklahoma (Oklahoma, 2022), and Living Arts of Tulsa (Oklahoma, 2023). Head lives and works in Providence, RI.
EDUCATION
Adams State University - M.A. Sculpture
Adams State University - B.A. Visual Arts
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Melton Gallery, Oklahoma Central University, Edmond, OK
2021 Window Front Installation, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Tulsa, OK
2020 El Pueblo History Museum, Pueblo, CO
2020 Cloyde Snook Gallery, Alamosa, CO
2018 Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2017 Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2015 Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2014 Paul Mellon Arts Center, Wallingford, CT
2014 Hilles Gallery, New Haven, CT
2014 A- Space Gallery, West Haven, CT
2013 Cloyde Snook Gallery, Alamosa, CO
2013 City Gallery, New Haven, CT
2011 The New Haven Lawn Club, New Haven, CT
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Living Arts of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK (co-curator)
2021 108 Contemporary, Tulsa, OK
2020 Alvarez Gallery, Virtual
2019 Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT
2018 Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2018 Lamont Gallery, Exeter, NH
2017 Queens College, New York, NY
2015 Sacred Heart University, Stamford, CT
2014 Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2014 Guild Group Show, New Canaan, CT
2013 Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2013 Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT
2013 Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan, CT
2012 Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2012 West Cove A-Space Gallery, West Haven, CT
ART FAIRS
2016 CONTEXT, New York, NY
2016 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
SELECTED AWARDS
2022 Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, THRIVE! Powerhouse Grant in partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
2022 Tulsa Artist Fellowship Arts Integration Award, 2022-23
2021 Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Grant: Creative Projects
2020 Professional Basics Grant, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition
2020 Tulsa Artist Fellowship, 2022-23
2019 Connicutcut Artist Fellowship Grant
2019 National Endowment for the Arts SLV Social Practice Residency
2019 VSC Merit Grant, Vermont Studio Center
2019 VSC Community Service Exchange Award, Vermont Studio Center
2018 Fellowship Award, Jentel Artist Residency Program
2017 The Artist's Resource Trust Grant, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
SELECTED PRESS
2022 University of Central Oklahoma Press, https://www3.uco.edu/press/prdetail.asp?NewsID=30934
2022 Mariia Shevchenko, Genderqueer Sculptures of Shelby Head on display at the Open Studios at Archer Studios, The TCC Connection, http://tccconnection.com/
2020 KRZA National Public Radio-affiliated station in Alamosa, Colorado Interview: Listen to the interview under the news tab
2019 Adams State University, Rare AIR artist will help preserve history of Land Grant, November 7, 2019
2019 Lucy Gellman, Nasty Women Prove Sublime, Arts Paper, March 11, 2019, https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/tag/nasty-women-new-haven
2019 Brian Slattery, Nasty Women Get Divine, New Haven Independent, March 5 2019,https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/nasty_women_divinity_school/fbclid=IwAR0VFVeWwcUtOlbKz88lac5R0zDEPLzloWz9BWcOv7LR06FyUMpRYMrTYFw#.XH6tmlMomd0.facebook
2018 Laguarda, Ignacio, Artist confronts 'shameful' slavery history,
Stamford Advocate, October 12, 2018
2017 Rowen Gray, "Paper And Light," Take, July 17, 2017
RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
2023 Artcroft, Paris/Millersburg, KY
2020-22 Tulsa Artist Fellow, Tulsa, OK
2020 Sculpture Space, Utica, NY - Canceled
2019 San Luis Valley Social Practice Arts Residency, Alamosa, CO
2019 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2018 Jentel Artist Residency Program, Banner, WY
2006 Red Cinder Creativity Center, Na'alehu, HI
2005 Artcroft, Carlisle, KY
2004 KHN Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE
LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS
2023 OVAC THRIVE! Grants project
2022 Melton Gallery, Oklahoma Central University, Edmond, OK
2020 Cloyde Snook Gallery, Adams State University, Alamosa, CO
2015 Alvarez Gallery, Stamford, CT
2014 Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
2020-23 Tulsa Artist Fellowship
2022-23 OVAC Grants Committee:
Educational and Travel Assistant and Professional Basics