Tony Crowley featured artist for March at Lincoln Arts Institute
Artist reception Thursday, March 10th

[March 07, 2022]     For their March presentation, Lincoln Arts Institute is pleased to host a solo exhibition by Bloomington professional artist Tony Crowley. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 10, 2022, from 5 to 8 pm at the LAI Gallery, 112 S. Mclean St., Lincoln.

The show, entitled “Conversations” will include large-scale drawings, showcasing how the artist uses music and poetry as sources for his images. He expands by stating, “I select works that I find especially moving and/or meaningful, study them closely and record my responses, questions, and discoveries about the sources. I sketch out my visual reactions to them using the typical art elements, e.g., shape, line, texture, value, etc. During this process, I find myself developing a palpable connection with the poets or composers through their work. I feel as if we are engaged in a very intimate dialog. We share ideas, challenge each other, and explore our mutual interest in the creative process. Eventually, my preliminary studies evolve into finished images that record my private conversations with the artists who have become my mentors, colleagues, and friends.”

Crowley received his BFA from Colorado State University, his home state, and an MFA from University of Nebraska. His first teaching job was at a small, liberal arts school, Tarkio College in Missouri, where he served for nine years. His next appointment was to the faculty of Grinnell College in Iowa where he taught printmaking and drawing for thirteen years.

He spent the next eleven years in administrative positions at Detroit’s Wayne State University and Illinois State University. Currently, he teaches drawing, watercolor, and art criticism at ISU, the position from which he will retire in May of this year.

Crowley’s works can be found in the collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Harwell Art Museum, the Sheldon Memorial Gallery, the Cedar Rapids Art Museum, the Galesburg Civic Art Center, the Academy of Art Museum of Maryland, the Maytag Foundation, the Pioneer Corporation, and a variety of university and private collections.

The gallery will also be open on Friday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 to 1 p.m. thru April 9th to view this exhibition.

[Text provided by Marcia Cook]