DEBRA
PRIESTLY
Born in Springfield, Ohio
Lives and Works in New York City and Upstate New York
Education
MFA, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
BFA, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2007 passage, June Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
2006 Preserves, 7th and 2nd Street Photo Gallery, New York, NY,
curated by Becket Logan
2005 somewhere listening, June Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
2003
The Persistence of Memory, essay by Catherine Bernard, Amelie A.
Wallace Gallery, SUNY Old Westbury, Long Island, NY;
brochure
2002
Debra Priestly, essay by Pheoris West, Hopkins Hall, The Ohio State
University, Columbus; catalog
2002
Preserves, essay by Franklin Sirmans, June Kelly Gallery, New York,
NY; catalog
1999 Lookin Glass, June Kelly Gallery, New York
1996
Caddisworm Chronicles, essay by Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, June Kelly
Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Patoka, June Kelly Gallery, New York
1990
Beaux Arts Collectors Gallery, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus,
OH
1989 The Print Studio, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand
1988 Cinque Gallery, New York
1987 Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH
1987 Ollantay Center for the Arts, Jackson Heights, NY
1986 Gilded, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn,
NY
1983 Drake Union, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1983 The Model Neighborhood Facility, Columbus, OH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2008
Reimaging the Distaff Toolkit, curated by Rickie Solinger,
Bennington Museum VT (traveling exhibition)
2008 From Taboo to Icon: Africanist Turnabout, curated by Sophie
Sanders and Shervone Neckles, Ice Box Project Space, Crane Arts,
Philadelphia, PA
2008 Beyond These Walls: Department of Art Biennial Alumni
Exhibition, Hopkins Hall Gallery, The Ohio State University,
Columbus, OH
2005 Contemporary Voices: Nanette Carter, Chandra Cox, Lisa Corinne
Davis, Debra Priestly and Philemona Williamson, Celebrating the
Opening of the Delta Arts Center, Winston-Salem, NC; brochure
2004
food, clothing and shelter, curated by Tara Ruth, Onisaburo
Gallery, Interfaith Center of New York,
NYC
2004 Hair: Untangling A Social History, curated by Penny Howell
Jolly, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore
College, Saratoga Springs, NY: catalog
2004 Hearing Voices, Personal Narratives, The Gallery at
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lawrence Township, NJ; catalog
2003 The Art of Containment, curated by Pamela E.
Becker,
Hunterdon
Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ
2002 One Thousand Words, curated by Leslie Umberger, John Michael
Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
2002 Buying Time: Nourishing Excellence, an exhibition of the work
of the 2000 New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellows,
curated by William Stover, Sotheby's, New York, NY; brochure
2001 19th and 20th Century: African-American Art, curated by
Corrine Jennings, Kenkeleba Gallery, New York
2001 Cross-Pollination, curated by Susan Joyce and Mery Lynn
McCorkle, The Arboretum of Los Angeles County, Arcadia, CA
2001 The Act of Drawing: Selected Works, curated by Cynthia
Hawkins, Tompkins College Center Gallery, Cedar Crest College,
Allentown, PA; catalog
2001 Buying Time: Nourishing Excellence, an Exhibition of the Work
of the 2000 New York Foundation for the Arts Painting Fellows,
Sotheby's, New York
2001
Cross-Pollination, curated by Susan Joyce and Mery Lynn McCorkle,
Holland Tunnel, Brooklyn, NY
2000 Tenacious Beauty, 19th and 20th Century African American Art
from Kenkeleba House, curated by Corrine Jennings, Delaware College
of Art and Design, Wilmington, DE
2000 The Act of Drawing, curated by Cynthia Hawkins, Rush Arts
Gallery, New York,NY
2000 CowParade New York, City Parks and Recreation, New York,
NY
2000 Small Works: Department of Art Faculty Exhibition, Rosenthal
Library, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing,
NY
2000 19th & 20th Century: African-American Art, curated by
Corrine Jennings, Kenkeleba Gallery, New York, NY
2000 African-American Art@2000, The Rockland Center for ARTS, West
Nyack, NY
2000 Vermont Studio Center Fellows Exhibitions, 1995 - 1999, Cooper
Union School of Art, NY
1999 Slave Routes: The Long Memory, curated by Corrine Jennings,
Kenkeleba Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Ring of Fire, curated by Giles Peterson, The Aotea Gallery,
Auckland, New Zealand
1998
Memory Walking, curated by Roma Potiki, City Gallery Wellington,
New Zealand; catalogue
1998
Massachusetts College of Art Faculty FA2D Exhibition, Boston
Symphony Hall, MA
1998 UHH Invitational National Works on Paper Exhibition Series,
University of Hawaii, Hilo
1998
Bridges From Brooklyn/Puentes a Brooklyn, Wilmer Jennings Gallery,
New York
1998
The Black New York Artists of the 20th Century: Selections from the
Schomburg Center Collections, Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture, New York
1997
Bridges From Brooklyn/de las Puentes De Brooklyn: The Other New
York, Stories of Hidden Identity and Memory, The Fondo del Sol
Visual Arts Center, Washington, DC
1997 Women In Full Effect, curated by Nanette Carter, sponsored by
RUSH Philanthropic Art Foundation, Rush Art, NY
1996-99
Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women
Artists, Inaugural exhibition, curated by Dr. Jontyle Robinson,
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA; traveling
exhibition; venues include Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne,
IN; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL; Columbus Museum, Columbus,
GA; African American Museum, Dallas, TX; Minnesota Museum of
American Art, St. Paul, MN and Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita,
KS
1996 A Walk in the Woods, curated by Karen Shaw, Islip Art Museum,
East Islip, NY
1996 Pensando Visualmente: Dibujos Y Libros Hechos A Mano Por
Artistas Norteamericanos, organized by Dennis Leder and curated by
Karen Shaw, Galerķa de Arte Plastica Contemporanea, Guatemala,
Central America
1995
Painting Faculty, curated by Robert Rindler, Cooper Union School of
Art, New York
1992
People, Places & Things, curated by Deidre Hamlar, Columbus
Museum of Art, OH
1992
Visiting Artists Exhibition, Hopkins Hall Gallery, The Ohio State
University,Columbus, OH
1992
Thunder, curated by Pheoris West, Martin Luther King Center,
Columbus, OH
1991
In Full Effect, curated by Bill Hutson, organized by Spaces and the
Ohio Arts Council; traveling exhibition
1990
Four Views, Four African-American Artists, Dowd Fine Arts Gallery,
SUNY, Cortland, NY
1989
Contemporary Works by African-American Artists and Traditional
African Art, Christie's, New York
1989 Clark State Community College, Springfield, OH
1988 Small Works, Cinque Gallery, New York
1988
Who's Uptown, curated by Deirdre Bibby, Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture, New York
1988
Ninth Annual Black Art Exhibition, Speed Museum, Louisville,
KY
1988 Union Station, Ogden, UT
1988
Bronx State Housing Division, Organized by Cinque Gallery, New
York
1987
Autobiography: Herstory, Woman's Caucus for Art, Castillo Gallery,
New York, NY
1987 Kenassaw College, Atlanta, GA
1987
Contemporary Black Art, The Atlanta Life Insurance Co. Atlanta,
GA
1986
Sixth National Annual Art Exhibition & Competition, Atlanta
Life Insurance, Co., Atlanta, GA
1985 The State Office Tower, Columbus, OH
1983 Hopkins Hall, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1983
The Black Arts Ensemble Invitational, Hoyt L. Sherman Gallery, The
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1982 Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH
1982 The New Gallery, Columbus, OH
Catalogues, Reviews, Articles and Publications
2005
Johnson, Kenneth, "Debra Priestly: somewhere listening", The New
York Times, Friday, September 30, E p.29
2005
Lisa E. Farrington, Creating Their Own Image; The History Of
African American Women Artists, Oxford University Press. pp. 293
& 294
2005
Contemporary Voices: Nanette Carter, Chandra Cox, Lisa Corinne
Davis, Debra Priestly and Philemona Williamson, Celebrating the
Opening of the Delta Arts Center, Winston-Salem, NC (exhibition
brochure)
2004
Hair: Untangling A Social History, curated by Penny Howell Jolly,
The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore, p. 71 &
108
2004
Hearing Voices, Personal Narratives, essay by Kate Somers, The
Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lawrence Township,
NJ
2004 Janet Purcell, "Hearing Voices", The Times, February 27,
G3
2003
Dan Bischoff, "Craft and Art Combine in Hunterdon", The Sunday
Star-Ledger, March 30
2003
Harrison, Helen A., "Remembrances of Past and Present", The New
York Times, Sunday, March 2, LI p.7
2003
"Art Museum to Present Two New Exhibitions", North Hunterdon
Weekender, March 1, p. 3
2003
Amelie A. Wallace Gallery to Feature "The Permanence of Memory",
The Westbury Times, Thursday, February 13
2003
The Persistence of Memory, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery, SUNY Old
Westbury, Long Island, brochure essay by Catherine
Bernard
2003 Genshaft, Carole and others, Symphonic Poem, The Art of Aminah
Brenda Lynn Robinson, Columbus Museum of Art, Abrams Publishing, p.
48 & 49
2003
Gerald F. Brommer and Nancy K. Kinne, Exploring Painting,
2nd
Edition,
Davis Publications Inc, Worchester, Massachusetts
2002
Debra Priestly, catalog essay by Pheoris West, forward by Prudence
Gill, The Ohio State University, Columbus
2002
Preserves, essay by Franklin Sirmans, June Kelly Gallery, New York,
NY
2000 Goodman, Jonathan, review, Art in America, February,
pp.132-3
2000
The Act of Drawing: Medium/Method/Meaning, essay by Cynthia
Hawkins, Cedar Crest College, Allentown,
PA
2000
CowParade New York, Thomas Craughwell, Workman Publishing, New
York
1999
Brewer, Caroline, "Of Human Bondage", The Record, October 17. pp.
L1, L3-L5
1999
Cleave, Louisa, New Zealand Herald, Metro, Tuesday, September 21,
p. A7
1999
Glueck, Grace, "Art in Review", The New York Times, Friday, May
21
1999
Brown, Deirdre, "Initiative and Initiation: Memory Walking at the
City Gallery", Art New Zealand, No. 90/Autumn, pp.
42-44
1998
Taha, Halima, "Collecting African American Art: Works on Paper and
Canvas", Crown Publishers, Inc., New York
1998
Black New York Artists of the 20th Century: Selections from the
Schomburg Center Collections, essay by Victor N. Smythe, New York,
p.73
1998 "Memory Walking", essay by Roma Potiki, City Gallery
Wellington & Creative New Zealand Arts Council of New Zealand
Toi Aotearoa, New Zealand
1998 Works on Paper, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hawaii
1997
Jaime, Jonell, "Fresh Paint! New York Scene", The International
Review of African American Art, Vol. 13, No. 4 , pp.3,
21-24
1997
Burns, Khephra, "Reframing Black Art", Essence Magazine, July, pp.
105-6
1997
A Walk in the Woods, essay by Karen Shaw, Islip Art Museum,
NY
1996 Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African
American
Women
Artists, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, catalogue
published by Spelman College and Rizzoli International
Publications, Inc.; essays by Lowery Stokes Sims, Judith Wilson,
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Jontyle Robinson, Akua McDaniel and Tritobia
Benjamin
1996
Lovelace, Carey, "A Forest of Meanings", Newsday, Friday, October
4
1996 Lee, John, review, Suffolk County News, Long Island, NY
1995
Gumbo Ya Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women
Artists, introduction by Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, Midmarch Arts
Press, New York
1995
Painting Faculty, introduction by Robert Rindler, Dean, Cooper
Union School of Art, New York, pp. 8, 56,57, 77,
87
1994 Koplos, Janet, review, Art in America, July, p.99
1992
Hall, Jacqueline, review, Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH,
Jacqueline Hall, October
1992
People, Places & Things: An African-American Perspective, essay
by Deirdre D. Hamlar, Columbus Museum of Art, OH, pp.5,
38-9
1992 Vincennes Sun-Commercial, Vincennes, IN, September
1991
Hall, Jacqueline, review, Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH,
January
1990
Constable, Lesley, review, Columbus, Dispatch, OH, Sunday, March
25, p. 8F
1990 Saunders, Vickie, review, The Black Communicator, OH, March
23-29, p. 18, 24
1989 Campbell, Lawrence, review, Art in America, July, pp.
142-3
1989
Houston, Eric Springfield New & Sun, Springfield, OH, February,
p. 20
1988
Shepard, Joan, review, Daily News, New York, September 25, p.
M30
1988 New York Newsday, New York, March
1988
Who's Uptown: Harlem '87, essay by Deirdre Bibby, Schomburg Center
for Research in Black Culture, New York, pp. 40,
53
1987
Jim Hays, review, Springfield News & Sun, Springfield, OH,
Saturday, June 5, p. 14
1987 The Dayton Defender, Dayton, OH, May & June
1986
Atlanta Life Insurance Company Sixth Annual National Art
Competition and Exhibition, essay by Henrietta Phillips Antoinin,
Atlanta, GA, pp. 18 - 19
1982
Hall, Jacqueline, review, Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH, Sunday,
April 4, p. H11
1982
The Call & Post, Columbus, OH, Vol. 67, No 13, March 27, pp.
1A, 4B
1982 The Call & Post, Columbus, OH, Saturday, March 13
Lectures and Presentations
2004
Artist Talk, Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore
College, Saratoga Springs, NY
2003
Artist Panel, "The Art of Containment", The Hunterdon Museum,
Clinton, NJ, Moderated by Pamela E. Becker
2003
Gallery Talk, The Persistence of Memory, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery,
SUNY Old Westbury, Long Island, NY
2002
Debra Priestly in Conversation with Annegreth Nill, Curator,
Columbus Museum of Art & Pheoris West, Professor, OSU
Department of Art, Wexner Center Film/Video Theatre, The Ohio State
University, College of Art, Columbus
2002
Artist Talk: Current Work and the Art-making Process, Hopkins Hall
Gallery, The Ohio State University
2001
Visual Arts Seminar Lecture Series, Staller Fine Arts Center, Stony
Brook, State University of New York
1998 Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
1997 State University of New York at New Paltz, NY
1997 Rhode Island School of Art and Design, Providence, RI
1996 Kent Place School, Summit, NJ
1992 The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
1989 American Embassy, Wellington, New Zealand
1989 Parumoana Community Polytechnic, Porirua, New Zealand
1989 Wiareki Community Polytechnic, Rotorua, New Zealand
1989 Clark State Community College, Springfield, OH
Awards, Grants, Fellowships and Commissions
2006 New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist Fellowship,
Painting
2006-07 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts
2005-06 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts
2004-05 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts
2004
Art Omi International Artists' Colony, Artist-in-Residence, Omi,
NY
2001-02 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts
2000-01 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts
2000 New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist Fellowship,
Painting
2000
CowParade New York 2000, City of New York Parks & Recreation,
sponsored by HIP, Installed at 1 Penn Plaza, NYC
1996
Vermont Studio Center Fellow, Johnson, VT; Artist-in-residence
funded by Barbara White Fishman
1988-89 Printmaking Workshop, New York; Fellowship
1986
"The Sixth National Annual Art Exhibition and Competition", The
Atlanta Life Insurance Co., Atlanta, GA; Purchase
Award
Public and Corporate Collections
The Francis Greenburger Collection, NY
The Sandor Family Collection, Chicago, IL
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
The Atlanta Life Insurance Company, GA
AT&T