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

2007-08 passage, June Kelly Gallery, New York, NY

2007 Debra Priestly, Bronx River Art Center, NY, curated by Jose Ruiz

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

2011-13 Infinate Mirror: Images of American Identity, curatred by Blake Bradford, sponsored by International Arts & Artist; (traveling exhibition)

2010 Knowing Forms, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Keneleba, New York, NY; catalog

2008-12 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

2008 Celeste-Marie Bernier, African American Visual Art: From Slavery to the Present, The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill. Pp. 218 & 219

2008 Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, Vol. 8, No. 2, Cover Art & pp. 1 & 184

2008 Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit, Preface by Rickie Solenger, essay by Susan Strasser, pp. 10 & 14
2008 From Taboo to Icon: Africanist Turnabout, essays by Sophie Sanders and Shervone Neckles, Ice Box Project Space, Crane Arts, Philadelphia, PA; p. 7

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

2010 Artist Talk, Bowling Green State University, OH

2008 Artist Talk, Amherst College, Sponsored by the Mead Art Museum, Massachusetts

2008 Gallery Tour, June Kelly Gallery NYC, Sponsored by the Friend of the Museum of Modern Art

2007 Artist Talk, The Bronx River Art Center, Sponsored by the New York
Foundation for the Arts

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

2010-11 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts

2007-08 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts

2006-07 PSC-CUNY Research Award, Visual Arts

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



Employment

1998-present Professor, Art Department, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY.