Kelly Sturhahn, MFA

Biography

Kelly Sturhahn is Foundations Program Director and Associate Professor of Art at Florida Southern College. A nationally recognized artist, Sturhahn’s artwork has been widely featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries. Highlights include recent solo exhibitions in Florida at Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, and in Miami at 6th Street Container (Miami’s “Best Alternative Art Gallery” according to Miami New Times), as well as solo projects in New York at Ann Street Gallery, Times Square Gallery, and Skylight Gallery. Her work has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions, most notably at Cheryl Hazan Contemporary (NY), Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art (NY), Boca Museum of Art (FL), and Artists Space (NY), among others; and has been represented at art fairs such as Scope, and Grendel Miami, during Art Basel. Her artwork may be found in private and public collections internationally. Sturhahn has been the recipient of numerous awards, and was honored to receive an Artist Honorarium from the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art (NY) for her site-specific installation. Her work has been featured in various publications such as, Exploring Studio Materials: Teaching Creative Art Making to Children, published by Oxford University Press. Sturhahn was also a Visiting Artist and Lecturer at The Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida, and an Artist-in-Residence and grant recipient at The Vermont Studio Center (VT), and at Salem Art Works (NY). Prior to joining FSC, Sturhahn worked in the New York art world at Michael Werner Gallery, and at the Museum of Modern Art, NY.

Education

• MFA, Combined Media, Hunter College - The City University of New York, New York, NY
• BFA, Painting and Printmaking, Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, FL

Awards

• Panelist, 10 Women Artists You Should Know, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL, 2021
• Coffee with the Artist: Kelly Sturhahn (Artist Talk), Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
• Guest Lecturer & Teacher, Art Lab, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
• Artist Honorarium, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY
• Artist Talk, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
• Guest Artist & Lecturer, Cantilevers Journal of the Arts, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL
• Visiting Artist & Lecturer, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL
• Artist-in-Residence, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (2010 Grant Recipient)
• Artist-in-Residence, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY (2007 Grant Recipient)
• Artist Gallery Talk/Lecture, Saratoga Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Hunter College, New York, NY
• William Graf Memorial Travel Grant, Hunter College, New York, NY
• Teaching Assistant, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL
• Outstanding Fine Artist Award, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL
• Full Four Year Presidential Scholarship, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL

Publications

Solo Exhibitions

2019 Kelly Sturhahn: A Colored Image of the Sun, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

2013 Kelly Sturhahn: Transient Patterns, 6th Street Container Gallery, Miami, FL

2012 Lake Mirror, City Hall, Lakeland, FL (Public Commission)

2011 Kelly Sturhahn: Selected Works, Melvin Art Gallery, Lakeland, FL

2008 Project Space: Kelly Sturhahn, Skylight Gallery, Keene Valley, NY

2004 The Urge for Going, Hunter College Times Square Gallery, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 Women’s History Month Exhibition, Polk State College Winter Haven Gallery, FL

2019 Second Annual Alumni Exhibition, Crossley Gallery, Sarasota, FL (Curated by Joe Fig)

2019 Artful Bowl: An Uncommon Art Party,Platform Art, Lakeland FL

2017 Art Pop, City Hall, Lakeland FL

2017 Platform Art Party and Exhibition, Just Dance Studios, Lakeland, FL

2015 Fluid, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY (Guest Curated by Jesse Hamerman, Director of the New York Public Art Fund)

2014 View.Point, Cheryl Hazan Gallery, New York, NY (Curated by Pia Coronel)

2014 Working Title: A Faculty Exhibition, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

2014 Small Works, Utah Arts Alliance, Salt Lake City, UT

2013 The Art of the FSC Faculty, Melvin Art Gallery, Lakeland, FL

2012 The Gala 2012 Art Auction, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL

2012 Art in Agriculture, Platform Art, Lakeland, FL

2011 60th Annual All Florida Exhibition, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL

2011 Art Teachers Invitational, Ridge Art Gallery, Winter Haven, FL

2010 NorthBrooklyn, Arts@Renaissance, Brooklyn, NY

2010 Graphomania, Garbageman/Astronaut Space, Portland, OR

2010 Bedtime Stories, Monotone Dreams, Fardom Gallery / The Space, Queens, NY

2010 Dreamscape 3: Love is the Answer, The Suffolk, New York, NY

2010 Pop-up Art Show, Dumbo Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY

2009 Designing Women, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY

2009 Greenhouse, Studio IMC, New York, NY

2009 Nightshift III, Hudson Guild Gallery, New York, NY

2009 1013 Grand Open Studios, Brooklyn, NY

2008 Lakes and Streams of the High Peaks,Skylight Gallery, Keene Valley, NY

2007 Of a Personal Nature,The Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY (three-person show)

2007 Postcards from the Edge,James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY

2007 Keene Valley Artists and the Landscape, Skylight Gallery, Keene Valley, NY

2007 A Keene Valley Holiday,Skylight Gallery, Keene Valley, NY

2006 Grendel Miami, presented by Jack the Pelican Presents during ArtBasel Miami, FL

2006 In the Woods, Skylight Gallery, Keene Valley, NY

2006 Scope Hamptons Art Fair, Jack the Pelican Presents, East Hampton, NY

2006 Collectors’ Series, LMAK projects, New York, NY

2005 Casper David Séance, Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY

2005 Night of 1,000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York, NY

2004 Postcards from the Edge, Brent Sikkema, New York NY

2004 Night of 1,000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York, NY

2004 Year Art Auction, Year Project, Brooklyn, NY

2003 Four Projects, Year Project, Brooklyn, NY (Curated by Meredyth Sparks and Ellie Ga)

2003 Open Studios, Hunter College, New York, NY

2003 Douglas Dibble Memorial Art Auction, Times Square Gallery, New York, NY

2002 Turning Point: Seven, Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art, Sarasota, FL (Curated by LeslieLerner)

2002 Open Studios, Hunter College, New York, NY

1999 Coattails, BaseKamp, Philadelphia, PA

Selected Publications

Vertex, Florida Southern College, 2020, featured p. 34-37

“ Lakeland Top 10: A Colored Image of the Sun”, HAVEN, July 2019, color ill.

“Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day: A Colored Image of the Sun”, Smithsonian Magazine, August 2019

“Your Honey-Do List: Flash Back Female”, LAL Today, August 14, 2019

“Fall Arts Preview: Kelly Sturhahn: A Colored Image of the Sun”, Tampa Bay Times, September 5, 2019

Vertex, Florida Southern College, 2016, color ill. p. 10-11 and front cover.

“The Spirit of the Matter: The Work of Kelly Sturhahn”, essay by Dominique Nahas (forthcoming brochure, 2015)

Exploring Studio Materials:Teaching Creative Art Making to Children, by Mary Hafeli, Oxford University Press, 2015, color ill.

“Cantilevers: Journal of the Arts Vol. XI”, edited by Genesis Castellon, Florida Southern College, 2014, color ill. p. 22-23, cover.

“The Art of Building An Art Program: Florida Southern’s Journey Revealed”, Ann Gurley Rogers, The Lakelander, May-June 2013, color ill. p. 48.

The Gala 2012 Art Auction Guide, text by Adam Justice, Polk Museum of Art, 2012 (reproduction)

Kelly Sturhahn: Selected Works, Melvin Art Gallery, 2011 (exhibition booklet)

“The Daily Photo + Links”, Williamsburg Greenpoint News+Art (thewgnews.com) 2010;

“In the Gallery”, The Arts Letter, January 2007

“Art Basel Miami: Offbeat Highlights from the Fair Trail”, by Margery Gordon, Artinfo.com, December 2006

“Scene & Herd: Voodoo Lounge”, by Rhonda Lieberman, Artforum.com, December 2005

MFA Thesis Catalog: Spring 2004, Hunter College Times Square Gallery, New York, NY, 2004

Turning Point: Seven, by Leslie Lerner, Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art, Sarasota, FL, 2002

"Art: Hot Ticket", by Kay Kipling, Sarasota Herald Tribune, April 2002

Curtorial Projects with Students

“Once More With Feeling”, Art/ifact, Lakeland, FL (2018)

“Comfort”, City Hall, Lakeland, FL (2017)

“Insight”, Platform Art, Lakeland, FL (2016)