Kelsea Nichols | kelseanichols.com | kelspnichols@gmail.com
EDUCATION
MFA (2017), Northern Illinois University, *Printmaking
BFA (2014), The University of Alabama at Birmingham, *Sculpture and Printmaking
SELECTED SOLO/ SMALL GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024- Out of Place, Out of Sorts (solo exhibition), Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, Illinois
2022- Paranoid Peacetime, (solo exhibition), Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, Illinois
Paranoid Patrician, Paranormal Premonition, (solo exhibition), Pigeon Hole Press, Chicago, Illinois
2020- Sand & Sorbet, (two-person exhibition), Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, Illinois
2017- The G(rad) Stuff, (three-person exhibition), Backspace Gallery, Dekalb, Illinois
Addressing Questions Nobody Asked (solo thesis exhibition), Gallery 214, Dekalb, Illinois
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024- 69 for 69, Side Street Studio Arts, Elgin, Illinois
2023- Fall Salon, Paperworkers Local, Birmingham, Alabama
Ink Only IV, Paperworkers Local/Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama
Street Sweeper, Common Wealth Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
2022- Dungeon Daze, Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, Illinois
2020- Hello USPS (traveling postcard), Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, Illinois to Birmingham, Alabama
2019- Terrain Biennial, Terrain Exhibitions, Dekalb, Illinois
2018- Convergent Narratives, Rockford University- Clark Arts Center, Rockford, Illinois
All Sheets to the Wind, Backspace Gallery, Dekalb, Illinois
Impromptu, Rubberneck Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2017- Evolving Technique: Digital Fabrication in Fine Art and Design, Oak Room Gallery, Greeley, Colorado
Cream of the Crop: NIU Thesis Exhibition, ARC Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
NIU Winter Convocation, Historic Egyptian Theatre, Dekalb, Illinois
The Long Walk Home, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, Illinois
2016- Heatstroke, Gallery 215, Dekalb, Illinois
One Night Stand, Gallery 215, Dekalb, Illinois
7:1, Backspace Gallery, Dekalb, Illinois
Why Are You Here?, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, Illinois
The Contemporary Print 2016, PrintAustin- Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas (Juried by Mary Heathcott, Executive Director at Blue Star Contemporary Museum)
2015- And…, Traveling Group Exhibition, Knoxville, Tennessee. Iowa City, Iowa. Madison, Wisconsin. Portland, Oregon.
DFS+2: A Year in the Digital Fabrication Studio, Gallery 214, Dekalb, Illinois (Juried by Jamie Obermeir, Artist and Associate Professor of Metalwork, Jewelry Design, and Digital Fabrication at Northern Illinois University. Juried by Agnes Ma, artist)
2014- Nomadic Convergence, Northern Illinois University-President’s House, DeKalb, Illinois
1ST Year Graduate Show, Gallery 215, DeKalb, Illinois
2014 UAB Bachelors of Fine Arts Exhibition, UAB Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Birmingham, Alabama
UAB 38th Student Juried Annual, Birmingham, Alabama, (Juried by George Ferrandi, artist)
Delta National Small Prints Exhibition, Bradbury Gallery, Jonesboro, Arkansas, (Juried by Lyle Williams, curator of prints and drawings)
2013- UAB 37th Student Juried Annual, Birmingham, Alabama, (Juried by Trenton Doyle Hancock, artist)
AWARDS AND HONORS
2017- Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois
2016- John X. Koznarek Memorial Scholarship, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois
2015- Jonathan Ryan Lee Studio Art Scholarship, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois
2014- Department of Art and Art History Honors Award, 39th Annual UAB Honors Convocation, Birmingham, Alabama
Greta and John Troutt Purchase Award, Delta National Small Prints Exhibition, Jonesboro, Arkansas
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024- Gallery Director, Gallery 501 (UAB- Department of Art and Art History’s Gallery), Birmingham, AL (current position)
2022- Program Coordinator, Department of Art and Art History- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama (current position)
2017- Instructor of Record, Introduction to Printmaking, Spring 2017 Semester, Northern Illinois University
Presidential Curator, Northern Illinois University
2016- Graduate Assistant, Introduction to Printmaking, Northern Illinois University
Presidential Curator, Northern Illinois University
2015- Presidential Curator, Northern Illinois University (curating art exhibitions for the President’s home and office at Northern Illinois University)
Graduate Research Assistant, Metalwork, Jewelry Design, and Digital Fabrication, Northern Illinois University
Graduate Research Assistant, Sculpture, Northern Illinois University
2014- Studio Assistant/Technician, all two-dimensional mediums, University of Alabama at Birmingham
2013- Teaching Assistant, Beginning and Intermediate Lithography, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Studio Assistant/Technician, all two-dimensional mediums, University of Alabama at Birmingham
PUBLIC/PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Permanent Collection of Art, Pigeon Hole Press, Chicago, IL
Permanent Collection of Art, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas
Permanent Collection, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa