Shelnutt to lead Clemson art department

Published: July 7, 2011

Greg Shelnutt image by: Clemson University

CLEMSON — Greg Shelnutt has been appointed chairman of Clemson University’s art department, effective July 1. He replaces former chairman Michael Vatalaro, who retired after 35 years with Clemson.

Previously, Shelnutt was a member of the visual arts faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he had taught since 2000. In 2005, he was appointed director of the visual arts program there.  He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from East Carolina University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia.

“From the minute Greg accepted this offer, he’s been actively engaged with the department,” said Richard Goodstein, dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities. “He played an integral part in developing the college’s five-year strategic plan, and it is already evident that he is going to be a highly innovative, highly involved department chair.”

“What drew me to Clemson was the warmth and enthusiasm of its people,” stated Shelnutt. “Throughout the interview process, everyone I met was so enthusiastic and open to collaboration and the consideration of new ideas.  I very much look forward to building upon the foundation that Mike Vatalaro and the rest of the art department have clearly worked so hard to establish.  The dynamism and creativity of the department – of the entire campus really – is very palpable.”  

Shelnutt’s sculptures have been exhibited in more than 350 solo, invitational and group exhibitions in galleries and museums such as Art in General in New York, N.Y.; Berlin Kunsproject in Berlin, Germany; C.A.G.E. in Cincinnati, Ohio; Color Elephante in Valencia, Spain; and COMUS Gallery in Portland, Ore.

His previous teaching appointments were at the University of Mississippi and the University of Georgia’s Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy.  In 1992 he was a visiting artist at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. 

Shelnutt has had residencies at the Community Council for the Arts in Kinston, N.C.; the Association for Visual Artists in Chattanooga, Tenn.; the New York Mills Arts Retreat in New York Mills, Minn.; and La Trobe University’s Visual Arts Centre in Bendigo, Australia.  Grants supporting these residencies camefrom the Jerome Foundation, Mississippi Arts Commission, the Arts Council of Winston-Salem Forsyth County, and the Surdna Foundation in New York.  Through the support of a Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts' 2009 BREATHE project award, Greg traveled to Houston, Texas, and New Bern, Ala., to study Project Row Houses and the Rural Studio. He recently received a Mellon Grant to study at the Penland School of Crafts.

Clemson’s art department offers two degrees: a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts. The department is home to Clemson’s Center for Visual Arts and Lee Gallery.

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