Spence Guerin Exhibitions, Awards, Collections

About the Artist

Spence Guerin lives in his hometown, Melbourne, Florida. He was a full-time resident of Alaska 1974-89 and maintains a studio fifty miles from Anchorage. A stepvan mobile studio enables him to work on location away from home for extended periods of time, as he has done from coast-to-coast.

Spence Guerin works in painting, drawing and printmaking media, mostly landscape, some still life, some figurative, including portraits -- working from direct observation on location. He sometimes engages in irreverent commentary (see funky) for this disturbing yet hopeful era in American and world history that enfolds us all. AWARDS include: Academy Award in Art, American Academy of Arts and Letters (see Award text below); Artist Fellowship Grant, Alaska State Arts Council; and Artist Fellowship Grant, National Endowment for the Arts.

Exhibitions, Awards & Collections

Academy Award in Art

"Spence Guerin is a contemporary artist who brings the American nineteenth-century tradition of naturalist painting convincingly into the 21st century. Mr. Guerin paints from direct visual experience with camera-like precision. He chooses to paint scenes that are often complex, such as a Florida swamp with its jumble of wild and bewildering vegetation, of which he makes structured sense. He captures the views he chooses to paint with the light and atmosphere so tangiblibly depicted that the viewer of the painting experiences a hallucinatory sense of being unexpectedly in the space of the scene. Though he is brilliant at creating the illusion of a real place, it is his strong sense of pictorial structure that makes him modern."

American Academy of Arts and Letters
New York City
May 19, 2004

2009

Liquid Muse (Florida's American Heritage River: The Art of the St. Johns Region) an exhibition of 45 Florida artists, includes Spence Guerin's Tootoosahatchee, travels to:
- Feb. 15-Mar.31, Alexander Brest Museum, Jacksonville University, Jacksonville FL.
- Apr. 15-May 30, Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science, Tallahassee FL.
- Aug. 3-Sept. 9, Florida School of the Arts, St. Johns River Community College, Palatka FL.
- Sept. 15-Nov. 23, Museum of Florida Art (formerly Deland Museum of Art), Deland FL.
Publications: “Studio Visit” juried artist catalog competition, Open Studios Press, Spring 2009.

2008

Aug.30-Oct. 19, public reception Wed. Oct. 2 -- Liquid Muse (Florida's American Heritage River: The Art of the St. Johns Region) an exhibition of 45 Florida artists, at Thomas Center Gallery, Gainesville FL. Exhibition includes Spence Guerin's Tootoosahatchee.
- Thurs. Sept. 18: artists Sean Sexton and Spence Guerin speak on Art and Agriculture in St. Johns River Basin, Harn Museum of Art, University of FL, Gainesville FL.
- Thurs. Oct. 2nd: Liquid Muse public reception
- Fri. Oct. 3rd: All day events include panel discussion 1-3pm with artists Sydney McKenn, Margaret Ross Tolbert and Spence Guerin, speaking about their work, the St. Johns River, and public water resources. 1-3 pm at Santa Fe CommunityCollege, Gainesville FL.
- Liquid Muse exhibition will travel in Florida in 2009 to Jacksonville, DeLand, Tallahassee and Palatka.
Publications: “Juried Exhibition in Print” New American Paintings, Vol. 76, Southern Edition, June 2008.

2005-2007

Working on private commissions in Alaska, Oregon and Florida.

2004

Exhibition of Work by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City
Made in Florida: The Contemporary Landscape (four artists: James Couper, Miami; Jake Fernandez, Bradenton; Sean Sexton, Vero Beach; and Spence), The von Liebig Art Center, Naples, Florida
Invitational Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, American Academy of Arts and Letters
Group exhibition, Tatistcheff Gallery, New York City
Tiny Works, Project Gallery, Wichita, Kansas

2003

Group exhibition, A Fall Landscape Show (four artists: Melanie Parke of Michigan; Stephen Dinsmore of Nebraska; Stanley Lewis of back east somewhere; and Spence Guerin) at Wright Gallery, Northport, Michigan, all of October
Group exhibition, The Contemporary Landscape, Mira Mar Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Received Donor Award, 16th Annual Northern National Art Competion, Nicolet College, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Group exhibition, Tatistcheff Gallery, New York City
Group exhibition, The Spice of Life (Five Florida Artists), Backus Gallery and Museum, Fort Pierce, Florida
Publications: “Juried Exhibition in Print” New American Paintings, Vol. 46, Southern Edition, June 2003

2002

Received Peninsula Fine Arts Center Award (the highest honor) at Biennial 2002, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, Virginia
64th Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings and Photography, Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida
October International Competition 2002, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida
Locations & Light, Crealde School of Art, Winter Park, Florida. Landscape Paintings by Pennsylvania Artists Scott Noel and Jeffrey Reed and Florida Artist Spence Guerin

2001

Ten New Artists, group exhibition, Tatistcheff Gallery, New York City
63rd Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida
Art Encounter 2000ne, First All-Florida Jured Exhibition, Naples Art Association, von Liebig Art Center, Naples, Florida
Honorable Mention, 2D/3D Fine Art Juried Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts, Fort Meyers, Florida
Invitational Salon Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
Tiny Works V, Project Gallery, Wichita, Kansas

2000

62nd Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida
Realism 2000, 12th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Cultural Center of Fine Arts, Parkersburg, West Virginia
The Contemporary Landscape, Mira Mar Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Invitational Salon Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
Tiny Works IV, Project Gallery, Wichita, Kansas

1999

Third Annual Tiny Works Invitational, Project Gallery, Wichita, Kansas
Florida and the Southeast: The Gulf Coast Museum of Art Collection, Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, Florida
Benefactor Award, Northern National Art Competition, Northern Arts Council and Nicolet College, Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Juror: Christopher Brown, painter
Open Spaces-Private Places, Seven Florida Landscape Painters, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida
Invitational Salon Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania

1998

Tiny Works Short Stories, 2nd Annual Invitational Exhibit, Project Gallery, Wichita, Kansas
"My Cousin Spence" at my cousin Bryant's, San Francisco
Texas National 98, SFA Gallery, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas; Juror: Martha Mayer Erlebacher, painter.
Second Annual National All-Media Competition, Ridge Art Association, Winter Haven, Florida; Juror: Mark Ormond, Curator, Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida
Group Exhibition, Florida Collectors Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Invitational Salon Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
Solo exhibition, Resurrection Bay Galerie, Seward, Alaska

1997

Florida Competitive Exhibition, Part 2, Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida; Juror: Frank Thompson III, Curator, Asheville (NC) Art Museum
Donor Award, Tenth Northern National Art Competition, Northern Arts Council and Nicolet College, Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Juror: Philip Pearlstein.
Inaugural Exhibition, Project Gallery, Wichita, Kansas
National Spring Open Juried Exhibition, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, Pennsylvania
Invitational Salon Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
Reality Check (Alaska Realism), Decker/Morris Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska

1996

45th All Florida Exhibition, Boca Raton Museum of Art
61st Annual National Exhibition, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, New York
National Small Works Exhibition, Schoharie County Arts Council, Cobleskill, New York
Invitational Salon Exhibition of Small Works, New Arts Program, Kutztown, Pennsylvania

SELECTED AWARDS

Academy Award in Art, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City

National Endowment for the Arts Artist Fellowship Grant for Painting

Alaska State Arts Council Artist Fellowship Grant for Painting

Purchase Award, Childe Hassam Fund Purchase Exhibition, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letter, New York City (now American Academy of Arts and Letters)

Purchase Award, Florida Biennial II, Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, now Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo FL

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Alaska Airlines

Alaska State Museum, Juneau

Anchorage Museum of Art and History

ARCO Alaska

Arizona State University Museum

Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida

Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, Florida

Phoenix Art Museum

Republic Security Bank, West Palm Beach, Florida

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Alaska State Museum

Anchorage Museum of Art and History

Brevard Museum of Art and Science

Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport

Foothills Art Museum, Golden, Colorado

Lander University, Greenwood, South Carolina

Laurel Seth Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

SELECTED EARLIER GROUP EXHIBITIONS

American Drawing Biennial III, Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary

Cheekwood National Contemporary Painting Competition, Cheekwood Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee. Honorable Mention Award.

Halpert Biennial, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina

Hal Katzen Gallery, New York City

Orlando Museum of Art Biennial Juried Exhibition, Orlando, Florida

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