Of the 71 Ohio artists named by the Ohio Arts Council to receive Individual Excellence Awards this year, three are full-time faculty members in the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art at The University of Akron.
Matthew Kolodziej
Painter Matthew Kolodziej of West Akron, metalsmith and jeweler Sherry Simms of Firestone Park, and graphic designer and illustrator Dave Szalay of Richfield are among the artists chosen to receive the $5,000 awards that recognize creative artists for the exceptional merit of their work.
Kolodziej is a professor of art and the coordinator of UA’s Painting and Drawing Area. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago and an MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design, and joined the UA art faculty in 2001. In 2007, he started UA’s Synapse series of lectures, workshops, exhibitions and conversations about the intersection of science in art.
The transitory quality of space and perception is a central theme in Kolodziej’s paintings. He uses images of architecture and landscape to explore the presence of change. He has received Fulbright and Pollock-Krasner awards and his work has been in exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Rockford Art Museum, the Akron Art Museum, Rose Art Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.
Sherry Simms
Simms is an associate professor of art and the coordinator of UA’s Metalsmithing and Jewelry Area. She holds a BFA from UA and an MFA in Metalsmithing from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and joined the UA art faculty in 2001.
She creates jewelry and sculptural objects that seek to challenge cultural understanding of jewelry and ornamentation. Her work has been widely exhibited and published, including in both American Craft and Metalsmith magazines.
Szalay has been a professional designer and illustrator since 1985 and an assistant professor of art at UA since 2005. He holds a BFA in graphic design and an M.A. in Communication from UA and an MFA in illustration from the University of Hartford.
Dave Szalay
His illustrations blend digital media with traditional techniques and are often inspired by vintage mid-century advertising and storybooks. He also has a strong interest in narrative imagery, visual development, animation and illustration history. He has been recognized by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Advertising Federation of Greater Akron, among others, and was chosen to design the 2014 button for First Night Akron.
Accredited by the National Association of Art and Design since 1979, the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art at UA is one of only a few named art schools in the country. The school focuses on undergraduate education by offering BFA and BA degree programs in studio art, a BA degree program in art history, and a BA degree program in art education. Facilities in Folk Hall, home of the Myers School of Art, include the Emily Davis Gallery, Student Projects Gallery, an auditorium, administrative and faculty offices, two classrooms, 28 studios, the Visual Resource Center, the Graphic Services Center, and the William Hogarth Seminar Room. For more information, visit the Myers School of Art online.
Media contact: Cyndee Snider 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.