RICHARD JOLLEY

Born: Kansas, 1952

Resides: Knoxville, TN

Richard Jolley spent much of his childhood in Oak Ridge, Tennessee where his father was a research scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In 1971, as a student at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee, he became fascinated with sculpting glass. Jolley went on to earn his BFA in 1974 from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and in that same year also pursued advanced studies in glass at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.

Describing the early days of the studio glass movement he says, “There was very little knowledge available, as far as the premise of glass, and what was being made. There was this experimental flavor of having this hot, spontaneous material to try and make things with. It had as its essence, the sense of discovery.”

The son of a scientist, Richard combines science and art masterfully. He says, “Had I elected to embrace abstraction as a thought process, I would have chosen life as a scientist.” Fortunately he has been able to combine his innovative technical skills with his artistic vision to create art that “tells us more about who we are.”

In 2008, The Knoxville Museum of Art, TN commissioned Jolley to create a permanent installation in glass and metal for the walls of the museum's Great Hall. The Great Hall, used for community events and educational programs, measures approximately 100 x 40 feet and Jolley's work is expected to cover most of the upper walls of this monumental space.

According to KMA Executive Director David Butler, “This is a transformative gift for the KMA, and we are grateful to Ann and Steve Bailey for providing this unparalleled opportunity for the museum and for the artist. The project imposes tremendous technical and aesthetic challenges, and will result in the one of the largest and most significant sculptural glass works anywhere.” He adds that “this signature artwork by Richard Jolley, in one of the city's grandest spaces, enhances the landmark status of the museum building.”

EDUCATION

  • 1974 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC , Advanced Studies
  • 1974 BFA, George Peabody College, Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN
  • 1970 - 1973 - Tusculum College, Greenville, TN, Undergraduate

AWARDS

  • 2007 Governor's Award in the Arts, Distinguished Artist Award
  • 1999 University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, Artist in Residence
  • 1998 Israeli Cultural Artist Exchange, Israel, Artist in Residence
  • 1988 Tennessee Individual Artist Grant
  • 1986 Galeria Angela Hollings, Hameln, Germany, Artist in Residence

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

  • American Craft Museum, New York, New York
  • Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, North Carolina
  • Atlantic Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
  • Baton Rouge Art and Humanities Council, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
  • Carillon Importers Ltd., Teaneck, New Jersey
  • Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
  • Coburg Museum, Coburg, Germany
  • Corning Museum, Corning, New York
  • Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio
  • Frederick Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, California
  • Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
  • Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee
  • Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
  • Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
  • International Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark
  • Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
  • Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf, Germany
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles, California
  • Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
  • Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design, New York, New York
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama
  • North Carolina State University Museum of Art and Design, Raleigh, North Carolina
  • Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
  • Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
  • Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
  • Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
  • Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, Tennessee
  • The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
  • The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
  • The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
  • University Hospital of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio