Tom Sarver
Education
MFA 2010 Studio Art Purchase College, SUNY
BFA 1997 Painting Tyler School of Art, Temple University (magna cum
laude)
1995 Study Abroad Temple University Rome
Areas of specialization: Painting, Site-Specific Installation, Puppetry, Drawing, Sculpture, Collaborative Projects, Events, Sound, Video and Performance.
Solo Exhibitions
2010Queasy, Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, NY
2009 Sarver’s Bait & Tackle, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
2008Cooking With Sticks, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
2006-08The Tom Museum, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2003Political Gizmology, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA
2001 From Puppets to Paintings, AAP Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2000Dreamscapes, The Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, PA
Group Exhibitions
2010 Planet of Slums, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
Curators: LaToya Frazier and Omar Lopez-Chahoud
Gulf Oil Disaster Response,
Landslide Gallery, Chicago, IL
Flying Monkey Art Center, Hunstville, AL
Curated by The Foster Collective
The Real LR word, Ligne Roset, Park Avenue South, New York, NY
Curator: Omar Lopez-Chahoud
Five Alive, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY
Curator: Omar Lopez-Chahoud
AbstrACTION, The Arts Exchange, White Plains, NY
Curator: Dara Meyers-Kingsley
2009 Faux Show, Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, NY
Curator: Omar Lopez-Chahoud
2008 Pittsburgh Biennial, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Curators: Laura Domencic and George Davis(catalogue)
The Color of My Room, Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, NY
20078 – Hour Drawings, Bowman Gallery, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
Curator: Robert Raczka
2006 My Space, Space Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Curator: Sharmila Venkatasubban
Selections from The Tom Museum, Digging Pitt Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Tom Sarver and Francis Crisafio, Digging Pitt Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Curator: John Morris
2005 Members Exhibition, Brew House Space 101, Pittsburgh, PA
Annual Exhibition, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
Curator: Katherine Talcott
Puppets, Masks and Art in Motion, Artists Upstairs, Pittsburgh, PA
Curator: Tavia LaFolette
2004AMP, The Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
Juried by Tom Sokolowski
Bazaar Bizarre, Brew House Space 101, Pittsburgh, PA
2003 Gestures, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
Curators: Michael Olijnyk and Graham Shearing
2002 Off The Wall Show, europ’Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2000 New Members Exhibition, AAP Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2000 Pay Attention! Brew House Space 101, Pittsburgh, PA
1999 Puppet-Puppeteer, Brew House Space 101, Pittsburgh, PA
Curator: Rob Long
1997 New Member’s Exhibition, Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA
Regional Art Show, Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, PA
Performances
2009Final Meltdown, (solo performance in storefront installation)
Purchase College, Purchase, NY
2008Art Olympic Theatre IV, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Market Square,
Pittsburgh, PA (featured festival event)
Art Olympic Theatre III, Union Project, Pittsburgh, PA
2007 Installation Olympic Theatre, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
Art Olympic Theatre II, New Hazlett Theater, Pittsburgh, PA
2006 Little Tricker, (puppetry)
American Shorts Reading Series, Pittsburgh, PA
Puppet Uprising, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Global Warming, Art All Night, Pittsburgh, PA (solo site-specific performance)
It’s Not Natural, Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA (puppetry)
2005WorldStage, Flux 12, Pittsburgh, PA (solo site-specific performance)
Curator: Sharmila Venkatasubban
2003 Perseus, Medusa and The Magic Frisbee, Fifth Annual Black Sheep Puppet
Festival, Pittsburgh, PA (puppetry collaboration with team of ten artists and
musicians)
Djuha Stories, Dark Night Cabaret, University of Pittsburgh, PA (puppetry
collaboration with Michael Cuccaro)
2002 Big Fish Eat Little Fish, (puppetry)
Youngstown State University Summer Arts Festival, Youngstown, OH
Children’s Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
Fourth Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
2001 Spatafina, An Italian Tragedy, (puppetry)
Wats:ON? Festival, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Third Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival Pittsburgh, PA
2000 Morphosis-meta, (puppetry)
AAP Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Second Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
1999 Life in The Big Cities, (puppetry)
First Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
Professional Experience
2010 Education Specialist, Carnegie Museum of Art
(The Art Connection and Home School Programs)
2009-10 Teaching Assistant, Purchase College, Introduction to Painting, fall
2009 and spring 2010 (instructor of record)
2009 Teaching Assistant, Purchase College Introduction to Sculpture, spring
2009 (instructor of record)
Museum Educator, Carnegie Museum of Art, summer Programs
Instructor, Mattress Factory, summer Programs (children and adults)
2008 Teaching Assistant to Professor Nancy Bowen, Sculpture I, fall 2008,
Purchase College
Artistic Director, Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
2007 Instructor, Factory 14’s Rocks Paper Robots, Mattress Factory
(installation-based class combined with robotics workshop for high school
students)
Instructor, Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Department Robot 250
Open Studio Workshops, Mattress Factory and Brew House, Pittsburgh, PA
2005-07Director and Curator, Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
2002 Educator, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh
(NEA funded arts vocational program for high school students)
1998-01 Instructor, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickely, PA
Featured instructor, summer 1999
Adult Drawing – summer 1999, spring 2000, summer 2000, fall 2000, summer 2001
Experimenting in Oils and Acrylics – fall 2001
Children’s Multimedia – winter 2000
Children’s Painting – spring 1999
Teen Painting & Drawing – spring 1999
The Art of Invention (children’s sculpture) – winter 1999
Dreamscapes (children’s multimedia) 1998
Grants/Awards
2010 Dean’s MFA Recognition Award, School of Art+Design, Purchase College
2008-10 Purchase College Graduate Scholarship
2008 A.W. Mellon Award, Pittsburgh Foundation
2007 Seed Award, Sprout Fund
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Mayor’s Award for Public Art
Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Project Grant
Small Arts Initiative Grant, Heinz Endowments
2006 Creative Heights Initiative Grant, Heinz Endowments
Artist Residencies
2006-08Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2007Pittsburgh Center for the Arts School and Community Arts
Program. Projects included: Five-day residency at Rogers Elementary School, Glenshaw, PA; Ten-day residency at Wexford Elementary School, Wexford, PA; Ten-day residency, ASTEP program, Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, PA
Exhibitions Curated
2008 Binding Forces, Works by self-taught artists Dorothy Williams and Doug
Hill, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
MIXTAPE, International show of sound recordings, The Tom Museum,
Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
Artist Books, Handmade books by fifteen Pittsburgh artists, The Tom
Museum, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2007 SNAPSHOT, International photography exhibition, The Tom Museum,
Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
Small Works Exhibition, Show of small sculpture, The Tom Museum,
Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2005 What It Is, Brew House, Pittsburgh, PA (street art festival and exhibition
included over forty artists and musicians; co-curated with Alexis Covato)
2005 Slinky Thinking, Sculpture by James Rettinger, Brew House Space 101,
Pittsburgh, PA
2004 From the Inside, Works by self-taught artists Steve Smith, Robert Wright
and Dorothy Williams, Brew House Space 101, Pittsburgh, PA
Commissions
2010 Punchinello Stories, Grand Guignol Event, New Hazlett Theater,
Pittsburgh, PA (puppet performance)
2008 James Gallery Pittsburgh, PA (ten collage pieces for new Children’s
Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA)
Soaring to New Heights, Wexford Elementary School, Wexford, PA
(permanent lobby installation of suspended bird sculptures)
Artist Lectures
2010 Alfred University, Alfred, NY
Distillery Program, (residency program) Pittsburgh, PA
2008 From Pittsburgh to Mars, Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art,
Pittsburgh, PA (local artist perspectives on Carnegie International)
Binding Forces (curator talk) Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
2007 Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA (solo exhibition lecture)
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Bottoms Up: A Gathering of Emerging Minds in
Pittsburgh’s Cultural Community (presenter)
Service
2010 Mentor, Distillery Residency Program, Pittsburgh, PA
2008-10Visiting Artist Coordinator, MFA Program, Purchase College
2009Organized Exhibitions of Purchase College MFA work at Morgan Stanley
Corporate Offices, Purchase, NY
2010 Arts Academic Review Committee, Purchase College
2009 Faculty Review Committee, Purchase College
2008 Search Committee, Purchase College
2004-07 Executive Board Member, Brew House Association, Inc.
(served as secretary and vice president of 501(c)(3) organization)
2004-05 Co-chair, Brew House Space 101 Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1999-04 Founding committee member and core organizer, Black Sheep Puppet
Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
Collections
Mattress Factory Museum of Art
Professional Affiliation
College Art Association
Bibliography
Hodara, Susan. “Celebrating Artists Who Keep the Action in Abstraction.” The New York Times, May 7, 2010
Crawley, Dave, “Fish Artist.” KD Country, KDKA, CBS Broadcasting, Pittsburgh, June 12, 2009
Sorenson, Kristine, “Sarver’s Bait & Tackle At Arts Festival,” Pittsburgh Today Live,KDKA, CBS Broadcasting, Pittsburgh, June 10, 2009
Shaw, Kurt, “Faux bait shop hooks Three Rivers Arts Festival visitors.” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 10, 2009
Thomas, Mary. “Tom Sarver goes fishing for ideas at the Three Rivers Arts Festival.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 4, 2009
Puppetry International, “40 Under 40, Quick Takes on Young Masters World-Wide.” Spring and summer, 2009
Smith, Pohla. “Hospital artwork designed to make kids smile.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 26, 2009
Fink, Katherine, “Art Olympic Theatre,” WDUQ-FM Pittsburgh, May 6th, 2008
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, WV. “3 teams of artists face off in challenge.” October 11, 2007
Diehl, Dawnlyn, “From Puppets to Political Activism.” Pittsburgh Metropolitan, March / April 2007
Burket, Brent, “Policy,” Heart as Arena, January 23, 2007
Donaldson, Bob, “One Last Look at 2006.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 31, 2006
O’Toole, Christine, “Pittsburgh’s South Side, Resurrected.” The Washington Post, October 29, 2006
Machosky, Michael, “Blending Disciplines,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 7, 2006
Ganster, Kathleen, “His home, his work, His museum.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 24, 2006
Shaw, Kurt. “Puppet Master.” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 7, 2006
O’Toole, Christine. “The Tom Show.” Pittsburgh Magazine, September 2006
Hundt, Brad. “At the Tom Museum, it’s all about an artist named Tom.” Washington Pennsylvania Observer-Reporter, September 8, 2006
Shaw, Kurt. “Personal Space.” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 13, 2006
Knepp, Gregory M. “Space Crafts.” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 2006
Shaw, Kurt. “Pittsburgh’s spin on street art fills gallery walls.” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 17, 2005
Thomas, Mary. “One to Grow On.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 8, 2005
Venkatasubban, Sharmila. “Scattering Seeds.” Pittsburgh City Paper, February, 2004
Schaffner, Karen. “Let Them Pull the Strings.” Butler Eagle, Pennsylvania, October 13, 2003
Passarello, Elena, “Hook, Line & Thinkers.” Pittsburgh Magazine, August, 2003
Venkatasubban, Sharmila. “Small, Good Things.” Pittsburgh City Paper, December 25, 2002
Winn, Alice. “The Off The Wall Show.” Pittsburgh City Paper, July 2002
Thomas, Mary. “Bright Images, “home” assemblages light up galleries.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 13, 2001
Thomas, Mary. “AAP’s New Members Show shines with promise.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 17, 2000
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