spectorprojects@mac.com
Shelley Spector is a multidisciplinary artist based in Philadelphia and Dingman’s Ferry, PA. In her practice she responds to available materials, often discarded, in combination with a changeable work environment. She produces distinct bodies of work that search for social interconnections and economy of resources. Her work is part of many public and private collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which presented her solo exhibition “Keep The Home Fires Burning” in 2015, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC. Spector has received grants from the Pollock-Kranser Foundation, Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Leeway Foundation.
Solo Exhibitions
2023 The Mildred Complex(ity), before the hill, Narrowsburg, NY
2017 Aaronson Gallery, University of the Arts, The Nowadays, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Room & Board, I Live Here, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Keep The Home Fires Burning, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Le Boîte, Long Time Thing, New York, NY
2012 EKG Exhibition Space, Dreck Grove, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Gallery Joe, Big Ditty, Philadelphia, PA
2008 Fleisher Art Memorial, Challenge Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Painted Bride Art Center, I Am On Your Shoulders, Philadelphia, PA
2002 Sande Webster Gallery, Fly, Philadelphia, PA
2002 Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, Mamaloshen, Philadelphia, PA
2000 Sande Webster Gallery, Woodies, Philadelphia, PA
1998 Sande Webster Gallery, Familiar Figures and Five Letter Words, Philadelphia, PA
1995 Axis Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1993 Delaware Center For Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
Selected Projects
2020 to Present The Nowadays, Site and interdisciplinary work, Dingmans Ferry, PA
2020 Free Water, Interdisciplinary performance, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2020 We Are Here, One Percent for Art commission, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Bottle Soap / 5 South, Workshop, installation and donation, Philadelphia and New York
2017 White Rice Builds, Installation and donation, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Village, Workshop and installation, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Costa Rica, San Francisco, Chicago, Montréal
2006 to 2013, Artjaw.com, Online anthology
1999 to 2010, SPECTOR Gallery/Projects, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Showcase Gallery, Prints I Have Known and Loved, Al Quoz, Dubai
2018 A Guide To The Field, Encampment, Mountaindale, NY
2014 Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Within The Foreground, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Icebox Project Space, Begin Where You Are, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Delaware Art Museum, FIberNext, Wilmington, DE
2011 The Print Center, To Scale, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Portrait of the Artist, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Philadelphia Ethical Society, The Tract House, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Little Berlin, This Is The Last Place That Can Save My Heart, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Philadelphia International Airport, Waiting Is Part Of It, Philadelphia, PA
2008 Subliminal Projects, Big Kids, Little Kids, Los Angeles, CA
2008 The Print Center, SHOP: Art, Commerce and the Printed Image, Philadelphia PA
2008 Cinders Gallery, Big Kids, Little Kids, Brooklyn, NY
2008 Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, Kissing The Mezuzah, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Contemporary Art on Paper, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Bucheon Gallery, Faithfully, San Francisco, CA
2006 55 Mercer Gallery, Philadelphia Print Portfolio, New York, NY
2004 Antisocial, Everybody Rules Everything, Vancouver, BC
2004 Space 237, Philly and Friends, Toledo, OH
2003 Gallery Schlesinger, First Person, New York, NY
2002 Institute Of Contemporary Art, Scratch Off the Serial, Philadelphia, PA
2000 Lancaster Museum of Art, In Our Own Backyard, Lancaster, PA
1999 Finer Gallery, From Head to Toe, Nashville, TN
1997 Paley Design Center, New Dimensions, Philadelphia, PA
1996 Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Men with Power, Philadelphia, PA
1994 Intermedia Arts, High Flying, Minneapolis, MN
1993 Institute Of Contemporary Art, High Flying, Philadelphia, PA
1992 Civilization Gallery, Group Show, New York, NY
Residencies
2018 RAIR Recycled Artist In Residency, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Mildred's Lane, Beach Lake, PA
2017 Mildred's Lane, Beach Lake, PA
2016 Monte Azul Artist Residency, Costa Rica
2016 Room and Board Residency, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Cross Pollination Residency, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Monte Azul Artist Residency, Costa Rica
2011 Breadboard Residency, NexFab Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Grants
2018 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
2018 Leeway Window of Opportunity Grant
2017 University of the Arts President’s Fund for Excellence
2017 University of the Arts Faculty and Academic Development Fund
2014 University of the Arts Faculty and Academic Development Fund
2013 Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts
2012 Leeway Art and Change Grant
2011 Faculty Development Grant, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
2010 Faculty Development Grant, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
2004 Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts
2000 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
1999 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Selected Collections
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
West Collection, Oaks, PA
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia. PA
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
The Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Human Rights Campaign, Washington, DC
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Children’s Center, New York, NY
Ballard Spahr Andrews Ingersoll, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, Philadelphia, PA
The Reinvestment Fund, Philadelphia,PA
Federal Reserve Bank, Philadelphia, PA
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Philadelphia, PA
PECO Energy, Philadelphia, PA
Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Memorial Regional Medical Center, Hanover County, VA
Corestates Bank, Wilmington, DE
W.L. Gore and Associates, Elkton, MA
HBO Incorporated, New York, NY
Selected Bibliography
Buckingham, Jenna, Begin Where You Are, Title Magazine, September, 13, 2014
Crimmins, Peter, Ma Chère PooZee, The Artblog, May 22, 2015
Crimmins, Peter, Radio/online feature, Newsworks, March 6, 2015
Emmons, Amze, Dreck Groove, Printeresting, March 26, 2012
Fallon, Roberta, Print-Ditty-Doo-Dah, The Artblog, March 21, 2010
Fallon, Roberta, Little Minyons, Philadelphia Weekly, September 14, 2005 P. 37
Fallon, Roberta, People Watcher, Philadelphia Weekly, April 26, 2000, P. 55
Findlay, Lauren, Review, The Artblog, April 12, 2015
Freeborn, John, Big Kids, Little Kids, Nested Group, Inc, 2006 P. 80-84
Hagen, Susan, Support System, City Paper, October 13, 2005, P. 25
Hirsh, Jennie, Review, Art In America, May 2013, P,170
Huff Hunter, Becky, Review, Artforum.com, August 17, 2015
Isaacs, J. Susan, FiberNext, Surface Design Journal, Summer 2014, P. 66
Johns, Alaina, RAIR Artists Imagine, CityWide, October 12, 20018
King, Abby, Review, Title Magazine, September 8, 2015
Kirsh, Andrea, Working At NextFab, The Artblog, February 12, 2012
Lotozo, Eils, Profile, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 16, 2002, P. D1
Melamed, Samantha, Liberties/Reality Check, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 2, 2015, P. C1
McDonald, Natalie Hope, 10 Philadelphia Female Artists, PhillyVoice, April 13, 2015
Monnier, Annette, Begin Where You Are, ARTnews, November 2014, P. 123
Nagle, Aubrey, Review, PhillyVoice, March 9, 2015
Newhall, Edith, Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 10, 2013, P. 38
Newhall, Edith, Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 4, 2012, P. 40
Newhall, Edith, Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 21, 2010, P. 35
Newhall, Edith, Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 07, 2008, P. W35
Schwartz, Chip, Personal and Communal World, The Art Blog , February 25, 2013
Schwartz, Chip, Dreck Groove, Knights Arts Blog, February 28, 2012
Salisbury, Greg, SS Celebrates The Fabric of Her Life, Jewish Exponent, April 22, 2015, P. 44
Smith, Joan, Embroidery, Tech and Hurricanes, The Huffington Post, August 16, 2012
Sozanski, Edward J, Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 23, 2005, P. W46
Sozanski, Edward J, Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 21, 2000, P. W40
Tichindeleanu, Sabina, Process, Inspiration, Self-Awareness, Art Grind Blog, February 28, 2013
Tichindeleanu, Sabina, Front and Center, Art Grind Blog, February 8, 2013
Urban, Jason, Philagrafika, Printeresting, March 31, 2010
Education
University of the Arts, Bachelor of Fine Art, 1994
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 1980-1981