Biography
Born in Rochester, NY, Richard Nickel earned a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from State University College at Buffalo, New York in 1996 and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics in 2000 from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. In 2002 he began teaching at Old Dominion University as the Art Education Program Director and the Ceramics Area Coordinator. In 2003, he started the Saturday Morning Art Classes, an annual event where pre-service art education teachers develop and teach free art education classes to area school children. He also revitalized the ceramics studio and developed a sequential curriculum, which in turn increased ceramics course enrollment and concentrations in the BFA in 3D Studies.
Richard Nickel is an active artist, educator and writer who has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions of particular note include Nourish (Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art), Lost Then Found (Hey There Gallery, Joshua Tree, CA), A Ceramic Exhibition (The In Art Gallery, Edwardsville, IL), Contemporary South (VAE, Raleigh, NC - First Prize), Clay Studio National Exhibition (Philadelphia, PA), Art in Craft Media/Craft Art of Western New York (Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY), the Archie Bray Foundation’s Beyond the Brickyard Annual International Exhibition, and the Kent State National Ceramics Invitational - Cutting the Line: Drawing on Ceramics. As a ceramic sculptor, he has pieces in numerous private collections, has exhibited in numerous national and international shows, and has a record of solo exhibitions. He is featured in several books on contemporary ceramics and art journals.
Recent commissions showcase Richard’s interest in animation, illustration, and public art. In the last two years he created the storyboard and character design for "Nouns" by Danny Weinkauf (from his album Songs for Children) and several illustrations and animated features for The Studio Potter (the animations on Eva Zeisel and The Apotheosis of the Toiler were particularly well received). Richard has also been very active in making public art. Most recently he completed the mural Low Tide (1,464 sq. ft.) for Virginia Beach Arts and Better Block, We are Strange and Fragile Vessels (1104 sq. ft.) for the Arts Center in Orange, Virginia, and Dreamville (Dix Park, Raleigh, NC). His other murals can be found in Hillsborough, NC; Rochester, NY; Niagara Falls, NY; Orange, VA; Norfolk, VA; Hampton, VA; and Virginia Beach, VA. He has also designed ceramic awards for Skutt Kilns, illustrations for Alt Daily, and posters for various local events.
In 2021 he curated the show Leather Hard/Bone Dry: Stories from the Craft World for the NCECA conference and edited a book of illustrated stories from the featured artists. Richard serves on the advisory board of The Studio Potter and is a quarterly contributor as The Studio Potter cartoonist, creating educational animations and cartoons about the history of craft art.
Richard has participated in several research residencies and workshops, including a three-month residency at the Archie Bray Foundation and a two-month residency at Red Lodge Clay Center. Short-term residencies and workshops occurred at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Haystack Mountain School of Arts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, and Bread and Puppet Theatre.
Richard’s record of conference and workshop presentations include several national and international forums, most notably serving as a delegate for Empty Bowls Japan. His most recent grant awards include the 2022 Summer Research Grant (for research at the Hermitage Museum) and the 2021 Social Justice Themester Grant (with which he collaborated with his ceramics classes to create a ceramic tile mural entitled The House of Colors).
Born in Rochester, NY, Richard Nickel earned a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from State University College at Buffalo, New York in 1996 and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics in 2000 from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. In 2002 he began teaching at Old Dominion University as the Art Education Program Director and the Ceramics Area Coordinator. In 2003, he started the Saturday Morning Art Classes, an annual event where pre-service art education teachers develop and teach free art education classes to area school children. He also revitalized the ceramics studio and developed a sequential curriculum, which in turn increased ceramics course enrollment and concentrations in the BFA in 3D Studies.
Richard Nickel is an active artist, educator and writer who has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions of particular note include Nourish (Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art), Lost Then Found (Hey There Gallery, Joshua Tree, CA), A Ceramic Exhibition (The In Art Gallery, Edwardsville, IL), Contemporary South (VAE, Raleigh, NC - First Prize), Clay Studio National Exhibition (Philadelphia, PA), Art in Craft Media/Craft Art of Western New York (Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY), the Archie Bray Foundation’s Beyond the Brickyard Annual International Exhibition, and the Kent State National Ceramics Invitational - Cutting the Line: Drawing on Ceramics. As a ceramic sculptor, he has pieces in numerous private collections, has exhibited in numerous national and international shows, and has a record of solo exhibitions. He is featured in several books on contemporary ceramics and art journals.
Recent commissions showcase Richard’s interest in animation, illustration, and public art. In the last two years he created the storyboard and character design for "Nouns" by Danny Weinkauf (from his album Songs for Children) and several illustrations and animated features for The Studio Potter (the animations on Eva Zeisel and The Apotheosis of the Toiler were particularly well received). Richard has also been very active in making public art. Most recently he completed the mural Low Tide (1,464 sq. ft.) for Virginia Beach Arts and Better Block, We are Strange and Fragile Vessels (1104 sq. ft.) for the Arts Center in Orange, Virginia, and Dreamville (Dix Park, Raleigh, NC). His other murals can be found in Hillsborough, NC; Rochester, NY; Niagara Falls, NY; Orange, VA; Norfolk, VA; Hampton, VA; and Virginia Beach, VA. He has also designed ceramic awards for Skutt Kilns, illustrations for Alt Daily, and posters for various local events.
In 2021 he curated the show Leather Hard/Bone Dry: Stories from the Craft World for the NCECA conference and edited a book of illustrated stories from the featured artists. Richard serves on the advisory board of The Studio Potter and is a quarterly contributor as The Studio Potter cartoonist, creating educational animations and cartoons about the history of craft art.
Richard has participated in several research residencies and workshops, including a three-month residency at the Archie Bray Foundation and a two-month residency at Red Lodge Clay Center. Short-term residencies and workshops occurred at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Haystack Mountain School of Arts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, and Bread and Puppet Theatre.
Richard’s record of conference and workshop presentations include several national and international forums, most notably serving as a delegate for Empty Bowls Japan. His most recent grant awards include the 2022 Summer Research Grant (for research at the Hermitage Museum) and the 2021 Social Justice Themester Grant (with which he collaborated with his ceramics classes to create a ceramic tile mural entitled The House of Colors).