
Niles Wallace
Professor, Ceramics
ABOUT
As an undergraduate Art Education major I discovered the ceramics studio and became completely enamored with clay, the potter's wheel and vessels. My early formal training through graduate school was as a ceramicist. During graduate school I began to work on more sculptural forms, and eventually I quit the container altogether as perhaps a less serious concern. I successfully exhibited my work on a national level. After I began teaching I pursued painting, and mixed media sculpture. For about fifteen years I did not touch clay at all and taught foundation classes and sculpture. About five years ago I started rediscovering clay media and the joy of making vessels. In returning to the media and the forms that initially attracted me I feel that I have approached them as a sculptor and a painter but with a potters awareness of materials and skill.
EDUCATION
- 1970 B.S. Art Education Edinboro State University
- 1974 M.F.A. Ceramics Alfred University
TEACHING
- 1974 (summer) Visiting Instructor, Philadelphia College of Art
- 1974-76 Instructor, SUNY Albany, Art Department
- 1976-present Professor, Art Department, University of Memphis
HONORS/AWARDS
- 1978 Individual Craftsman Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts
- 1987 Spring Research Leave, University of Memphis
- 1990 Edinboro State University, Distinguished Alumni Award
- 1991 Faculty Development Leave, University of Memphis
- 2002 Faculty Development Leave, University of Memphis
- 2016 Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Grant
WORKSHOP LECTURES
- 1973 Edinboro State University
- 1974 Raku Symposium SUNY Albany
- 1975 Hudson Valley Ceramic Conference
- 1977 Carnegie-Mellon University
- 1978 Art Park, Lewiston, N.Y.
- 1980 University of Mississippi
- 1981 Southeast College Art Association
- 1983 Contemporary Southeastern Clay Artists, Univ. of Mississippi
- 1993' Appalachian Center for Crafts
- 2004 Southeastern Louisiana University
- 2008 Rhodes College
- 2011 Juried Bi-State Exhibition, Meridian Mississippi Museum of Art
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
- 1972 Pottery Invitational, Erie, PA.
- 1972 Supermud Invitational, Penn State
- 1973 Alfred Graduate Invitational, Brockport State University
- 1974 State Celebration of the Arts, Fredonia, N.Y.
- 1976 Concepts Clay, Central Michigan University
- 1977 Regional Invitational, Memphis Artist/Craftsman Association
- 1977 Combined Faculty Show, Memphis Brooks Museum
- 1977 ETC Gallery, Memphis, TN,
- 1978 Exchange Show, Memphis, TN.
- 1978 100 Teapots, Thiel College
- 1979 Faculty Exhibition, University of Memphis
- 1979 Exchange Show, Memphis, TN.
- 1979 Edinboro National Invitational, Edinboro University
- 1980 Functional Ceramics, Purdue University
- 1980 Up Front Exhibition, Memphis, TN.
- 1980 Invitational Exhibition, Carnegie-Mellon University
- 1981 Southeast College Art Association, Oxford, MS
- 1981 Southern Monumental Invitational, University of Memphis
- 1982 Distinguished Alumni Exhibition, Edinboro University
- 1982 The Artisans Gallery, Great Neck, N.Y.
- 1983 Faculty Exhibition, University of Memphis
- 1983 Contemporary Southeastern Clay Artists, Univ. of Mississippi
- 1983 Emerging Talent, N.C.E.C.A. conference
- 1984 Social Commentary Exhibition, University of Memphis
- 1986 The Atlanta Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA.
- 1986 G.H. Dalsheimer Gallery. Baltimore, MD.
- 1986 The Craftsman's Gallery, Scarsdale, N.Y.
- 1987 Invitational Exhibition, Millersville University
- 1987 The Artisans Gallery, Great Neck, N.Y.
- 1987 American House Gallery, Tenafly, N.J.
- 1988 National Ceramic Invitational, Ringling College of Art
- 1988 The Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, Mo.
- 1989 Inaugural Exhibition, Memphis Center for Contemporary Art
- 1989 Four Alfred Graduates, Martha Schneider Gallery, Chicago, IL.
- 1989 Dimensions Gallery, Boca Raton, Fl.
- 1989 The Art of Tennessee Craft, Nashville, TN.
- 1990 A Decade of Craft, Christie's East, NYC, N.Y.
- 1999 Wood Works, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR.
- 2000 Memphis Arts In The Park Festival, Invitational
- 2001 Ornamental Metals Museum, Memphis, TN.
- 2002 Faculty Exhibition, University of Memphis
- 2005 Tide to the Vernacular, Project Creo, St. Petersburg Art Center
- 2006 Faculty Exhibition, University of Memphis
- 2006 Assemblation, Eyedrum Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- 2011 Pseudonym, Gallery 56, Memphis, TN.
- 2013 Hanging Participles, Marshall Arts, Memphis, TN
- 2013 The Unicorn Show, Marshall Arts, Memphis, TN
- 2013 It Came From Memphis, Delta State University
- 2013 Faculty Exhibition , University of Memphis
- 2014 L Ross Gallery, Memphis, TN
- 2015 It's Good to be the King, L Ross Gallery, Memphis, TN
- 2015 TN Holiday Presentation, TN State Residence, Nashville, TN
- 2016 Ten Year Anniversary Show, L. Ross Gallery, Memphis, TN
ONE & TWO MAN EXHIBITIONS
- 1975 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rensselaer, NY
- 1976 SUNY Albany
- 1977 National Bank of Commerce, Memphis, TN.
- 1978 LeMoyne Owen College, Memphis, TN.
- 1979 Memphis State University
- 1979 Southwestern University, Memphis, TN.
- 1980 University of Mississippi, Oxford, Ms.
- 1981 Austin Peay University
- 1982 Union Planters Gallery, Memphis, TN.
- 1983 Carriage Gallery, Memphis, TN.
- 1986 The Pottery Place, Memphis, TN.
- 1990 Albers Gallery, Memphis, TN.
- 1992 Schneider, Blumh, Loeb Gallery, Chicago, IL.
- 1993 Tennessee Tech University
- 2000 Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery, Nashville, TN.
- 2002 Delta Axis Gallery, Memphis, TN.
- 2008 Clough Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
- 2011 Sticks and Stones, Gallery 56, Memphis, TN
- 2013 Rug Burns, Gallery 56, Memphis, TN
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
- 1970 Crafts Guild Spring Show, Pittsburgh, PA.
- 1970 Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, PA.
- 1972 Portsmouth National, Portsmouth, VA.
- 1974 Pennsylvania Crafts '74, Harrisburg, PA.
- 1974 Southern Tier National, Corning, NY.
- 1976 Arizona National. Scottsdale, AZ.
- 1977 Lake Superior International, Duluth, MN.
- 1977 Mississippi River Crafts Show, Memphis, TN.
- 1977 Marietta Crafts National, Marietta, OH.
- 1978 Young Americans: Clay and Glass, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC
- 1980 Crafts, Drawing, Small Sculpture, Little Rock AR.
- 1980 Ceramics Southeast, Athens, GA.
- 1982 Crafts, Drawing, Small Sculpture, Little Rock, AR.
- 1982 The ACE Fair, Baltimore, MD.
- 1982 The Centennial Park Fair, Nashville, TN.
- 1983 The Mid South Crafts Fair, Memphis, TN.
- 1983 The Boardwalk Art Festival, Virginia Beach, VA.
- 1983 The Gum Tree Festival, Tupelo, MS.
- 1983 The Centennial Park Fair, Nashville, TN.
- 1983 Tennessee Valley Commission, Chattanooga, TN.
- 1984 The Centennial Park Fair, Nashville, TN.
- 1984 The Philadelphia Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA.
- 1985 The Washington Craft Show, Washington, DC.
- 1986 The ACE Fair, West Springfield, MA.
- 1986 The ACE Fair, Baltimore, MD.
- 1987 The ACE Fair, West Springfield, MA.
- 1988 The ACE Fair, West Springfield, MA.
- 1989 The Gum Tree Festival, Tupelo, MS.
- 1989 The Centennial Park Festival, Nashville, TN.
- 1990 The Gum Tree Festival, Tupelo, MS.
- 1991 Arts in the Park, Memphis, TN.
- 1992 Music Fest Art Fair, Jackson, Ms.
- 1992 Boston Mills Arts Festival, Boston Mills, OH.
- 1992 57th Street Art Fair, Chicago, IL.
- 1992 Art in the Square, Madison, WS.
- 1992 Arts in the Park, Memphis, TN.
- 1998 Arts in the Park, special projects, Memphis, TN.
- 1998 The Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR. (honorable mention)
- 1998 The Mid States Art Exhibition, Evansville, IN.
- 2000 The Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR.
- 2001 Arts in the Park, Memphis, TN. (1st place special projects) Juror- Shamin Momin
- 2002 Water Tower Annual, Louisville, KY.
- 2002 The Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR. (honorable mention) Juror- James Barness
- 2002 Association for Visual Artists National Annual, Chattanooga, TN. Juror- Robert Stackhouse
- 2002 Arts In the Park, juried exhibit, Memphis, TN.
- 2003 New Jersey Center for Visual Arts International, Summit, NJ Juror- Anne Umland
- 2004 Southern States Sculpture Exhibition, Southeastern Louisiana Univ. Juror- Ken Little
- 2005 The Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR. (honorable mention) Juror-Rodger Shimomura
- 2005 MAX 2005 Exhibition, Memphis, TN, juror-David Moos
- 2006 National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA, Juror-Cheryl Brutyan
- 2006 The Class of '06, Lantana Projects, Memphis, TN.
- 2007 Perspectives, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN., Juror-Michael Rooks
- 2011 Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR
- 2012 Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR
- 2013 Delta Annual, Little Rock, AR
- 2014 TAC Centennial Park Show, Nashville, TN
- 2015 TAC Centennial Park Show, Nashville, TN