 – On view through December 30, 2002 at the Huntington Museum of Art, “Teach Them to Dream: The Art & Influence of Stan Sporny” is an exhibition…){kind=link}
HUNTINGTON, W.VA (AAPNW) – On view through December 30, 2002 at the Huntington Museum of Art, “Teach Them to Dream: The Art & Influence of Stan Sporny” is an exhibition about this artist and an inspiring Marshall University professor, who passionately was dedicated to helping his students achieve success.
Born in Philadelphia in 1946, Stanley Charles Sporney could remember wanting to be an artist by age eleven. He attended the Philadelphia College of Art from 1964 to 1968 and the University of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1972, where he studied under noted artists such as, Neil Welliver, Red Grooms, Alex Katz, Alice Neel and Elaine de Kooning.
During the summer of 1972, he was sponsored by Katz to attend the prestigious Skowhegan School in Maine. That same year he received an Albright Scholarship to study in Sri Lanka, where he resided for nine years.
Sporny taught at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge from 1987 to 1988 before becoming a beloved educator at Marshall University for the rest of his life. He received a Federal Art-in-Architecture Grant in 1993 to create 12 paintings that were installed in the Veterans Hospital in Huntington.
He aimed to revolutionize oil painting with his brand of non-toxic solvents and mediums, “The Sporny Solution.” He exhibited widely throughout his career, including solo shows in Sri Lanka; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia.
His latest paintings were featured in Charleston, West Virginia, when he passed away unexpectedly in 2008. His work can be found in public collections such as the National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; the Utah Museum of Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT; the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA; and the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia.
For the museum’s upcoming programming see: www.hmoa.org.
mike
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Being one of Stan’s students, he made my creativity come alive and my self esteem soar in my younger life.