Harris Wiltsher

A Bronx, New York native and a product of Jamaican and African-American heritage, Wiltsher’s artistic endeavors span from being a Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) recipient, visiting artist, lecturer, independent curator, J. William Fulbright Scholar (South Africa), program administrator for the Florida Art in State Buildings Program, professor and gallery director at Florida A & M University.  In addition, his work is included in collections by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Sande Webster Gallery Collection, Carver Federal Bank, Art Academy of Honolulu and The Meeks-Eaton Black Archives Research Center & Collection Reserve. Some of his notable highlights were serving as a session chair at College Art Association conference in New York, curating a traveling South African exhibition, advising a winner of the national Verizon HBCU Student Art Competition, guiding a Fulbright winner to Ghana for dance and writing two grants for the Visual Arts Program totalling over $150,000.

To address specific elements of black history or its community certainly is attainable but the position of my work is to provide a cultural and/or educational meaning to dialogue with my audience and document my personal experiences within the framework of the African Diaspora.  Currently, the focus to broaden the scope of my viewpoint is emphasized through my return to tactile art forms like collage to discuss recent tensions in the United States.

Cranbrook Academy of Art, MFA, Printmaking, 1993
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, BS, Fine Arts, 1990

Advanced Workshop, Advertising Design, Art Appreciation, Colloquium in Art, Drawing I, Drawing II, Life Drawing, Fundamentals of Design I, Fundamentals of Design II, Introduction to Printmaking, Silkscreen Printmaking, Senior Portfolio, Textile Design

2021

• 26th Parkside National Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin - Parkside Galleries, Kenosha, WI
• 2021 Creative Tallahassee, City Hall Art Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
• 33rd Annual Art in Gadsden, Gadsden Arts Center, Quincy, FL 

2020

• Pressing Matters X, Cole Gallery, Georgia State University-Clarkston Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA 
• Under Pressure: National Printmaking Exhibition, Lincoln Center Art Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
• VOICES of FAMU Art Program: A Collection of Six Decades of Art, Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
• Ink Matters, Indiana University - Kokomo Downtown Gallery, Kokimo, IN
• Impressed 2020 National Printmaking Exhibition, Art Gym Gallery, Denver, CO
• 2020 Creative Tallahassee, City Hall Art Gallery, Tallahassee, FL (online)
• 32nd Annual Art in Gadsden, Gadsden Arts Center, Quincy, FL (3rd Place)
• 2020 Waterloo Juried Art Exhibition, Waterloo Art Gallery, Cleveland, OH
• 2020 Artists Who Teach, The Ellington-White Contemporary Gallery, Fayetteville, NC
• 30th Annual All Florida Juried Art Show, Court House Cultural Center, Stuart, FL

2019

2021 -- Sabbatical, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL
2019 -- Emerging Artist Residency Award, Atlanta Printmakers Studio, Atlanta, GA
2016 -- Faculty Travel Grant to China, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
1995 - 1996 -- Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Fellowship Award, Bronx Council of the Arts, Bronx, NY
1993 - 1994 -- J. William Fulbright Scholarship Award, South Africa
1991 - 1993 -- Philip Morris Fellowship Award, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

EXHIBITIONS (CURATED)

• "Sicula Sixhentsa Xa Sisonke: The South African Aesthetic", (artists: Bongekile Bengu, Hamilton Budaza, Ricky Dyaloyi, Thembinkosi Goniwe, Sipho Hlati, Billy Mandindi, Vuyasani Mgijima, Sophie Peters), traveled to New York, Michigan, Florida and Mississippi, 1996
• "The Art of Resonating Fiber", (artists: Faith Ringgold, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson & Valerie Goodwin), Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Tallahassee, FL, October 26 - December 5, 2008
• "Voices of FAMU Art Program: A Collection of SIX Decades of Art", Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Tallahassee, FL, February 24 - April 5, 2020 (Featured 38 alumni)
• "IN WHAT WE SEE: A Printmaker's Response", currently in development for 2022, traveling exhibition featuring 15 printmakers from the African Diaspora