| SONYA KELLIHER-COMBS 2020 Salem Court • Anchorage, AK 99508 E-mail: kellihercombs@hotmail.com www.sonyakellihercombs.com | |
| Education | |
| 1998 | MFA, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ |
| 1992 | BFA Cum Laude, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK |
| Selected Solo Exhibitions | |
| 2019 | Goodbye: The Things We Carry, Yukon Arts Center, Whitehorse, YT Canada |
| 2019 | Mark Minus Space, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2019 | Brand Bunnell Street Gallery, Homer, AK |
| 2018 | Recent Work Cyranos Gallery, Anchorage, AK |
| 2017 | New Work Kenai Arts Center, Kenai , AK |
| Remnant Peters Projects, Santa Fe, NM | |
| 2016 | Sonya Kelliher-Combs Carrie McLain Museum, Nome, AK |
| 2015 | Stitch: Line International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK |
| 2014 | Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Recent Work Jaffe Friede Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH |
| 2012 | Qupak Pratt Museum, Homer, AK |
| Where they Overlap Gorman Gallery, UC Davis, Davis, CA | |
| 2011 | Hide Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2010 | Hide National Museum of Indian Art, New York, NY |
| 2008 | Walrus Family Portrait International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK |
| 2007 | New Secrets Well Street Art Company, Fairbanks, AK |
| Unraveled Secret Bunnell Street Gallery, Homer, AK | |
| 2006 | Unraveled Secret Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM |
| Secret Modo Gallery, Hudson, NY | |
| 2005 | Untitled Secrets Well Street Art Company, Fairbanks, AK |
| Untitled Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2002 | 1000 Secrets Decker/Morris Art Gallery, Anchorage, AK |
| 2001 | Idiot Strings, Catch and Release Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK |
| 2000 | New Works Decker/Morris Gallery, Anchorage, AK |
| 1998 | Asianggataq Harry Wood Art Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ |
| 1994 | Formline Carrie McLain Museum, Nome, AK |
| Transformation University of Alaska Fine Arts Gallery, Fairbanks, AK | |
| 1990 | Sonya Kelliher-Combs Carrie McLain Museum, Nome, AK |
| Selected Group Exhibitions | |
| 2019 | Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN |
| 2019 | Physical Narrative, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI |
| 2018 | Aiviq & Nanuq: Sea Horse and Sea Bear of the Arctic, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| Among All These Tundras, Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal, Canada | |
| Place of Origin, Korundi Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland | |
| Art for a New Understanding, Native Voices 1950's to Now, Crystal Bridges, Fayetteville, AR | |
| Stitching Beads North Atlantic House, Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| The Things We Carry Kunsthall Svalbard, Northern Norway Art Museum, Svalbard Norway | |
| The Un-heroic Act: Representations of Rape in Contemporary Women's Art in the U.S., Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY | |
| 2017 | Subsistence (NO/US) Gallery of Northern, Norway, Harstad, Norway |
| Native Art Now, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN | |
| 2016-17 | Decolonizaing Alaska, Bunnell Street Gallery, Homer, AK, Alaska State Museum, Juneau AK Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. |
| 2016 | SITElines: New Perspectives on Art of the Americas SITE Santa Fe Biennial, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2015 | Fifth World Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK, Canada |
| Gyre: the Plastic Ocean David J. Spencer CDC Museum, Atlanta, GA | |
| 2014 | Annual Group Show Zane Bennett Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| Develop/Assemblage/Construct International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK | |
| Native Art Now - Contemporary Indigenous Art from North America Nordamerika Native Museum, Zurich, Switzerland | |
| Gyre: The Plastic Ocean Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2013 | Masks and Transparencies: Contemporary Artists of Alaska Orenda Art International, Paris, France |
| Sakahan National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada | |
| This is not a Silent Movie Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR; University of Montana, Missoula, MT | |
| 2012 | True North Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 2010-11 | This is Displacement Center for the Arts, Big Fork, MN; Northrup Theatre, Minneapolis, MN; Diverse Works, Houston, TX; American Indian Community House, New York, NY |
| 2010 | Contemporary Inuit Art Katuaq Cultural Center, Nuuk, Greenland |
| 2009 | Dry Ice Robeson Arts Center, Princeton, NJ |
| 50/50: Fifty Years of Alaska's History Statewide touring exhibit | |
| 2008 | Native Voices, Contemporary Indigenous Art Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2007 | Diversity and Dialogue: The Eitlejorg Fellowship Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, IN |
| 2005 | Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, Part 2 American Museum of Art & Design, New York, NY |
| Cheongju International Craft Biennial Cheongju Arts Center, Cheongju, South Korea | |
| Alaska Native Art & Culture Festival Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. | |
| Defiant Objects Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2004 | Works from Spenard 4215 International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK |
| Alaska Native Art: People of a Place, Art of a People Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York, NY | |
| Grand Opening The Center, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2003 | Points of View Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 2002 | The 8th Native American Fine Art Invitational Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ |
| 2001 | Ceremony of Healing Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK |
| State of the Art Biennial Parkland College, Champaign, IL | |
| 2000 | INVITATIONAL 7 Decker/Morris Gallery, Anchorage, AK |
| 1993 | Arts from the Arctic Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| Collections | |
| Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe | |
| Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK | |
| Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK | |
| British Royal Museum, London, England | |
| Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN | |
| Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH | |
| National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY | |
| Nordamerika Native Museum, Zurich, Switzerland | |
| University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK | |
| Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Anchorage, AK | |
| Anchorage School District, Chugiak High School, Chugiak, AK | |
| Anchorage School District, South Anchorage High School, Anchorage AK | |
| Cook Inlet Region Incorporated, Anchorage, AK | |
| Denaina Civic Convention Center, Anchorage, AK | |
| Fairbanks Airport, Fairbanks, AK | |
| Kawerak, Inc., Nome, AK | |
| Nome-Beltz High School, Nome, AK | |
| Shell Anchorage Corporate Office, Anchorage, AK | |
| Ted Stevens International Airport, Anchorage, AK | |
| Curating | |
| 2017 | Perseverance, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 2016 | Without Boundaries: Visual Conversations, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 2015-16 | Curated Conversations, panel discussion series, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 2007 | Concensus, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 2007 | Assistant Curator, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK |
| 2003 | Undercurrent, Decker/Morris Gallery, Anchorage, AK |
| 1999-2000 | Program Manager, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK |
| Selected Presentations, Residencies and Professional Experience | |
| 2019 | Speaker, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI |
| 2019 | Artist in Residence, Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2019 | Panelist, Columbia University, New York, NY |
| 2018 | Speaker, Aiviq & Nanuq, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| Speaker, Place of Origin Symposium, Northern Arts Network, Rovaniemi, Finland | |
| Speaker, United States Artists Convening | |
| Panelist, Minimalism and Material, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada | |
| Speaker, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Convening, Portland Oregon | |
| Panelist, Un-Heroic Act: The Social Dimension and Political Action, New York, NY 2017 | |
| Panelist, Museums Alaska Conference, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2017 | Panelist, Subsistence: The Essential Arctic, Harstad, Norway |
| 2016 | Speaker, Curated Conversations at the Arctic Frontiers Conference, Tromsø, Norway |
| 2015 | Speaker, Curated Conversations at the Arctic Circle Conference, Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Speaker, Circumpolar Expressions & Identities Symposium, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2014 | Smithsonian Spotlight, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| Artist in Residence, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH | |
| Master Artist, Material Traditions: Gut Sewing, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK | |
| Mentor, Institute of American Indian Art Student, Anchorage, AK | |
| 2013 | Artist Participant, Material Traditions: Quill Workshop, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| Painting Instructor, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK | |
| National Museum of the American Indian/Sheldon Jackson Artist Collection and Leadership Program, Sitka, AK | |
| 2011 | Artist in Residence with Melanie Yazzie, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK |
| 2009 | Artist in Residence, 18th Street Art Center, Santa Monica, CA |
| 2007 | Artist in Residence, University of Alaska Native Arts Center, Fairbanks, AK |
| 1998 | Drawing Instructor, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK |
| 1996 | Drawing Instructor, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ |
| 1994 | Painting Instructor, University of Alaska, Northwest Campus, Nome, AK |
| 1992 | Gallery Manager, Institute of Alaska Native Arts, Fairbanks, AK |
| Professional Organizations and Memberships | |
| 2017-2019 | Alaska Native Place |
| 2017 | CERF+, Board Member |
| 2007-2016 | Institute of American Indian Arts Board, a United States Presidential Appointment |
| 2014-2019 | First Light Alaska, Board Member |
| 2006-2009 | Board of Director, Nome Native Arts Center |
| 2006-2007 | Member, Bering Straits Culture Center Advisory Committee |
| 2002-2009 | Founding Board of Director, Alaska Native Arts Foundation |
| 2003-2018 | Member, International Gallery of Contemporary Art |
| 2002 | Member, Anchorage Cultural Council |
| 2000-2010 | Member, Alaska State Council on the Arts Visual Arts Advisory Committee |
| 1999-2002 | Member, Doyon, Ltd. Arts Advisory Board |
| Honors and Awards | |
| 2018 | United States Artist Fellow |
| 2017 | Joan Mitchell Fellow |
| 2014 | Dartmouth Artist in Residence, Hanover, NH |
| 2013 | Alaska State Council on the Arts Travel Award, Anchorage, AK |
| 2012 | Rasmuson Fellowship, Anchorage, AK |
| 2011 | Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship |
| Alaska Governors Individual Artist Award | |
| 2008 | Rasmuson Fellowship, Anchorage, AK |
| 2007 | Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship, Indianapolis, IN |
| 2005 | Anchorage Alaska Mayors Individual Arts Award |