Elli Crocker is a native Bostonian and currently maintains a studio in Newton, MA. She received her B.A. from Smith College and M.F.A. from Tufts University in a collaborative program with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She studied with artists Susan Heideman, Barnet Rubenstein, Gerry Bergstein, Henry Schwartz, and David Carbone. A representational painter with experience doing private (primarily portrait) and public commissions, Crocker welcomes inquiries about her work (to contact Elli, click here).

Ms. Crocker’s work has focused on the human figure and she has pursued this focus through several conceptual series documented on this site (Chimeras, Earthly Delights, Signs of Life, Sight Unseen, Insmonia, and Please Don't Go). Some consistencies in approach will be apparent despite excursions into new media or themes. A connecting thread is human relationship. She is also exploring the animal as "other", as well as portraying flowers and fruit which have ancient associations with the life cycle (Bestiary, Botanicals).

With a twenty-year exhibition record, Ms. Crocker’s work has been shown at the Boston Center for the Arts, the Boston Architectural Center, the Worcester Art Museum, Corvallis Art Center (OR), Weir Gallery (CA), and La Laterie Gallerie (Strasbourg, France) among many other venues. Rice/Polak Gallery in Provincetown, MA represents her. Significant public commissions have been the 2000 Millennial Mural for Newton North High School and Windows on Allston for the Allston Village Main Streets Association (City of Boston) and Jack Young Company in 2002. She has received grants/funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the St. Botolph Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts/Visible Republic Program, the Higgins School of Humanities at Clark University, and a Boston Sister City Travel Grant. Her work has been published in two books, The Art of Lovemaking, and Yellow Silk: Erotic Arts and Letters and was selected for inclusion in Volume #50 of the journal, New American Paintings in 2004.

In addition to her work as an artist, Ms. Crocker is also Associate Professor of Art at Clark University in Worcester, MA. She teaches Painting, Figure Drawing, Studio Topics, Senior Thesis, and an on-site drawing class, Sense of Place. She currently also serves as Director of the Studio Art Program and Gallery Director at Clark.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Education

TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Medford, MA 02155 M.F.A. 1981
(Collaborative Program with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School)
Awarded half-tuition scholarship

SMITH COLLEGE, Northampton, MA 01063 B.A. 1977
Dual Major: Studio Art and Sociology
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa, graduated cum laude, Dean’s List four years standing, awarded “Distinction” for senior art project

WHEATON COLLEGE, Norton, MA 02766 1973-1975
One semester spent with the Wesleyan University Program in Germany, studying at the University of Bonn, West Germany


Professional Experience

CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA
Associate Professor with tenure, Studio Art: Full-time, September 2000-present
Assistant Professor, Studio Art: Full-time, September 1994 - August 2000
Assistant Professor, Studio Art: Part-time, Two courses per semester, September 1986 - May 1994
Instructor, Studio Art: Part-time, Two courses per semester, September 1982 – May 1986

THE ART INSTITUTE OF BOSTON, Boston, MA
Instructor, Foundation Department September 1989 - December 1990

MONTSERRAT COLLEGE OF ART, Beverly, MA
Painting Instructor September 1988 - May 1989

THE GALLERY AT OFFICES UNLIMITED, INC., 54 Canal Street, Boston, MA
Art Consultant: Advised clients in selection of art for business and professional spaces and maintained 4000 square foot exhibition space, November 1980 - August 1982

TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Medford, MA
Teaching Assistant, Introductory Art History: Primitive to Modern Art. Conducted classes of ten to twenty-five students. Spring 1979, Fall 1979, Spring 1980

BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL, The Fenway, Boston, MA
Drawing and Painting Instructor Summer School Workshop June 1979 - August 1979

KIVA GALLERY, 231 Newbury Street, Boston, MA
Gallery Assistant August 1977 - August 1978


EXHIBITIONS

One-Person and Feature Shows
2003 & 2004 CLARK UNIVERSITY, Faculty Exhibitions
1990-2004 RICE / POLAK GALLERY, Provincetown, MA (every other year)
2000 GLEN URQUHART SCHOOL, Beverly, MA, Johnson Gallery
  SMITH COLLEGE, Northampton, MA, Hillyer Gallery
1999 BROMFIELD GALLERY, Boston, MA
1991 CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA
1988 HOYLE GALLERY, Boston, MA (Catalogue)
1984 CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA
1983 BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE, Bridgewater, MA
1982 BROMFIELD GALLERY, Boston, MA
1982 LOPOUKHINE / NAYDUCH GALLERY, Boston, MA
1981 BRADFORD COLLEGE, Haverhill, MA
1980 TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Medford, MA Gallery 11 (Thesis Exhibition)

Selected Group Shows
2002 MILLS GALLERY, THE BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS “The 17th Drawing Show”, Curated by Bill Arning, M.I.T. (Catalogue)
2001 EMMANUEL COLLEGE, Lillian Immig Gallery “There’s a Monster”
  BOSTON ARCHITECTURAL CENTER “Visible Republic (public art) Proposals”
  FLETCHER/PRIEST GALLERY, Worcester, MA
2000 SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY, Boston, MA “Ten by Ten”
1999 RICE / POLAK GALLERY, Provincetown, MA
  NEW ENGLAND FLOWER SHOW, Boston, MA “Artists in the Greenhouse”
  SHADY HILL SCHOOL, Cambridge, MA
1998 BRICKBOTTOM GALLERY, Somerville, MA “In the Spirit of Drawing”
1997 HARBOR ART GALLERY, UMASS Boston “Fusion”
  LA LAITERIE, Strasbourg, France “Dix Artistes Americans”
  NEW ART CENTER, Newton, MA “Alone Together: A Women’s Critique Group” (also curator of exhibit)
1996 WHEATON COLLEGE, Norton, MA “Generations” (Catalogue)
1995 CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA “Gaia”
  WHEELOCK COLLEGE, Boston, MA “ Something Human”
  CORVALLIS ART CENTER, Corvallis, OR “On the Nature of Water”
  DANA HALL SCHOOL, Wellesley, MA “Works on Paper”
1994 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS SCHOOL, Boston, MA “Annual Women’s Caucus Exhibit”
  NEWTON ARTS CENTER, Newton, MA “Rooms with Views”
  ST. BOTOLPH CLUB, Boston, MA Grant Recipients
  THE FRENCH LIBRARY, Boston, MA “Gargoyle Paintings”
1993 BROMFIELD GALLERY, Boston, MA “Beyond Dreams”
  RICE / POLAK GALLERY, Provincetown, MA
  HOPKINS GALLERY, Wellfleet, MA
1992 NAGA GALLERY, Boston, MA “Anything But” AIDS Benefit Invitational Exhibit
  HOWARD YESERSKI GALLERY, Boston, MA “House On Fire”
  RICE / POLAK GALLERY, Provincetown, MA
  HOPKINS GALLERY, Wellfleet, MA
  RADISSON PARK PLAZA HOTEL, Alexandria, VA “Re-Actions”, (in conjunction with a psychiatry conference)
  BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE, Bridgewater, MA “Something Human”
  BUNTING INSTITUTE, “Women and Power”
1991 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, Lowell, MA “Something Human”
  FITCHBURG ART MUSEUM, Fitchburg, MA “The Minds Eye”
  MONTSERRAT COLLEGE OF ART, Beverly, MA “Something Human”
  HOPKINS GALLERY, Wellfleet, MA
1990 HOPKINS GALLERY, Wellfleet, MA
  BROMFIELD GALLERY, Boston, MA “By the Skin of our Teeth”
  FEDERAL RESERVE BANK GALLERY, “Spectrum ‘90: Boston Women’s Caucus”
1989 GALLERY EAST, THE ART INSTITUTE OF BOSTON, Boston, MA “Something Human”
  AAMARP GALLERY, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, Boston, MA “Women See Women”
  WEIR GALLERY, Berkeley, CA “Erotic Art”
1988 CAMBRIDGE ART ASSOCIATION AT PORTER EXCHANGE, Cambridge, MA
  ARTCETERA ‘88, Boston City Hall (Exhibition and Auction to benefit the AIDS Action Committee) Catalogue
  MONTSERRAT COLLEGE OF ART, Beverly, MA “New Faculty”
1987 GALLERY AT UNIVERSITY PLACE, Cambridge, MA “Painterly Realities”
  FEDERAL RESERVE BANK GALLERY, Boston, MA “Boston Artists Abroad” (Sister City Travel Grant Recipients)
  COPLEY SOCIETY, Boston, MA “Enduring Visions: Smith College Alumnae Artists”
  CAMBRIDGE ART ASSOCIATION, Cambridge, MA “Paintings”
  CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA “Faculty Exhibit”
  1986 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, Amherst, MA “Something Human”
  SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, Boston, MA “Alumni Group Show”
1985 CLARK GALLERY, Lincoln, MA “Salon Show”
  FEDERAL RESERVE BANK GALLERY, Boston, MA “Something Human”
  BOSTON ARTS FESTIVAL, Boston, MA
  CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA “Faculty Exhibit”
  MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, Boston, MA “The Bed”
  FEDERAL RESERVE BANK GALLERY, Boston, MA “Art of the State”
1984 BROMFIELD GALLERY, Boston, MA “Alumni Exhibit”
  WORCESTER ART MUSEUM, Worcester, MA “Artists Curate”
1983 PASSEPARTOUT GALLERY, Winooski, VT “8 Boston Artists”
  CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA “Erotic Art”
  BOSTON CITY HALL, Boston, MA “South End Artists”
1982 BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE, Bridgewater, MA “The Nude”
  BROMFIELD GALLERY, Boston, MA “Gallery Artists”
  BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Boston, MA “Contemporary Boston Portraits”
  CLARK UNIVERSITY, Worcester, MA “ Faculty Exhibition”
1980 GROVE STREET GALLERY, Worcester, MA “Figurative Art”


REVIEWS

2002 BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE, by Reilly Capps (June 23) Full page (L9)
  ALLSTON-BRIGHTON TAB, by Auditi Guha (May 24) Front page
2000 BOSTON GLOBE, Cate McQuaid (June 29)
  BOSTON SUNDAY HERALD, by Mary Sherman (June 18)
  THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE / WEST WEEKLY, by Carol Beggy and Vanessa Parks (May 28)
  THE NEWTON TAB, by Alice Holstein (February 3)
1999 BOSTON GLOBE, by Cate McQuaid (October 14)
  SOUTH END NEWS, by Mark Valentine (September 30)
1997 ART NEW ENGLAND, by Joyce Cohen (June/ July)
  SOUTH END NEWS, by Tara Leonard (February 13)
  THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE, by Cate McQuaid (February 9)
  THE BOSTON HERALD, by Mary Jo Palumbo (January 29)
1995 CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES, “Da Vinci Days” insert (July 9)
1993 THE IMPROPER BOSTONIAN, by Charles Giuliano (December 21)
1992 THE BOSTON GLOBE, by Nancy Stapen (August 6)
  BAY WINDOWS, by Shawn Hill (July 23)
  THE BOSTON HERALD, by Mary Sherman (July 17)
1991 WORCESTER MAGAZINE, by Leon Nigrosh (March 20)
1990 ART NEW ENGLAND, by Norma Steinberg (June)
  THE OBSERVER (Tufts Univ.) by Karen Vitale (April)
1989 SOJOURNER, by Carol Quirke (April)
  BAY WINDOWS, by Tom Grabosky (March 16)
1988 NORTH SHORE WEEKLIES, by A.G.Hoel (September 14)
  ART NEW ENGLAND, by Eugene Narrett (Summer Issue)
  SOUTH END NEWS, by Robin Hardman (May 12)
1987 ART NEW ENGLAND, by Thomas Frick (October)
  SUNDAY BOSTON HERALD, by Nancy Stapen (June 21)
  THE BROOKLINE TAB, by Peter Barr (May 19)
1985 THE BOSTON HERALD, by Nancy Stapen (December 26)
  ART NEW ENGLAND, by Phyllis Koenig (October)
  WORCESTER MAGAZINE, by Claire Bloom (September 11)
  BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE, by Robert Taylor (July 21)
1983 ART NEW ENGLAND, by William H. Braun (October)
  ART NEW ENGLAND, by Eugene Narrett (April)
  THE SUNDAY ENTERPRISE, (Brockton, MA) by John Crowe (March 6)
1982 WORCESTER MAGAZINE, by Mary Trainor (September 15)
  THE BOSTON GLOBE, by Christine Temin (July 1)


AWARDS/ GRANTS/ COMMISSIONS/ PUBLICATIONS/ RESIDENCIES

Numerous private portrait commissions over the past twenty years

2004 Work selected for inclusion in January edition of NEW AMERICAN PAINTINGS, Volume #50
  Travel Grant to Luxembourg to prepare for May Term 2005 course from CLARK UNIVERSITY LEIR CENTER IN LUXEMBOURG program (LCL-CU)
2003 Exceptional Merit Award, CLARK UNIVERSITY
2002 Residency at C-Scape Dune Shack, Provincetown, MA
2001 Planning grant received from the NEW ENGLAND FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS / VISIBLE REPUBLIC program to execute proposal for a public art project in Boston
  HIGGINS SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES grant, Clark University (for support of digital imagery research/training at Massachusetts College of Art)
2000 Exceptional Merit Award, CLARK UNIVERSITY
  Awarded public commission to create 21 trompe l’oeil panels for the exterior of two Boston buildings through the ALLSTON VILLAGE MAIN STREETS ASSOCIATION, Boston, MA, Installed May 2002
1999 Awarded public commission to create 10x20’ painting, Newton North High School, Newton, MA “NEWTON NORTH 2000 PROJECT”, Installed January 2000
  Awarded $2500 Grant from THE MASSACHUSETTS CULTURAL COUNCIL (as administered by the Newton Cultural Council) for support of NNHS Millennial Mural Project
1997 HIGGINS SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES grant, Clark University (to take Painting workshop at Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center with artist, Gregory Gillespie)
1996 Curatorial Proposal accepted with stipend, THE NEW ART CENTER, Newton, MA
  Portrait Commission of retiring Headmistress of Chestnut Hill School, Karin Merry, Chestnut Hill, MA
1994 Finalist, Works on Paper, NEW ENGLAND FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS (NEFA)
1993 Major Painting Commission for Private Residence, Fairfield, CT (8x12’ Painting)
  Month-long Residency at Cummington Community of the Arts, Cummington, MA
1992 Recipient of ST. BOTOLPH CLUB FOUNDATION grant
  Finalist, Drawing Fellowship, THE ARTIST’S FOUNDATION
  THE ART OF LOVEMAKING, by James A. Haught, Prometheus Books, NY (two reproductions )
  YELLOW SILK Magazine, (10th anniversary issue) Summer/ Fall ‘92, p. 14 illustration
  YELLOW SILK: Erotic Arts & Letters anthology, published by Harmony Books, NY, edited by Lily Pond and Richard Russo, hard cover 1990, soft cover 1992
1990 Finalist, Bunting Fellowship, BUNTING INSTITUTE OF RADCLIFFE COLLEGE
1989 Semi-Finalist, Painting Fellowship, THE ARTIST’S FOUNDATION
  YELLOW SILK Magazine, Art illustrates entire issue, including cover (Spring Issue, Vol#29)
  SMITH ALUMNAE QUARTERLY, “Making Art: Eight Alumnae Artists” by Anne Macauley (Winter Issue)
1985 Honorable Mention, BOSTON ARTS FESTIVAL
1984 Finalist, Painting Fellowship, THE ARTIST’S FOUNDATION, Program funded by the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities
1983 Recipient of “SISTER CITY TRAVEL GRANT to Strasbourg, France from the City of Boston (Spent one month working in Strasbourg, France)

VISITING LECTURES

2004 School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Viking Artist lecture
2002 Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, Artist’s talk
2001 Lillian Immig Gallery, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, Artist’s talk
1999 Bromfield Art Gallery, Boston Art Gallery, Boston, MA, Artist’s Talk
  Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA, Guest Juror for Senior Art Prize
1998 Newton North High School, Lecture in conjunction with the NNHS Millennial Mural commission
1997 New Art Center, Newton, MA “Alone Together,” Artist’s Critique Group, panel discussion
1995 Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA, Visiting Artist Lecture
1991 Montserrat College of Art, “Body and Soul: Confronting the Human Figure”
1990 M.I.T. Lecture: “Being In a Woman’s Body”
1987 Cambridge Center For Adult Education, “The Artist and the Model”
1983 Bridgewater State College, lecture concurrent to exhibition
1982 Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, “Cooperative Galleries”
   
 
Copyright © 2003 Elli Crocker