Contact Randy

Email: randy@randyregier.com

Web: www.randyregier.com

Artist Statement

In 1928 the German literary critic Walter Benjamin wrote in his essay, The Cultural History of Toys, that, “Children do not constitute a community cut off from everything else…their toys can- not bear witness to any autonomous separate existence, but rather are a silent signifying dialogue between them [children] and their nation.” This is not only true for toys (of which much of my work is concerned), but for all manner of objects – artifacts – from our collective past that are formed and fabricated by human hands and intentions. This is the realm in which I work and play, and seek to understand my culture and history.

Biography

I was born in 1964 in Omaha, Nebraska. We moved around a bit through the Midwest, to Barcelona, Spain, back to Kansas and then to Oregon in 1971.  I spent my youth in Oregon and eventually became a professional autobodyman and painter. I also married and our kids were born in the state.  Eventually we left so I could pursue and obtain higher education, a BFA in Sculpture at Kansas State University and  an MFA in Studio Arts and Theory at Maine College of Art. My entire life has been spent in the company of toys, cars and tools, but my mind has always wandered toward literature and questions about purpose and aesthetics.  Thankfully, I’ve found the arts, where I can be who I need to be, as I come to know and understand what that is.  It’s always in the becoming, it seems. As of this fall of 2018, my studio will be centered in Kansas City, Kansas.

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

  • 2007 MFA, Studio Arts: Maine College of Art
  • 2003 BFA, Sculpture–Minor, Spanish: Kansas State University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Studio artist
  • 2010/11  University of Maine-Orono –  Graduate Studies Faculty, Orono, ME
  • 2009  Bowdoin College–Adjunct faculty, Brunswick, Maine
  • 2008/09  Maine College of Art–Adjunct faculty, Portland, Maine
  • 2008  Assistant to the Curator, Maine Historical Society, Portland, Maine
  • 2004/05  Salina Art Center: Gallery Manager, Salina, Kansas

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS/INSTALLATIONS

  • 2018  The Celestial Mechanic, Ulrich Art Museum, Wichita, KS
  • 2018  Dreams of Flight, Open Spaces Biennial, Kansas City, MO

INSTALLATIONS

  • 2016  NuPenny Toy Store, Jim Kempner Fine Arts, NY, NY
  • 2015  NuPenny’s Last Stand, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
  • 2014  The TYTON, Salina Art Center, Salina, KS
  • 2014  NuPenny’s Last Stand, The Smoky Hill River Festival, Salina, KS
  • 2014  NuPenny’s Last Stand, Riverside, IL
  • 2013  NuPenny’s Last Stand, Hays, KS
  • 2012  NuPenny’s Last Stand, Art Miami, Miami, FL
  • 2011  NuPenny Service Center, Wichita, KS
  • 2011  NuPenny Toy Store traveling installation, Wichita, KS
  • 2010  NuPenny Toy Store traveling installation, Saco, ME
  • 2010  NuPenny Toy Store traveling installation, Portland, ME
  • 2010  NuPenny Toy Store traveling installation, Waterville, ME
  • 2009  Now Your Spaceship Will Be Your Peace, sponsored by Space Gallery, Portland, ME
  • 2009  Hecho en Maine, El Elephante Del Rastro, Madrid, Spain
  • 2009  The Fisher Fire Fly, Owls Head Transportation Museum, Owls Head, ME
  • 2008  Wish You Were Here, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN
  • 2002  Wish You Were Here, Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit: Yesterday’s Tomorrow, The Grassroots Art Center, Lucas, KS
  • 2002  Wish You Were Here, The Smoky Hill River Festival, Salina, KS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2013  But Wait, There’s More, Contemporary Art Works by Randy Regier, Diver Gallery, Wichita, KS
  • 2013  Object Maker, Conklin Gallery, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN
  • 2012  Strecker‐Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS
  • 2012  NuPenny Service Center: Wichita, Kansas
  • 2011  H. Maxwell Fisher’s Underground Toy Emporium, Jim Kempner Fine Arts, New York, NY
  • 2011  NuPenny Toys, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
  • 2011  Dime Star! Space Gallery, Portland, ME
  • 2010  The True Story of Dime Star! & Other Fictions, Firecat Projects, Chicago, IL
  • 2010  Out of the Box, The Cassella Gallery, Wentworth Technological Institute, Boston, MA
  • 2010  Hecho en Maine and Paradox Lost, Whitney Gallery, Portland, ME
  • 2009  Lost & Found: Anna Isaak and the Cabot Mill, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick, ME
  • 2009  Hecho en Maine, Walker Art Gallery, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, NE
  • 2007  Baseball, Apple Pie and Earl Browder: Selections from the Museum of the Other American Dream, Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KS
  • 2005  The Clothes Make the Man, Lincoln Arts Center, Lincoln, KS
  • 2003  Everything Must Go: The Toys of Randy Regier, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS

GROUP AND JURORED EXHIBITIONS

  • 2018  Mark Arts Kansas Invitational, Mark Arts, Wichita, KS
  • 2018  The Infinite Archive: NYPL, NY Public Library’s Harry Belafonte 115th Street branch, Brooklyn, NY
  • 2015  Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Portland, ME
  • 2015  The TYTON, True/False Film Festival, Columbia MO
  • 2014/15  NuPenny’s Last Stand, State of The Art: Discovering American Art Now, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
  • 2014  Mummies Are Sitting Ducks, Cider Gallery, Lawrence, KS
  • 2013  Museum of Wonder, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS
  • 2012  rolemodelplaytime, David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI
  • 2012  Unlived Histories, Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC
  • 2011  Keeping Time, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
  • 2010  May Your Spaceship Be Your Peace, DeCordova Biennial Exhibition, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, ME
  • 2010  Black Is, Black Ain’t (traveling through 2010)
    •  The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL
    •  MOCAD, Detroit, MI
    •  H & R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
    •  Amistad Center for Art and Culture at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
  • 2009  Comic-al, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
  • 2008  Transformations, The EcoTarium, Worcester, NH
  • 2007  Intervals, Fort Andross Mill, Brunswick, ME
  • 2007  Anna Isaak: Subterranean Aspirations, Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
  • 2007  Brickbottom 20th Anniversary Open Studios, Somverville, MA
  • 2006  Governor’s Inaugural Show, Leopold Gallery, Topeka, KS
  • 2006  Michael Oatman’s “Model Citizens – Giant Size”, Public Art/Moving Site project
    •  Albany Int’l Airport Gallery, Albany, NY
    •  Rockingham Arts & Museum Project, Bellows Falls, VT
    •  Artspace Annex, New Haven, CT
    •  Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridge, MA
  • 2006  New Friends, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
  • 2006  Funny-Scary-Happy-Sad: Contemporary Clown Art, Ubu Studio, Portland, ME
  • 2005  Meca-nized: A photo exhibit, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
  • 2005  Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
  • 2005  Randy Bolton & Randy Regier: Better Than New, Gray Matters Gallery, Dallas, TX
  • 2005  Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS
  • 2004  The Yellow Line, The Art Corridor II, Tarrant County College
  • 2004  Gray Matters Gallery, Dallas, TX
  • 2004  Wish You Were Here, Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
  • 2004  A Kansas Art Sampler, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
  • 2004  ART CHICAGO, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • 2004  Counterfeiting Pennies, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS
  • 2003  Recent Work, Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
  • 2003  Gray Matters Gallery, Dallas Texas
  • 2003  Holiday, Big Cat Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2003  ArtSpace, Lindsborg, KS
  • 2003  Beyond Oz…Dorothy Goes Fab 50’s, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS
  • 2003  The Yellow Line, Art Corridor II, Tarrant County College, Arlington, TX
  • 2001  Salina Art Center Annual Exhibition, Salina Art Center, Salina, KS

VISITING ARTIST LECTURES/WORKSHOPS

  • 2014  Texas A & M University at Commerce, Commerce, TX
  • 2014  St Mark’s School of Texas, Dallas, Tx
  • 2014  Washburn University, Topeka, KS
  • 2014  Creative Rush, Wichita, KS
  • 2013  Art Chatter of USD 259 Art In Service, Wichita, KS
  • 2013  Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
  • 2013  Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN
  • 2013  Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS
  • 2013  Ulrich Museum of Art ‘Senior Wednesday,’ Wichita, KS
  • 2013  Seltzer Elementary School Sculpture Collaboration, Wichita, KS
  • 2013  University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
  • 2012  Wichita Art Museum ‘Art Chatter,’ Wichita, KS
  • 2012  Murdock Society, Wichita, KS
  • 2012  Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS
  • 2011  Emporia State University, Emporia, KS
  • 2010  Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
  • 2008  Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
  • 2008  University of Maine, Orono, ME
  • 2007  Central Maine Community College, Auburn, ME
  • 2007  Washburn University, Topeka, KS
  • 2007  Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
  • 2006  Central Maine Community College, Auburn, ME
  • 2006  Maine College of Art, Portland, ME -The Museum of the Other American Dream
  • 2006  Maine College of Art, Portland, ME – Art History Lecture Series
  • 2005  Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, KS
  • 2005  Smoky River Arts Festival, Salina, KS, Juror
  • 2004  Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS F Sponsored by the Kansas Arts Commission
  • 2004  Emporia State University, Emporia, KS
  • 2003  Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS – Gallery Talk
  • 2003  Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS – Teacher’s Workshop
  • 2002  Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, KS
  • 2002  The Grassroots Art Center, Lucas, KS
  • 2002  Ladies Literary League, Abilene, KS
  • 2001  Salina Art Center, Salina, KS – Gallery Talk

RESIDENCIES

  • 2013 Workshop Residence, San Francisco, CA
  • 2011 Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME

COLLECTIONS

  • Numerous private collections
  • The Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS
  • Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
  • Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine, Portland, ME
  • Emprise Bank Collection, Wichita, KS
  • Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS
  • Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KS
  • Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS

COMMISSIONS

  • 2014  Salina Arts Commission – Medallion for The Smoky Hill River Festival, Salina, KS
  • 2013  Wichita Public Library Foundation, Wichita, KS
  • 2013  Salina Arts Commission – Medallion for The Smoky Hill River Festival, Salina, KS
  • 2012  Wichitoy, Private Collector
  • 2012  Salina Arts Commission – Medallion for The Smoky Hill River Festival, Salina, KS
  • 2010  Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS
  • 2008  Transformation, The EcoTarium, Worcester, NH

GRANTS, HONORS & AWARDS

  • 2013 Newcity Art: Eye Exam: Top Art Picks for Chicago and the Midwest 2013, by Pedro Velez for NuPenny’s Last Stand
  • 2011 Best of New England, The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research
  • 2009 Harry S. Faust Maine Public Art Sculpture Grant
  • 2009 Maine Arts Commission “Visual Arts Fellow”
  • 2009 Art Matters Foundation
  • 2008 Maine Arts Commission “Good Idea” Grant
  • 2007 Maine Arts Commission “Good Idea” Grant

Press & Published Articles