Using a mixture of reclaimed wood, acrylic paint, string, and other hardware store materials, Renovated Flightless Devices are idiosyncratic sculptures that play off the forms and function of tools, toys, boats, and military equipment. 

 

 

EDUCATION

MFA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2000

BS, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA, 1996

Additional studies at Penland School of Crafts, NC and Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ

                         

AWARDS & GRANTS

The Virginia A. Groot Foundation Sculpture Grant (Third Place Award), Evanston, IL, 2009

Merit Award, Transformation 7: Contemporary Works in Wood, the Raphael Founder’s Prize, 2009

The Virginia A. Groot Foundation Sculpture Grant (Third Place Award), Evanston, IL, 2008

National Young Sculptors Competition Third Place Award, Miami University, OH, Mary Ceruti, Juror, 2007

The Virginia A. Groot Foundation Sculpture Grant (Third Place Award), Evanston, IL, 2006

Merit Award, A Southern Presence, Lexington Art League, KY, John Henry, juror, 2006

Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship, The Kentucky Arts Council, Frankfort, KY, 2004

Third Place Award, Wood-O-Rama, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY, Paul Sasso, Juror, 2004

Award of Excellence, Exhibition 280, Huntington Museum of Art, WV, Peter Plagens, Juror, 2003

Merit Award, Red Clay Survey, Huntsville Museum of Art, AL, Norman Lundin, Juror, 2002

Juror’s Award, Positive/Negative 17, East Tennessee State University, Marilyn da Silva, Juror, 2002

Emerging Artist Grant, American Craft Council, New York, NY, 2001

Curator’s Choice Award, Mayfair National, Allentown, PA, Robert Ebendorf, Juror, 2000

Sculpture Award, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA, Kinsasha Holman Conwill, Juror, 1999

Alice Cabell Horsley Parker Scholarship, School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1999

Commonwealth Award in Art, School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1999 and 1998

 

RESIDENCIES, etc.

Senior Artist in Residence in Wood, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR, 2010

Emma Lake Collaborative Symposium, Saskatchewan, Canada, (award for travel and participation in the international biennial Emma Lake Symposium), 2002

Artist Residency, Penland School of Crafts, NC, 2000 - 2001

Artist’s Grant/ Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 1998

Artist Residency, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ, 1998

Artist Residency, Kutztown University, PA, 1997

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

New Things and Drawings, Doppler PDX Gallery, Portland, OR (forthcoming solo exhibition)

Travis Townsend, Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg University, PA (forthcoming solo exhibition)

The Triumph, The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH, (SmithTownsendCollaborative), site-specific installation, 2010

The Illustrious Horse: Artist’s Respond to the Clara Peck Collection, Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery, Lexington, KY, catalog, 2010                                   

INDA 5, International Drawing Annual volume 5, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (exhibition-in-print), 2010           

Contemporary Sculpture, Eastern Michigan University, Curated by John DeHoog and Brian Nelson, 2009

Backyard, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, catalog, 2009

Transformation 7: Contemporary Works in Wood, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, juried, catalog, 2009

The Cedarhurst Wood Project, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Mt. Vernon, IL, catalog, 2009

The Sketchbook Project, Arthouse, Atlanta, GA (SmithTownsendCollaborative), traveling, 2009

Penland: Great Teachers, Great Artists, Habatat Galleries, Tysons Corner, VA, 2009

The 10^th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, catalog, 2011-2009, East Hawaii Cultural Center, Hilo, HI; Soma Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea; University of Mississippi Museum, Oxford, MS; Downtown Gallery, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN; University Art Galleries, Myers School of Art, The University of Akron, Akron, OH; Spurgeon Gallery, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA; University Art Gallery, California State University-Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA; LSU Museum of Art, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA; Murray State University, Murray, KY; Isla Center for the Arts, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam

Anxious Accumulations, Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, TX (solo), 2008

Insufficient Apparatus, Anne Wright Wilson Gallery, Georgetown College,  KY (solo), 2008

The Reclamation of the Triumph, Pikeville College, KY (SmithTownsendCollaborative), 2008

Wall-to-Wall: Monumental Drawings, Lexington Art League, Curated by Mike Deetsch, catalog, 2008

Bluegrass Biennial, Morehead State University, KY, Juried by Tim Glotzbach, 2008

Here and Now, Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA, Curated by Bill Hammersley and Kathy Emerson, catalog, 2008 

Uncommon Wealth: The Legacy of the KAC Fellowships, Lexington Art League, The Actor’s Theater of Louisville, and Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, 2008-2006

Renovated Flightless Devices, Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (solo), 2007

New Sculpture and Painting, New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA (solo), catalog, 2007

The Triumph, Project Space, Lexington Art League, KY (SmithTownsendCollaborative), 2007

National Young Sculptors Competition, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Juried by Mary Ceruti, 2007

Palmer, Szorad, Townsend, The Clara M. Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, KY, 2007

New Talent, Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2007

Selections from the National Drawing Annual, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, catalog, 2007

Speaking in Species: Space, Spectrum, and Form, Kendall College of Art + Design, Grand Rapids, MI, Curated by Brent Skidmore, 2007

Palimpsest, Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, Jackson, WY, 2007

Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, catalog, 2007-2005, Art Association of Jackson, WY; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX; Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA, Juried by Robert Ebendorf and Lloyd E. Herman

The Edges of Grace, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, Curated by Gail M. Brown, catalog, 2006

Misdemeanor: Skewed Views of the Everyday and Mutations of Real and Imagined Forms, Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH, Curated by Sarah Wiideman, 2006

Wood 4 Penland, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC, catalog, 2006

A Southern Presence, Lexington Art League, KY, Juried by John Henry, 2006

Studio B Sculpture Invitational, Cincinnati, OH, 2006

The Sculpted Line, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, Curated by Jason Franz, catalog, 2006

Travis Townsend and Felicia Szorad, Louisville Visual Art Association, Louisville, KY (2-person), 2005 

Furniture On Paper, and Off…, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, Curated by Amy Forsyth and Ricardo Viera, catalog, 2005

Material Matters: A Poetics of Possibilities, Zone: Chelsea Center for the Arts, New York, NY, Curated by Howard Risatti, 2005  

Enclosed Within: Sculptural Containers, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC, 2005

Penland Resident Artists 1963-2004, Southern Highland Craft Guild Art Center, Asheville, NC, 2005

Mountain Sculpture, Mountain Art, Eleven Sculpture Space, Washington, DC, 2005

The 8^th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, Traveling exhibition organized by the University of Hawaii Art Gallery, catalog, 2005-2003, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahului, Hawaii; Isla Center for the Arts, Mangilao, Guam; MacNider Art Museum, Mason City, Iowa; Dahl Arts Center, Rapid City, SD;Wright State University, Dayton, OH; Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA; California State University, Dominguez Hills, University Art Gallery, Carson, CA; West Bend Art Museum, West Bend, WI; Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, Utah; National Central University, Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan; National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan; National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Providence University Art Center, Taichung Hsien, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, catalog; Kukui Grove Center Exhibition Hall, Lihue, HI; University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI

Travis Townsend and Fiona Ross: Recent Sculpture and Drawings, The Project Space Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. (2-person), 2004

9 Artists, Cheltenham Art Center, Philadelphia, PA, Curated by Patty Castner, 2004

Crafts National 38, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, Juried by Gail M. Brown, catalog, 2004

Travis Townsend and Darryl Halbrooks, Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, KY (2-person), 2004

Mohallatee, Szorad, Townsend: Print, Metal, Wood, The Carnegie Visual Arts Center, Covington, KY. (3-person), 2004

Travis Townsend and Monique Motiff, Swanson Reed Contemporary, Louisville, KY. (2-person), 2004

Wood-O-Rama, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY, Juried by Paul Sasso, catalog, 2004

Travis Townsend and Karen Spears, Ann Tower Gallery, Lexington, KY. (2-person), 2003

Devices + Drawings, Giles Gallery, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY. (solo), 2003

Exhibition 280, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, Juried by Peter Plagens, catalog, 2003

Objectifying: Blurring the Boundaries Between Art and Design, School of the Arts Gallery, VCU-Qatar, Doha, Qatar, Curated by Karl Burkheimer, 2003 

Functional Discourse, Mitchell Museum of Art, Trinidad, CO, Curated by Adrian French, catalog, 2003

Between a Thought and a Thing, Ann Tower Gallery, Lexington, KY, 2003

Travis Townsend and Darryl Halbrooks, Berea College Galleries, Berea, KY. (2-person), 2003

4^th Annual Juried National Exhibition, Huber Art Center, Shippensburg University, PA, 2003

The Red Clay Survey: Eighth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Southern Art, Huntsville Museum of Art, AL, Juried by Norman Lundin, catalog, 2002

Penland at VCU: An Exhibition of Penland’s Resident Artists, The Project Space Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2002 

Positive/Negative 17, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, Juried by Marilyn Da Silva, 2002

The Small Object Show, Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, 2002

Objects and Images, Bruce Gallery of Art, Edinboro University, PA, catalog, 2002

Homegrown I, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, Curated by Douglas Bohr, catalog, 2001

Similar Differences: Four Object Makers, Artspace Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2001

Penland Resident Artists In Transition, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC, 2001

Anything With a Drawer: Exploring the Creative Possibilities of Furniture, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa Art Center, Mesa, AZ, Juried by Wendy Maruyama, 2001

Crafts National 35, Zoller Gallery, Penn State Univ., Juried by David Revere McFadden, catalog, 2001

23^rd Raleigh Fine Arts Society Juried Exhibition, Meredith College Art Gallery, Raleigh, NC, 2001

Biennial 2000, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA, Juried by Marcos Ramirez (ERRE), 2000

Mayfair National, Open Space Gallery, Allentown, PA, Juried by Robert Ebendorf, 2000

Rebuilt Domestic Devices, Anderson Gallery, VCU, Richmond, MFA thesis exhibit (solo), catalog, 2000

The Shape of Coincidence, Coincidence Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2000

Annual Juried Student Exhibition, Anderson Gallery, VCU, Juried by Richard Shaw, 2000

Go Postal, Mail Art Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 1999

The Wichita National, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS, Juried by Wendell Castle, 1999

Exhibition ’99, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA, Juried by Kinsasha Holman Conwill, 1999

Specific to Burnsville, July 1999 public installation, Yancey County Library, Burnsville, NC, 1999

Rebuildings, Biggs Building, Richmond, VA. MFA candidacy exhibit (solo), 1999

Knock On…, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA, Juried by Michael Monroe, 1999

The Next Generation, A.F.A. Gallery, Scranton, PA, 1999

Simple Seating, Wharton Esherick Museum, Valley Forge, PA, 1998

Furniture As Art, A.F.A. Gallery, Scranton, PA, 1998

Evolution in Form: Furniture, Turnings, and Sculpture, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, 1998

Art of the State, Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg, PA, 1997

Treasured Troves, Wharton Esherick Museum, Valley Forge, PA, 1996

Soundings, Independent Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA, 1996

18^TH Regional Juried Exhibition, Reading Public Museum, Reading, PA, 1995

 

WRITING

What to make of Katie Hudnall’s An Indirect Path? Catalog essay for Hudnall’s culminating solo exhibition during her fall 2009 Windgate Residency at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2010

Catalog essay for Generously Odd: Craft Now, LAL @ Loudoun House, Lexington, KY, 2009

Art Blogs: Dialog +/- Criticism, Sculpture Magazine (online), International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, NJ, 2008

The Paintings of Bandon C. Smith, Catalog essay for Pulling Cows, a solo traveling exhibition, 2008

 

TEACHING, PRESENTATIONS, & EXHIBITIONS CURATED

Art Foundations, Department of Art + Design, Eastern Kentucky University, Lecturer: 2004-present, Visiting Assistant Professor: 2003-04, Adjunct Instructor: 2002- 03

Visiting Artist/ Colloquium Speaker, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 2009

Curator, Generously Odd: Craft Now, LAL, Lexington, KY, catalog, 2009

Visiting Collaborator and Studio School Instructor, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR, 2008                                                               

Visiting Artist, Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY, 2008

Visiting Artist, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2008

Instructor, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ, 2008                                                 

Co-Curator, Recent Works in Metal, Co-Curator, New Form and Content in Furniture, Eastern Kentucky University, Giles Gallery, Richmond, KY, 2007

Instructor, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, 2007

Visiting Artist, New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA, 2007

Gallery Talk Presenter, Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 2007

Presenter, Tri State Sculptors Conference, Piedmont Arts Association, Martinsville, VA, 2006

Panelist, Furniture Society Conference, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN, 2006

Instructor, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC, 2006

Instructor, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ, 2006                                                               

Visiting Artist and Exhibition Juror, Murray State University, Murray, KY, 2006

Visiting Artist, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN, 2006

Visiting Artist, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2005

Juror for Annual Student Exhibition, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2005

Instructor, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ, 2005

Presenter/ Panelist, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, 2003

Guest Lecturer, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2002

Visiting Artist, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA, 2002

Visiting Artist, University of Richmond, VA, 2001

Instructor, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Center for Education and Outreach, Richmond, VA

Guest Lecturer, Marywood University, Scranton, PA

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: BOOKS

INDA 5, International Drawing Annual volume 5, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH (exhibition-in-print), 2010

500 Tables, Lark Books, Asheville, NC, 2009

National Drawing Annual, Manifest Press, Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2007

New American Paintings, No. 64, The Open Studios Press, Boston, MA, 2006

Penland Book of Woodworking, Lark Books, Asheville, NC, 2006

400 Wood Boxes, Lark Books, Asheville, NC, 2004

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: REVIEWS/ ARTICLES, etc.

Assembly Required: Collaborations Carry the World on Their Shoulders, Douglas Max Utter, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland, Ohio (review), 2/3/10

Backyard Treasures: Manifest Gallery Thinks Locally, Jane Durrell, City Beat, vol. 16, issue 7, Cincinnati, OH (review), 12/23/09           

Woodworking Exhibit Highlights Transformation into Art, Kurt Shaw, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh, PA, 11/29/09

Show’s Reputation Nets Superb Woodworks, Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA (review), 10/21/09

Transforming the Mysterious? Craig Nutt, catalog essay for Transformation 7, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA, 9/09

EMU Exhibits Explore the Dimensions of Visual Art, John Carlos Cantu, AnnArbor.com, Ann Arbor, MI (review), 10/20/09

They Can’t Do Anything, Dan R. Goddard, San Antonio Express- News, San Antonio, TX (review), 12/10/08

Sweat Dreams are Made of These, Elaine Wolff, San Antonio Current, San Antonio, TX (review), 11/25/08

Wall to Wall: A Review of the LAL Exhibit, Christine Huskisson, Chevy Chaser, Lexington, KY, 6/1/08

Rosenfeld’s Summer Adventure, Libby Rosof, fallonandrosof.blogspot.com (review), 7/22/2007

At Weston, a Trio of Well-Grounded Works, Sara Pearce, The Cincinnati Enquirer, OH (review), 3/9/2007

Travis Townsend at the New Arts Program. The Nature of Function: Real or Imagined? Ron Schira, Reading Eagle,  Reading, PA (review), 2/18/07

New Arts Alive, Berks Community Television, Reading, PA, DUTV 54, Philadelphia, PA, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, NY, NY (interview), 2007

Discomfort Levels: Spaces Breaks the Rules a Little with Misdemeanor, Michael Gill, Cleveland Free Times, Cleveland, OH (review), 12/20/06

Misdemeanor at Spaces Gallery, Zachary Lewis, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland, OH (review), 12/8/06               

Furniture On Paper, and Off…, Amy Forsyth, Woodwork Magazine, No. 99, 6/2006

Art Review: Artists Transform Ordinary Objects into the Extraordinary, Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA (review), 1/29/06

Material Matters: A Poetics of Possibilities, An Exhibition of Objects in Craft Media, Zone: Contemporary Art, NY, NY, Howard Risatti (Curatorial statement for catalog), 6/30/05

A Short Talk About Small Art, Clarke Busterd, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA, 11/21/05

Fellowship Winners at Actor’s Theatre, Diane Heilenman, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY (review), 12/19/04

Motiff, Townsend, and LAVA at Swanson Reed Contemporary, Jo Anne Triplett, Leo Weekly, Louisville, KY (review), 3/24/04

Adult Subject Matter and More at the Carnegie, Stacey Recht, City Beat, Cincinnati, OH (review), 3/17/04

At Carnegie, Art from Landscapes to Neo-Pop, Jerry Stein, The Cincinnati Post, OH (review), 3/9/04

Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, Heather Lindquist, Lexington Herald-Leader, KY (review), 1/18/04