ASHLEY HYLAND
 

A bit more about me and art:

 

Early in my career, I was very lucky to be awarded full academic scholarships to study art in the United States and travel and study in England.   During this time, I also taught foundation drawing at the University of Sunderland.  I have worked in the art schools and business schools of five universities in three countries and later studied art management courses as part of the Masters in Art and Cultural Management at the University of Winchester.

 

Studying in the North Carolina mountains, close to the site of the Black Mountain School of Art made as much of an impact on my artistic journey as it did on the artists, such as Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Rauschenberg, who visited there.   In England, my personal tutor at University was Robin Crozier, a founding member of the Fluxus Art Movement and the Mail Art Movement, whose archives are now in the Tate Gallery collection.

 

I have organised solo exhibitions of my work annually or bi-annually since 1990 in venues ranging from Universities and arts centres, to cafes, open studios events, the English Wine Centre and Boxgrove Priory.  Honours include the NC Governor’s Award (Honourable Mention) and A Princes Trust Award (grant funding).  Many of the projects I have collaborated on have been supported by The English Arts Council, The Welsh Arts Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. My work is owned by private collectors in Australia, England, Wales and the USA and I was invited to showcase work in a Downtown gallery when the SuperBowl came to Minneapolis.

 

Throughout my art career, I have balanced a dedication to giving time to manage art projects for charities with pursuing my own creative development.  I organised BBC Big Arts Week for my county, sat on the Welsh National Eisteddfodd Arts Committee, raised thousands of pounds restoring and auctioning paintings for the Youth Hostel Association and donated my work for local charity auctions.  I am a founding member of the Alpha Phi Fraternity chapters in London and Appalachian State University.  Over the past two years, I was Artist in Residence at the South Downs Youth Hostel.  I painted a mural on an ancient barn wall for walkers to see during lockdown and created an ongoing art programme working with emerging artists.