RESUME

Bill_196 sepia

I have been making photographs since 1969. In high school I wanted to be a commercial artist but my school did not offer guidance in this area so I became an engineer and photography became my tool for self-expression. Early on, I tried to make photographs that looked like paintings in the hope of being accepted as an artist. I learned the rules of composition and looked at work by the masters; Weston, Strand and Adams. They photographed magnificent places and people and then produced technically perfect prints. Later, I discovered Winogrand, Cartier-Bresson and Frank; photographers of ordinary people and places. Their work was done on the streets, quickly and casually but with careful consideration for the descriptive quality inherent to the medium. Much later, I discovered VanDerZee, Parks and DeCarava; black photographers working in all the styles the medium offers while consistently documenting the lives of black people. 


education

Pangea BRIDGES Collaboration - Pangea World Theater, Minneapolis, MN - 2004

 
Community Cultural Development workshop - Intermedia Arts & the Center for the Study of Art & Community - 2002

Winogrand Game of Photography - Tuscon Center for Creative Photography - 2001 

Seminar: Roy DeCarava - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 1999 


Seminar: Dawoud Bey - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 1995 

Photography - Country Photography Workshops - Charles Harbutt - 1976 


B&W Print - Country Photography Workshops - David Vestal - 1975 

portfolio review by Ted Hartwell, Curator of Photography Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Seminar: Chester Higgins Jr. - Afro American Cultural Arts Center, Minneapolis - 1975

 Photography Front to Back - Minneapolis School of Art - Dick Coffey - 1974

Seminar: Ann Wilkes Tucker - College of St Catherine – 1974

Streetscapes - Country Photography Workshops - Garry Winogrand - 1973 

Black & White Printing - Hamline University - Frederick Sommer - 1973 


Nudes - Minneapolis School of Art - Ron Seichrist - 1970 


Apostle Islands Photography Workshops - George Gamsby - 1969 

Intro to Photography - St Paul Arts & Science Center - Gary Hallman - 1968

 
BSEE Howard University School of Engineering & Architecture - 1967 


Salisbury High School in Salisbury, MD - 1962


employment

working as an independent photographer writer projectionist since 2005

VocalEssence - Witness Artist in Residence - 2004

Choice of Weapons – residency at Harvest Prep School - 2004

The 3rd Revolution Is Digital - SouthWest State University, Marshall, MN - 2003

35mm Photography - Minnesota Center of Photography Mentor Program - 2002

Developing Point of View - Perpich Center for the Arts - 2001

Photographing Your Street - Homewood Community Arts Festival - 2000

Fine Art Photographer - 2000

Jazz music programmer - KFAI FM, Minneapolis - 1995


Park Avenue Foundation - Executive Director - 1997 to 1999 


Honeywell Inc - Sales Engineer, Sales Manager, Market Manager - 1976 to 1997

 
Intro to 35mm Photography - Minneapolis YMCA – 1977

Travel Photography - Hotel Don Pepe’, Malaga, Spain – 1976

35mm Camera Technique - Edina Creative Learning Center  – 1976

Darkroom Techniques - Martin Luther King Center, St Paul, MN - 1976 

PAKO Corporation - Photographic Product Development Engineer - 1974 to 1976 


Intro to Photography - St Paul YMCA - 1971

Rosemount Engineering - Marketing Engineer - 1970 to 1974 

Univac Federal Systems Division - Application Engineer - 1967 to 1970


exhibitions

RECLAIMING: Art Bodega & PopUp - NEW RULES - 2017

TEN PHOTOGRAPHERS - CIRCA Gallery - 2016

DISTURBANCEs - Homewood Studios Gallery - 2016

a drive-by showing - in the windows at 800 W. Broadway Ave - 2016

Fathers & Daughters - UROC Gallery - 2015

on the wall at K's Grocery & Deli - since 2015

MadeHere - Minneapolis Skyway - 2015

The Transparent Self - Homewood Studios - 2013

HIEROGLYPHICs - Minnesota Center for Book Arts Gallery - 2012

BLACK I’s - Obsidian Art Gallery at Pillsbury House - 2012

Selections from collections - Urban Homeworks Office Gallery - 2011

Living My Mother’s Reality - Capri Theater Gallery - 2010

Soul On Ice - the Soap Factory - 2008

Beyond the Colored Museum - Macalester College Gallery - 2008


Coming of Age:  the Journey - MN Museum of American Art - 2008 

HOME: Wiesman Art Museum - Minneapolis - 2006 

CHOREOGRAPHIC - Minnesota Center for Photography - 2006 


International Photography Festival - Pingyao, China - 2006

Pictures from a Trip - Harry M. Drake Gallery - 2006

Rosalux Gallery - Minneapolis - 2006


Africa, Daily Life - Mira Gallery - Minneapolis - 2006 


San Francisco Museum of the African Diasporia - 2005

Home Sweet Home Again - Intermedia Arts - 2005

Home Is Where the Heart Is - Grain Belt Brewery Gallery - 2005

Living with Light - Homewood Studios - 2005


AfroFuturism - Soap Factory - Minneapolis - 2005 

Art of Democracy - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 2004

IDS Series - Art in the Mayor’s at City Hall - Minneapolis, MN - 2004 

Living My Mother's Reality - Outsiders & Others Gallery - 2004

 
FOUR WOMEN: Freedom, Identity & Responsibility - Katherine E. Nash Gallery - 2003

FOUR WOMEN: Freedom, Identity & Responsibility - Homewood Studios - 2003

“the PLYMOUTH AVENUE project” - Homewood Studios Gallery - 2003

Visible Fringe Festival - 2003

MNARTISTS.org, “5 Minutes of Fame” - Walker Arts Center - 2003

Gallery 96 Art Center, “Expressions in Diversity” - 2002


"Speaking Truths" - Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN - 2002

Babylon Café - Minneapolis, MN - 2002

Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition - 2002

Minnesota Center for Photography - Minneapolis, MN - 2002

Minnetonka Center for the Arts - 2001

One Foot Show - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 2000

Twenty Twenty - Cultural Center of Minnesota - 1994

1976 Black Photographers Annual, Moscow - 1978


Looking Backward, Moving Forward - Homewood Studios Gallery - 2000 


1976 Black Photographers Annual - Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC - 1977

East Central Minnesota Art Exhibition - 1976 
1976

 Black Photographers Annual, Studio Museum of Harlem - 1976 

Twenty Months - Minneapolis Afro-American Cultural Arts Center - 1975

 
IDS Series - Oxmans Gallery, Minneapolis - 1975

Waylusing State Park - Century Camera, Minneapolis - 1974


Players in the Band - Darkroom Gallery, Minneapolis - 1974

Uptown Art Fair - Minneapolis - 1973

IDS - Edythe Bush Theatre, St Paul - 1972

IDS - Minneapolis Public Library - 1971


grants

MN State Arts Board Community Arts Grant with NorthPoint - 2016

MN State Arts Board Arts Activity Grant with Hennepin County Library - 2016

West Broadway Business Coalition Play on Penn - 2014

Northern Spark Performance Grant - 2014

Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant - 2012

Minnesota Center for Book Arts Fellowship - 2011

Family Housing Fund, Home Sweet Home Again Grant - 2004 


Peace Foundation, Living in Jordan Grant - 2004 

Pangea World Theater, Bridges Program Grant - 2003 

McKnight Photography Fellowship - 2002 


City of Minneapolis City Arts Grant 2002 
St Paul Chamber of Commerce - 1975

 
Eastman Kodak - 1974 
Grain Belt Brewery - 1973


publications

DISTURBANCEs - a book of photographs & poems

Surface Tensions -a  book of photographs & poems

under the influence of Owuo Atwedee

NORTHSIDE Mondays

News As Abstract Truth - dvd, collaboration poet & musicians

Social Landscapes - monthly photojournals

Camera 35 
Lightworks 
Ebony Magazine
American Bicycler Magazine
American Lutheran 
Black Photographers Annual, Vol 3, 1976 
Favorite Places in Minneapolis 
St Paul Dispatch Newspaper
Minneapolis Star/Tribune Newspaper
Insight News 
Park Ave HARK Newspaper 
Plymouth Avenue project postcards 
NorthSide Arts Collective billboard & poster 


collections

Minnesota Museum of American Art - 2008

Harry M. Drake Gallery - 2006

Homewood Studios Archives - 2004



projected image performances

CITIZEN w/Frank Theatre - Intermedia Arts - 2017

Say Her Name(w/Sha Cage) - Intermedia Arts - 2016

12 minutes from DISTURBANCEs - Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis - 2015

15 + 15 = 15 at Pillsbury House LateNight Series - 2015

Beyond the LOOP - Play on Penn PopUp, Penn & Lowry Ave Minneapolis - 2014

Beyond the LOOP - Northern Spark Festival, Hennepin Ave Bridge Minneapolis - 2014

Choosing YOUR Weapons - Hennepin Country Libraries - 2013

The Failure Show - Salon Saloon at Bryant Lake Bowl - 2013

Surface Tensions - Old Arizona Theater - 2012

Ways of Knowing - University of Minnesota - 2011

Front Porch Series - Bedlam Theater - 2010

 
RADIO - Pillsbury House Theater LateNight Series - 2009

Layer(s) - Intermedia Arts - 2008

of animals - 9x22 at Bryant Lake Bowl - 2008 


Velvet BeBop & Kente Cloth - Center for Independent Artists - 2008

 
A Disease Called Freedom - Avalon Theater - 2007

 
African American Queen for a Day - MNArtists Live at Walker Art Center - 2006

 
Cactus in the Desert - Varsity Theater - 2005 


Trajectory - Metro State College & Rendezvous Dance Studio - 2005 


2704: Seven Generations into the Future - Capri Theater - 2004 


The EDGE Series - Hopkins Center for the Arts - 2004 

2704: Seven Generations into the Future - Pillsbury House LateNight Series - 2004 

LIVING at the Intersections of our Stories - Rag & Bone Books - 2004 

Art & Spirit Matters - Center For Independent Artists - Minneapolis - 2003 

Emancipation Stories - Paramount Art Center - St Cloud, MN - 2003

 
PLYMOUTH AVENUE project - Homewood Studios, Minneapolis, MN - 2003 


American Dreams with Afrika's Ensemble - Fringe Festival Minneapolis, MN - 2002 

Stigmatism - Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN - 2001


memberships

Board of Directors Juxtaposition Arts - 2005

Institute for Community Cultural Development - Intermedia Arts - 2002

Board of Directors KFAI Community Radio - 2002

Metropolitan Regional Arts Council - grant review team – 2000

Walker Arts Center - 2000

En Foco - 2000

Board of Directors Minnesota Center for Photography – 1999

Minnesota Center of Photography - 1999

Minneapolis Arts Commission – 1999

Board of Directors J Train Youth Jazz Education - 1999

West of Penn Community Development Group - 1998

Hallie Q. Brown Camera Club - 1970


© William J. Cottman 2015