Scott Nelson Foster

My paintings are reflections of changing ideas about the societal relationships to the land, the American experience, and the American dream. The landscape is an arena in which many different dramas of the American dream are played out. Trailers, houses, and strip-malls evoke shared experiences. This common denominator gives my work a broad resonance that allows even fragmentary visions to evoke complex narratives. My watercolors and oils eschew the particulars— what makes a location unique—and focus on the iconic—what makes disparate subjects universal. Photography is essential to my creative process. I create images that mimic photography—and photography’s implied veracity—that is not a photograph. My photorealistic paintings are created by piecing together images to create buildings and landscapes that do not necessarily exist in objective reality.

Resume

Scott Nelson Foster received his first instruction in drawing and painting from his uncle, Roland Giampaoli, and from his grandfather, Will Nelson, while growing up in Boise, Idaho. From them he learned a variety of expressive and analytical watercolor techniques. Mr. Foster has worked in a variety of two-dimensional media, including wax, glue and egg temperas, watercolor, oil, and serigraphy. His paintings have been featured in solo and juried exhibitions on the east and west coasts. He has recently completed portraits commissioned by the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish and the Musician of Ma’alwyck. His interest in esoteric and unusual artistic practices has allowed him opportunities to work with iconographers, fresco painters, performance artists, and alchemists.
Mr. Foster received a B.A. in Fine Art from Northwest Nazarene University, and an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from Utah State University. After teaching in Utah for a period, Scott relocated to upstate New York, where he paints and teaches at Siena College.

EDUCATION
2008 Master of Fine Arts, Utah State University, Painting & Drawing, Logan, UT
2005 Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude, Fine Art: Painting, Drawing, & Printmaking, Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID
2002 British Visual and Literary Culture, University of London & Northwest Nazarene University, London, England (Summer 2002)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND EMPLOYMENT
2018 – Present Creative Arts Department Chair, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
2010 – Present Professor of Studio Art, Siena College, Loudonville, NY

EXHIBITION RECORD
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 Scott Nelson Foster: Landscapes in Watercolor and Oil, Assumption College, Worcester, MA
2012 Flatland: The Suburban Landscape in Watercolor, Clement Art Gallery, Troy, NY
2011 Scott Nelson Foster: Oils, The Foundry for Art Design + Culture, Cohoes, NY

SELECTED SMALL GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Painted Cities, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY (with Richard Britell, Matthew Chinian, William Clutz, Susan Hope Fogel, Scott Nelson Foster, Robert Goldstrom, Patty Neal, Dan Rupe, & Darshan Russel) (Curated by Carrie Haddad, Gallery Director)
2018 Colleagues and Co-Creators, East Gallery, Utah State University Price, Price, UT (with Tyler Vance and Christopher T. Terry) (Curated by Noel Carmack, Associate Professor of Art and Gallery Director)
2018 Works on Paper, Cluster Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (with Christine Massey, Jee Hwang, Kit Warren, Minako Iwamura, Samantha Holmes, and Sung Won Yun) (Curated by Muriel Guepin, Director, Muriel Guepin Gallery)
2018 Painted Cities, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY (with Edward Avedisian, Richard Brittell, Robert Goldstrom, Patty Neal, Darshan Russell and Dan Rupe) (Curated by Carrie Haddad, Gallery Director)

SLECTED LARGE GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 BUILT2021: Albany’s Architecture Through Artists’ Eyes, Historic Albany Foundation, Albany, NY
2021 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region, Albany International Airport Art & Culture Program, Albany, NY (Juried by Tommy Gregory, Public Art Program Sr. Manager and Curator, Port of Seattle) (Catalog)
2021 Grey Area, Treat Gallery, New York, NY (Juried by gallery director).
2021 Car Culture, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Anna CA (Juried by
Bryan Barcena, Assistant Curator, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles).
2020 BUILT2020: Albany’s Architecture Through Artists’ Eyes, Historic Albany Foundation, Albany, NY (Juried by Ken Ragsdale M.F.A, Senior Lecturer, RPI; Jenny Kemp M.F.A.; Gary Shankman, Professor of Art, Sage College of Albany).
2020 Realism: Encountering the Real, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (Juried by Sara Roffino, Executive Editor, Cultured magazine)
2020 Black and White, Northville Art House, Northville MI (Juried by Donn Angel Perez, Senior Designer, ONIRIC Architectural Art Studio)
2019 BUILT2019: Albany’s Architecture Through Artists’ Eyes, Historic Albany Foundation, Albany, NY (Juried by Tony Iadicicco, Director of Albany Center Gallery; Gail Hinchen, Judie Gilmore, Director of Opalka Gallery, Sage Colleges).
2019 Works on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ (Juried by Dr. Louis Marchesano, Senior Curator of Drawings, Prints & Photography, Philadelphia Museum of Art)
2019 Artist Statement #4, CICA Museum, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (Catalog)
2018 House & Home, Wilbur Mansion, CANOneonta, Oneonta, NY (With Brian Barlow, Ryan Chase Clow, Sean Corcoran, Ray Felix, Kathy Greenwood, Connie Frisbee Houde, Madison LaVallee, Frank Rapant, Jason Kates van Staveren, and Jaymee Harvey Williams), (Curated by Jason Kates van Staveren)
2018 Home, Collar Works, Troy, NY (Juried by Cara Manes, Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art)
2018 Black and White, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (Juried by Rosario Güiraldes, Assistant Curator at The Drawing Center, New York City)
2017-18 Contemporary Landscape, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA (Juried by Chester Arnold, Instructor, College of Marin)

COMMISSIONS
2018 Stephen H Meyer (24”x30”) Portrait, Oil on Canvas, Underground Railroad History Project, Albany, NY
2016 The Curlew, 20 Minute Video Art Piece Displayed During Concert and Dance Performance, Video Projection, The Musicians of Ma’alwyck and Loose Change Dance Collective (with lead artist Joseph P. Gonzalez)
2015 Men and Women of the Bible, 6 Illustrations of Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs (22”x30”) Ink and Watercolor on Paper, Terra Nova Church, Troy NY
2014 – 15 The Last Seven Words of Christ and The Resurrection, 8 pieces, (11”x 22”) Multimedia on Paper on Board, Terra Nova Church, Troy, NY
2014 Katria in Valencian Dress (After Sorolla), (5’x3’) Oil on Canvas, Musicians of Ma’alwyck, Scotia, NY
2013 – 14 St. Kateri Tekakwitha with the Children, (5’x3’) Oil on Canvas, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, Schenectady, NY
2013 St. Kateri Tekakwitha in God’s Creation, (5’x3’) Oil on Canvas, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, Schenectady, NY

COLLECTIONS
Boise Visual Chronicle, Department of Art & History, City of Boise, Boise, ID
CICA Museum, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Drs. Patricia Trutty-Coohill and Thomas Coohill, Loudonville, NY
Julie and Collin Nesich, Albany, NY
St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, Niskayuna, NY

RECENT AWARDS, HONORS, AND GRANTS
2022 Trustco Bank Award (for Scholarship and Service in Support of Siena’s mission), Siena College, Loudonville, NY (For development of the Visual Art & Design Major)
2019 Best in Show in BUILT2019: Albany’s Architecture Through Artists’ Eyes, Historic Albany Foundation, Albany, NY
2018 Honorable Mention in Contemporary Landscape, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA (Juried by Chester Arnold, Instructor, College of Marin)

SELECTED SERVICE ACTIVITIES
Professional Service
2021 External Reviewer, Stetson University Department of Creative Arts Program Review, Stetson University, Deland, FL
2018 Juror, Juried Student Art Show, Hudson Valley Community College, Troy NY
2016 – 2017 Member of Board of Directors, Albany Center Gallery, Albany, NY

Service to the College
2022 – Present Co-Lead, Standard III Working Group, Middle States Self Study, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
2021 – Present Grievance Committee member, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
2018 – Present Creative Arts Department Chair, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
2018 – Present Liberal Arts Faculty Lead, Stack Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Siena College, Loudonville, NY
2021 Chair, Joint Appointment Tenure and Promotion Committee (Creative Arts and English) for Dr. Joshua Iddings, Siena College, Loudonville, NY