Education
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
M.F.A. in Painting, 1980.
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine, 1977.
School of Visual Arts, New York, New York. B.F.A. in Painting, 1977.
Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. B.A. in Fine Arts and
Anthropology,(including a year's field study in Morocco with
the Berbers of the south-central Atlas Mountains), 1975.
Selected Exhibitions
2009 Top of the World – Paintings and Artist’s Books of the Arctic
Christensen gallery, Kjøllefjord, Norway.
Top of the World – Paintings and Artist’s Books of the Arctic and
Vermont Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont.
2007-08 Top of the World – Paintings and Artist’s Books of the Arctic
Traveling solo exhibition: Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium,
St. Johnsbury, VT; Feick Arts Center, Green Mountain
College, Poultney, VT; Brown Art Gallery, Sterling College,
Craftsbury, VT.
2007 Nature Remains: The Artist as Environmentalist Curated by
Idoline Duke, Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT 2006
Top of the World – Paintings and Artist’s Books from Svalbard
Solo exhibition, Julian Scott Gallery, Johnson State
College, Johnson, VT.
2005-07 Arcadia Id Est – Artists’ Books, Nature and the Landscape
TRACE Gallery Dorset, UWE, Bristol; Centre for the
Artist's Book, Australia; Moufflon Bookshop, Nicosia,
Cyprus; Eagle Gallery, London; Hartley Library, Univer-
sity of Southampton; AKI, Enschede, The Netherlands;
Rikhardinkatu Library, Helsinki, Finland; Yard Gallery
at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham; the John Flaxman Library
at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; John M.
Olin Library, Washington University, St. Louis; Fleet
Library, Rhode Island School of Design; Noosa Regional
Gallery, Tewantin, Australia.
2005 Letters, Words & Books, group invitational, Studio Place
Arts, Barre, Vermont
2004 Ken Leslie: Artist’s Books and Paintings, Belk Gallery,
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina.
2002 Ken Leslie: Selected Artist’s Books Solo exhibition.
Open Book Gallery, Minnesota Center for Book Arts,
Minneapolis,Minnesota.
Space + Time Solo exhibition at the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery,
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, Vermont
Artists as Travelers Four artists at the Southern Vermont
Art Center, Manchester, Vermont, Thomas Weston Fels,
Curator.
10 Vermont Artists on the State of Vermont Agriculture Invita-
tional exhibition of works commissioned by the Vermont
Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Arts Council,
traveling to eight venues around the state.
2001 Vermont Artists as Travelers Four artists at the Brattleboro
Art Museum, Brattleboro, VT. Thomas Weston Fels, Guest
Curator.
2000 A Theory of Everything Solo exhibition, Julian Scott Gallery,
Johnson State College, Johnson, VT, and Christine Price
Gallery, Castleton State College, Castleton, VT.
Turning Pages: Celebrating Artist-Made Books, Invitational,
Newport Art Center Gallery, Newport, NH.
1999 Art, Image and Text Invitational, T.W. Wood Gallery,
Montpelier, VT.
1998 Bækur Og Málverk Solo exhibition, Deiglan, Gilfelagið, Akureyri,
Iceland.
Book and Paper Arts Biennial Chicago Ctr. for Book and Paper Arts,
Chicago, IL
Book Explorations '98 The New Art Forum , Kingston, MA.
Through the Looking Glass Group Invitational, Helen Day Art
Centr, Stowe, VT.
1997 Long-Playing Paintings Solo exhibition, Vermont Arts Council,
Montpelier, VT.
Books as Paintings, Paintings as Books. Solo exhibition,
Alliance for the Visual Arts Gallery, Lebanon, NH.
1996 Viewpoint. Invitational group exhibition. Copley Gallery,
Morrisville, Vermont.
1995 Intersection: Books as Paintings, Paintings as Books. Solo
exhibition. Julian Scott Gallery, Johnson, VT.
1994 Out of Bounds. Group exhibition of artist's books, juried by
Richard Minksky Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT.
1993 Artists du Vermont. Invitational group exhibition of Vermont
Artists. Galerie Horace, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
1992 Worlds: Paintings and Other Ideas. Solo exhibition. Julian
Scott Gallery, Johnson, VT.
1990 Landscape, Cityscape, Mindscape. Invitational group exhibition.
T.W. Wood Gallery, Montpelier, VT.
1989 Ken Leslie: Paintings and Drawings. Solo exhibit, Chaffee
Gallery, Rutland, VT.
Vermont Memory Maps. Travelling Invitational Exhibition of
commissioned works. Collaboration piece produced with Ruby
Leslie. Brattleboro Art Museum, Brattleboro, VT.
1988 Ken Leslie: Recent Works. Solo exhibition. Dibden Gallery,
Johnson, Vermont.
Vermont Council on the Arts Invitational. Governor's Corridor
Gallery, Montpelier, VT.
Portraits of Women. Collaboration of two artists and two poets.
Dibden Gallery, Johnson, VT.
Vermont Selections '88. Juried group exhibit, Helen Day Art
Center, Stowe, VT.
1987 Works on Paper Invitational. School of Fine Arts Gallery,
Indiana University at Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana.
Laughing. Invitational travelling exhibition, beginning
at the Governor's Corridor Gallery, Montpelier, VT.
1986 Ken Leslie: Wow! Solo exhibition. Dibden Gallery, Johnson, VT.
Ken Leslie: Recent Works. Solo exhibition. Copley Gallery,
Morrisville, VT.
1985 Ken Leslie: New Work. Solo exhibition. Gross McCleaf Gallery,
Philadelphia, PA.
Introducing Ken Leslie. Solo exhibition. Dibden Gallery,
Johnson, Vermont.
1983 Ken Leslie: The Big One. Solo exhibition. Gross McCleaf
Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Ken Leslie: Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Christine Price
Gallery, Castleton State College, Castleton, VT.
Five Contemporary Artists. Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA.
Philadelphia Invitational. Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art,
Loretto, PA.
1982 Ken Leslie: Paintings. Solo exhibition. Gross McCleaf Gallery,
Philadelphia, PA.
18th Juried Exhibition. Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA.
20th Biennial Exhibition, University of Delaware, Newark, DE.
Teaching and Professional Experience
Professor of Fine Arts, Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont,
teaching painting, drawing and book arts in the B.F.A. and
M.F.A. degree programs, since 1984.
Author of Oil Pastel: Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist,
Watson-Guptill, New York, NY, 1990. The first technical book
ever published on oil pastel and oil stick. Published also in
French under the title Pastel à L'Huile: Techniques et Matériels,
Éditions Bordas, Paris, 1992.
Ellen Johnson Visiting Artist, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio,
March, 2006
Resident Artist, Kunstnersenter of the Galleri Svalbard,
Longyearbyen, Svalbard 2006.
Guest Artist, Visiting Artist series, Art Department, State
University of New York at Plattsburgh. Visiting Resident
Artist,2005.
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina.
February/March 2004.
Visiting Artist, Nexus Press, Contemporary Arts Center,
Atlanta, GA. Book signing and exhibition, March, 2003.
Visiting Artist, By Design, Minnesota Center for Book Arts,
teaching a workshop in artists’ book multiples.
January, 2003.
Resident Artist, Gilfelagið Art Foundation, Akuryeri, Iceland, to
study the solstices. November, 1998 and June 1999.
Board of Trustees, Vermont Council on the Arts, 1991--1998. Vice
Chair, 1994--1996.
Guest Curator for Frontiers, an exhibition of Quebec artists,
Julian Scott Memorial Gallery, Johnson, VT, 1993.
Visiting Artist, teaching intensive studio workshops:
Vermont Alliance for Art Education Bread Loaf conference,
Middlebury, VT. Workshops in Coptic Bound Sketchbooks,
Painting, Artist Book Multiples, Color Intensive and
Oil Pastel, 2000 through 2005.
VT Alliance for Art Education , Shelburne Museum. Oil pastel
workshop, 1996.
Bishops University, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada. Oil pastel
workshop, 1995.
Vermont Department of Education's Residential Summer Arts
Institute, Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont. Oil
pastel workshop, 1995.
Vermont Alliance for Arts Education Conference, Lake Morey,
Vermont. Monoprinting workshop, 1995.
Atelier Daumier, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Oil pastel
intensive, 1994
Guest Lecturer, Works in Progress Series, Hood Museum of Art,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1986.
Visiting Artist, Bennington College July Program, Bennington,
Vermont, 1984.
Adjunct Faculty, Community College of Vermont, Bennington,
Vermont, 1983-1984.
Artist-in-Residence, Georgia Fine Arts Academy, Calhoun,
Georgia , 1981 and 1982.
Visiting Artist, The Crefeld School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1981.
Teaching Assistantship, University of Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts,
Philadelphia, PA, 1978--1979.
Project Supervisor, Creative Time Incorporated, New York, NY.
Directed several large-scale environmental art projects, working
with young inner-city artists.
Workshop Supervisor for Otto Piene, Dir., Center for Advanced Visual
Studies at M.I.T., Cambridge, MA, for shows of installation
and environmental art in NYC, Boston, Princeton, Washington, D.C.
and Milwaukee, between 1976 and 1978.
Honors, Awards and Commissions
2008 American-Scandinavian Foundation Independent Research Award for
completing a series of artist’s books and paintings in Inari, the
Sámi cultural center of Northern Finland in June/July and
December/January, 2008/2009.
2007 Johnson State College Distinguished Faculty Award awarded
annually to one Johnson State College professor.
2006 Johnson State College Advisor of the Year Award.
President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning from
Johnson State College, for continued winter work in the
Svalbard Archipeligo.
2005--New Works Award from the Vermont Arts Endowment of
The Vermont Community Foundation, to create Top of the World,
an exhibition of paintings, digital photographs and artist’s
books about the northern Arctic.
2002--Artist Initiated Project Award, Nexus Press, Atlanta
Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia. For production
and publication of Space + Time, a circular artist book that
documents the passage of time as seen throughout a year from
a single location.
1991 to 1993. Community Arts Grant for the Town of Hardwick, VT, from
the Vermont Council on the Arts, building the Hardwick Art Park
with seven other area artists. The project includes a 35' Entry
Wall, covered with mosaics made from broken china collected from
kitchens all over town.
1990--Commission of a pair of murals--Tilted Arc and Satellite,
for Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, Vermont.
Installation in a 70' space, using acrylic on cut-out plywood,
with daylight wavelength and blacklight lamps.
1987--1988--Visual Artists Research Grant from Daniel Smith, Inc., of
Seattle, Washington, for research into the use, permanence and
toxicity of oil pastels. .
1985--1986--Visual Artists Fellowship Grant in painting from the
Vermont Council on the Arts,
1983--1984--Visual Artists Fellowship Grant in painting from the
National Endowment for the Arts,
1977 and 1975--Fellowship for continued Graduate Study,
Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts.
1969--Exchange Student scholarship from International Fellowship, Inc.,
in Santiago and Pirque, Chile.
Advanced Study Grants, from Johnson State College:
2009—to exhibit and create artist’s books and paintings
in Kjøllefjord, Norway.
2008—to create summer and winter artist’s books and paintings
in Inari,Finland.
2007—to create paintings and artist’s books in Iqaluit,
Nunavut, Canada.
2005— to create paintings, and artist’s books in the Svalbard
Archipeligo.
2004— to create paintings, drawings and artist’s books in
Kotzebue, Alaska.
2002— To research in contemporary art at Documenta XI, Kassel,
Germany.
2001— for production and publication of Space + Time with
Nexus Press, Atlanta, Georgia.
1997—for research in artist's books and art at Documenta X in
Kassel, Germany.
1994—for continued work and production of two limited edition
artist books.
1989—for continued work on the book, Oil Pastel: Materials and
Techniques for Today's Artist, published by
Watson-Guptill, New York.
Selected Collections
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Christoph and Annedore Methfessel, Wuppertal, Germany
Bailey-Howe Library, Special Collections, University of
Vermont, Burlington, VT
Hadda, Akureyri, Iceland
Western Carolina University Fine Arts Center, Cullowhee,
North Carolina
Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, Florida
Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Keith Smith, Rochester, New York
Bertram Cohen, Boston, Massachusetts
Vermont Technical College, Randolph, Vermont
Fred Rossman and Leslie Abramson, Morrisville, Vermont
Robert Chamberlaine, New York, New York
William Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ann and Tom Williams, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ballard, Spahr, Andrews and Ingersall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Joe McGovern, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Galman & Lepow, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Copley Hospital Birthing Center, Morrisville, Vermont
