About the Artist
James Adkins attended the University of Maryland, where he began as a political science major but so loved doing political cartoons for the daily student newspaper that he soon realized he was spending more time at the drawing board than at the books. Wanting to improve his drawing skills, he became a studio art major. After graduation, he worked as a high school art teacher, but was interested in teaching at the college level, so he earned his MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. He is now Coordinator of Studio Art at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland.
Education
BA: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
MA: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
MFA: Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Individual Artist Award, Maryland State Arts Council, 1996, 2000, 2004
Howie Award – Outstanding Artist, Howard County Arts Council, 1995
| Selected Exhibitions | ||
| 2012 | James Adkins: Now and Then, Howard Community College, Columbia, MD | |
| 2011 | 1st Biennial Maryland Regional Juried Art Exhibit, University of Maryland U.C. | |
| Bethesda Painting Awards, Artery Gallery, Bethesda, MD – 2nd place | ||
| Invitational, University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD | ||
| 2010 | Art MD 2010, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD | |
| Invitational, University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD | ||
| 2009 | Richard Talkin Collection, Howard Community College, Columbia, MD | |
| Invitational, University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD | ||
| Collector’s Show, Columbia Art Center,Columbia, MD | ||
| 2008 | Invitational, University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD | |
| 2007 | Go Figure, Maryland Art Place,Baltimore, MD | |
| Invitational, University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD | ||
| 2006 | Invitational, University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD | |
| 2004 | Art MD 2004, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD - Juror’s Award | |
| 2000 | Small Sizes-Precious Pieces, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY (2000-2001) | |
| Tonal, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | ||
| Favorite Selections from Sherry French Gallery: Recent Landscape, Still Life, and Figure Paintings and | ||
| Sculpture, Gallery MAC, New York, NY | ||
| Gallery and Invited Artists, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | ||
| Painting=Poetry-ut pictura poesis, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | ||
| Contemporary American Realism lll, M. A. Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK | ||
| 1999 | Representing Representation IV, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY (1999 – 2000) | |
| Small Sizes – Precious Pieces, Gallery MAC, Manhattan Athletic Club, New York, NY | ||
| Small Sizes – Precious Pieces, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | ||
| 1998 | Pears and Other Pleasures, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | |
| Small Sizes – Precious Pieces, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | ||
| Collector’s Show, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR | ||
| 1997 | Collector's Choice, Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL (1997-98) | |
| Figure Eight, Spruill Center for the Arts,Atlanta, GA | ||
| James Adkins, Recent Drawings, Villa Julie College,Stevenson, MD | ||
| 1996 | The Art of Collecting, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI | |
| Collector's Show, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR | ||
| 1995 | Gallery and Invited Artists, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | |
| Annual Exhibit, National Drawing Association, Ft. Lauderdale, FL | ||
| 1994 | Art Maryland, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD | |
| Realism: A Group Exhibition, Mahler Gallery, Washington DC | ||
| 1993 | American Realism - Philip Desind Collection, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, IN | |
| 1992 | The Eternal Male, Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY | |
| Art Maryland, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD< | ||
| James Adkins, The Figure as Composition, Mahler Gallery,Washington, DC | ||
| Drawings by James Adkins, Mitchell Baker Gallery, Baltimore, MD | ||
| 1991 | Drawing Invitational: The Human Form, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD | |
| 1990 | Censored/Censured, Bauhaus Gallery, Baltimore, MD | |
| Primarily the Figure, Graham Horstman Gallery, Denton, TX | ||
| 1989 | Art Maryland, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD | |
| Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Peoria, IL | ||
| Realism Today, Carol Siple Gallery, Denver, CO | ||
| 1988 | Drawing Now, Dundalk Community College, Baltimore, MD | |
| 1987 | Art of Drawing, Life of Maryland Gallery, Baltimore, MD (1987-88) | |
| Annual Group Show, Mickelson Gallery, Washington DC | ||
| All on Paper, AAO Gallery, Buffalo, NY | ||
| Fine Arts Institute Juried Exhibition, San Bernardino Museum, San Bernardino, CA | ||
| National Drawing Association Annual National Competition, New York, NY | ||
| American Artist Golden Anniversary Exhibition, New York, NY, San Francisco | ||
Selected Public Collections
Dundalk Community College, Dundalk, MD
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Howard Community College, MD
Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN
Towson University, Towson, MD
Selected Private Collections
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Horowitz, Columbia, MD
Ms. Coleen West, Bel Air, MD
Mr. Richard Talkin, Columbia, MD
Mr. Pat Dillon, Columbia, MD
Dr. Michael Wood, Buffalo, NY
Ms. Joan Bevelaqua, Columbia, MD
Mr. Joe Linsalone, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Mr. Howard Tullman, Evanston, IL
Mr. Jackson Phippin and Ms. Denice Koch, Columbia, MD
Ms. Rebecca Weber, Ellicott City, MD
Ms. Susan Plastini, Bronxville, NY
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Adams, Chestnut Hill, MA
Ms. Mary Ann Doran, Tulsa, OK
Mr. Steven Krensky, Potomac, MD
Mr. and Mrs. David R. Goode, Norfolk, VA
Mr. John C. Weitnaur, Altanta, GA
Mr. Andrew Warren, Glenwood, MD
Mr. Ben Shutz and Ms. Joann Lindenberger, Dunn Loring, VA
Mr. David Mahler, North Bergen, NJ
Mr. Friedel Warner, Columbia, MD
Mr. Harold Davidson, Bethesda, MD
Mr. Joe Green, Ashton, MD
Mr. Joe Linzalone, Ridgewood, NJ
Mr. John C. Weitnauer, Atlanta, GA
Mr. Joseph Linzalone, Ridgewood, NJ
Mr. Marty Slater, Rockville, MD
Mr. Otho Eskin, Washington, DC
Mr. Sam Peters and Ms. Carol Elder, Baltimore, MD
Mr. Victor Bonilla, Madrid, Spain
Mr. and Mrs. Christian Rubeck, Baltimore, MD
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Klemick, Columbia, MD
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hickey, Columbia, MD
Ms. Alice Miller, Columbia, MD
Ms. Brenda Bell, Columbia, MD
Ms. Doris Sampson, Clarksville, MD
Ms. Marisa Costagliola, Ellicott City, MD
Ms. Alice Webb, Ellicott City, MD
Magazine Articles
American Artist Drawing, Charcoal: An Expressive and Forgiving Medium, Fall 2007
Drawing Highlights, Figure Drawing in Charcoal, 1994, Reprinted 1999
New American Paintings, No. Two, The Open Studios Competition, 1994
American Artist, Figure Drawing in Charcoal, March, 1991