ABILITIES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Ability to devise and implement educational content for an international institution. Developed class curriculum for a diverse international student body through a variety of media including writing, performing, and visual arts.
Strategic problem-solving methodology to design, plan, and execute complex events in national and international settings with audiences up to 5,000 attendees. Proven leadership as project manager on events including SCAD Sand Arts Festival, sculptural performances in Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, Latvia, and locations throughout the USA.
Ability to effectively work with committees, councils, and stakeholders to coordinate arts programming. Co-organizer/steering committee member of numerous national and international symposia and art conferences highlighting distinct cultural, geographical, and material characteristics of each event.
Extensive experience in curating, organizing, and installing exhibitions of visual and experimental performing arts at galleries and museums. Installed artworks in the Smithsonian Institutes in Washington DC and in the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA. Director of Gallery 303 at Georgia Southern University and Boundary Hall Gallery director at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Commitment to Savannah communities through engaged volunteer and professional experiences. Artistic and educational exhibitions at the Chatham County Resource Conservation Education Center and Sulfur Studios, former Park Steward at the Juliet Gordon Low Park in East Savannah, Designed and created Legacy Giving Tree for the United Way of the Coastal Empire, and through an Advocate / Protégé’ relationship with Chatham Citizen Advocacy in Savannah, GA.
Media trained through several local and international articles, radio, and television interviews, and public speaking engagements.
An accomplished administrator who successfully manages and motivates employees and volunteer staff. Oversees budget projection, management, and reconciliation. Follows and implements policies and procedures.
EDUCATION
M.F.A. 2000 Sculpture Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Post-Baccalaureate 1996-97 Georgia State University
B.F.A. 1994 Sculpture Georgia Southern University
Areas of Specialization: Sculpture, Performance, Installation
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2016 – Present
Toole Sculpture Works LLC, Owner / Operator, Savannah GA.
2018 – 2019
Savannah College of Art and Design, Part-time Professor of Foundation Studies, Savannah, GA.
2006- 2016
Savannah College of Art and Design, Professor of Foundation Studies / Sculpture, Savannah, GA.
2013- 2014
Seventh International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, Pedvale’ Open Air Museum, Sabile, Latvia 2014. Steering Committee, Foundry/Industry liaison.
2012- 2014
Co-Organizer, Sculpture in the Landscape Symposium, Design for Lumsden Sculpture Walk, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Collaboration with SCAD Architecture Professor, Ryan Madson.
Keynote Speaker, Iron R Research Project, Cork Institute of Technology / Crawford College of Art and Design and the National Sculpture Factory, Cork, Ireland.
2010- 2014
Exhibitions Liaison and Gallery Director, Boundary Hall Gallery, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA.
2004 -2006
Georgia Southern University, Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, Assistant Professor of Foundations and Sculpture, Statesboro, GA.
2006-2007
Southern Conference on Cast Iron Art, Steering Committee. Panel Organizer. Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Birmingham, AL.
2004-2006
Fifth International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, UK 2006. Steering Committee, Curator Cupolaesthetics II.
2004-2005
Director, Gallery 303, Georgia Southern University, Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, Statesboro, GA.
Third Southern Conference on Cast Iron Art, Steering Committee, Panel Organizer.
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Birmingham, AL 2004 - 2005.
2004
Meadowlark Art Studio, Assistant to Artist, Jerome Meadows, Savannah GA.
2003
Nordquist Sign Company, Fabricator, Minneapolis, MN.
2002
Fourth International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, Johnson Atelier, Hamilton, NJ 2002. Steering Committee, Performance Organizer, Curator Cupolaesthetics.
1998 - 2002.
Douglas Thayer Woodworking and Design, Assistant to Artist, Phoenix, MD.
Mandela Creations in Metal, Assistant to Artist/Blacksmith Chris Gavin, Baltimore, MD.
2001-2002
U.S. Art Company, Art Handler, Installer, Washington D.C.
2000
Smith Forge, Assistant to Artist/Blacksmith Johnny Smith, Savannah, GA.
George Beasley, To Throw Iron Into the Universe: Project for the Millennium, Consultant and Assistant to the Artist, Portsoy, Scotland.
1999
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Woodshop Manager.
1998-1999
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Instructor of Record, 3-D Design, Edwardsville, IL
1997-1998
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Sculpture Studio Manager.
1995-1997
Inferno Art Foundry, Finishing Department, Newnan, GA.
1994-1995
Art Installation Services, Art Handler, Installer, Atlanta, GA.
1994
Georgia Southern University, Sculpture Studio Manager, Statesboro, GA.
COMMISSIONS
Emergent Structures, Savannah, GA, Unbuilder’s Trophy, 2018. Awards for staff and volunteers.
Roots Up Gallery, Savannah, GA, Papa’s Tobacco Barn, 2018. Family Reliquary Commission.
Roberd’s Dairy, Savannah, GA, Roberd’s Gate, 2018. Commission.
United Way of the Coastal Empire , Savannah GA, Legacy Giving Tree, 2018. Commission
Union Mission of Savannah, Vinescape, Growing Hope project for the Union Mission Garden in conjunction with Starfish Café, Savannah, GA, Aug. 2008.
SIUE Foundation, Office of Development and Public Affairs, Ferruginous Pyre: An Iron Opus, Project for the Donal G. Myer Arboretum SIU, Edwardsville, May 2000.
Aberdeen Arts Council, The Lost Gallery, and The Scottish Sculpture Workshop, In Ferrous Defense of the Lost, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 1999.
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / HONORS
2014 Savannah College of Art and Design, Sabbatical Award for Iron R 2, Cork, Ireland.
2010 Savannah College of Art and Design, Presidential Fellowship for Faculty Development.
2005 Chancellor’s Award, University System of Georgia / Americas Council.
2002 Franconia Sculpture Park / Jerome Fellowship Award.
2001 Franconia Sculpture Park / Jerome Fellowship Award.
2000 Scottish Sculpture Workshop International Bursary Award.
1999 Research Grants for Graduate Students (RGGS), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Carey Orness Sculpture Award for Tipple, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
1998 Graduate Student Travel Grant, SIUE Friends of Art.
Carey Orness Sculpture Award for Iron Trough and Ignight. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
1994 First place award for Omulu Undali, Miscellany, Georgia Southern University's Magazine of the Arts, Statesboro, GA.
1993 Betty Foy Sanders Art Scholarship, Georgia Southern University.
VISITING ARTIST / LECTURES
2016 Transformative Processes: The Sculptural Work of Matt Toole, Augusta University, Mary S. Byrd Gallery, Westabou Festival.
2014 Seventh International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art, Pedvale Open Air Museum, Sabile, Latvia.
Presentation, “Performance in Iron”.
2014 Crawford College of Art and Design, “Ferrous Communitas: the Iron People 4”, Iron R 2 Research Project, Cork, Ireland.
2013 University of Colorado Denver, Performing Iron II, Performance Event. “Ferrous Communitas: The Iron People 3”.
2012 Cork Institute of Technology / Crawford College of Art and the National Sculpture Factory, Iron R Research Project,
Keynote Address, “Ferrous Communitas: The Iron People”, Cork, Ireland.
University of Colorado Denver, Performing Iron, Performance Event. “Ferrous Communitas: The Iron People”, Lecture. Mar. 14.
2011 Kinship: A Tribute of Iron, University of South Carolina Beaufort Auditorium, Beaufort, SC.
2007 Iron Tribe 2007, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM.
2005 Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.
Franconia Sculpture Park, Intern Mentor, Shafer, MN.
Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts, Red Wing, MN.
2005 Iron Tribe, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM.
2003 Franconia Sculpture Park, Intern Mentor, Shafer, MN.
Iron Tribe ‘03. New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM.
2002 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Franconia Sculpture Park, Intern Mentor, Shafer, MN.
2001 John Michael Kohler Art’s Center, Sheboygan, WI.
Franconia Sculpture Park, Intern Mentor, Shafer, MN.
2000 Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden-Huntly, Scotland.
State University at West Georgia, Carrolton, GA
Friends of Art Annual Banquet, Edwardsville, IL.
2000 Webster University, St. Louis, MO, Consultant.
1997 Clayton State College, Jonesboro, GA.