Linda Atkinson is a visual artist and native of Roanoke, Virginia. She lived for 13 years in California, teaching sculpture at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Returning to Southwestern Virginia in 1989, she taught studio art as a visiting lecturer and adjunct for Roanoke College, Hollins University, Radford University, Virginia Western Community College where she taught art history for 18 years and Roanoke College where she was also gallery director and curator of Roanoke College's Olin Hall Galleries for 11 years. Linda is also an art consultant and fine art appraiser and maintains an active art studio and gallery of her work in Fincastle, Virginia.
Education:
1975-1977 MFA Sculpture, California College of Art, Oakland, CA.
1971-1974 BFA Sculpture, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
1970 Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2017 All In: Sculpture and Collage, Virginia Western Art Gallery, Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke, VA
2001 Sculpture, Painting and works on PAPER, Piedmont Art Center, Martinsville, VA
2001 Recent Sculpture, Allegany Highland Arts and Crafts Center, Clifton Forge, VA
1999 Three Genres, Vantage Gallery, Ithaca, NY
1998 New Artist Exhibition, Allport Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Sculpture and other Oddities, Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, VA
1996 On and Off the Wall, Cabrillo Gallery, Cabrillo, CA
1994 From the Garden, A.R. Wood Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
1991 Recent Sculpture, Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angles, CA
1972 Sculpture Installations, Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
Selected Museum Group Museum Exhibitions:
1996 City Art Show Art museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA juried
1996 The Exquisite Corpse and Other Oddities, Fayetteville Museum, Fayetteville, NC invitational
1994 Vision and Function: Recent Work by Virginia Sculptors, Art Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA invitational
1987 54th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Arnot Museum, Elmira, NY juried
1985 The Art Museum Annual: Works on/of Paper and Clay, Santa Cruz County Museum, Santa Cruz, CA
1984 The Sculpture Show, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2017 The Market Gallery, Roanoke, Virginia
2017 bj spoke gallery EXPO 36, Huntington, New York
1999 Roanoke/Wonju International Art Exchange Exhibition, Olin Hall Galleries, Roanoke College, Salem, VA
1997 Loving the Land: Exploring Southern Regionalism, Blue Spiral Gallery, Ashville, NC
1996 Studio Artists, Somerhill Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC
1996 Sculpture and Painting, Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, VA
1993 The Gardening of Art, Dorothy McRae Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1991 New Artist Show, Cudahys Gallery, Richmond, VA
1986 Small Works Exhibition, Washington Square Galleries, New York University, NY, NY
1984 Three Sculptors: Robert Arneson, David Gilhooly, Linda Atkinson, Hoeger- Thompson Gallery, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
I have a B.F.A in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a M.F.A. in Sculpture from the California College of Arts. My work has been exhibited nationally in galleries and museums including solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Ithaca, New York, Richmond, Roanoke, Virginia, as well as inclusion in numerous group exhibitions nationally.
Returning to Virginia in 1988, in addition to creating sculpture I was Curator and Director of the Galleries at Roanoke College for 17 years, and taught studio art at the University of California /Santa Cruz, Roanoke College, Hollins University, Radford University, and Virginia Western Community College.
My work includes some large scale commissioned sculpture. I was commissioned to carve a set of Ark Doors for Temple Emanuel in Roanoke, Virginia. The Doors measured 96"x48"x3", and are carved mahogany and pierced with stained glass. Recently I was commissioned to create an additional work for the Temple, a carved mahogany relief sculpture. This Tree of Life donor tree is also carved mahogany, and measures 66"x79"x3". In addition to working in wood, I created a 60"x144"x4" steel sculpture for Virginia Western Community College, an outdoor piece entitled "Inside/Out". The sculpture is displayed outside of the President's Office, in the Court of Four Seasons.