Erling Sjovold received his B.A. in Studio Art from U.C.- Berkeley and his M.F.A. in Painting from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Grants and residency awards he has received include the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program, Ragdale, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Hafnarborg Cultural Center-Iceland, Jessie Ball DuPont Summer Fellowship at the National Center for the Humanities, U.S. Interior Department-National Park Service, Georgia Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship. He has exhibited nationally and internationally.
Sjovold’s art considers place as shaped by the human workings of memory, representation, sensation, mobility, environment, and climate. His teaching extends to traditional and experimental art practices, with an emphasis on drawing and painting, informed by historical methods, contemporary art theory, and post-studio practice. His courses range from oil painting representations of the human figure to experimental drawing processes to site-specific excavations that transform parking lots into alternative use and green spaces. He has taught at Savannah College of Art and Design, Indiana University- Bloomington, and is currently an Professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
