Will Sears
B. 1987, Philadelphia, PA
Lives & works in South Portland, ME
Education:
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, May 2010
BFA, School of Art and Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Solo & Two Person Exhibitions:
2023 In & Around, Over Here Gallery, Portland, ME
2022 Splitting the Difference, Dowling & Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
2020 Sun Showers & Moonbeams, (Jenna Pirello & Will Sears) Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME
2018 Side by Side, (Cassie Jones & Will Sears) Common Street Arts, Waterville, ME
Notice & Consent, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington DC
2016 Coalesce, Lot F Gallery, Boston, MA
2015 Building Blocks, Montserrat College Of Art, Beverly, MA
2014 Erstwhile, (Tessa Greene O’Brien & Will Sears) Lot F Gallery, Boston, MA
2010 Solo Exhibition, Shaffer Drawing Room, Syracuse, NY
Select Group Exhibitions
2024 The House Support Itself, Forthall Gallery, Brunswick, ME
2023. A Room With a View, Vardan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Euphoria, Alice Gauvin Gallery, Portland, ME
2022 The More the Merrier, Grant Wahlquist Gallery, Portland ME
You’re Invited, Alice Gauvin Gallery, Portland, ME
Between the Lines, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
Small Works, Soft Times Gallery, San Fransisco, CA
2020 As Inside, So Outside, Digital exhibition with Young Space, curated by David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
Laundry Day 2, New Systems Exhibitions, Portland, ME
[ON] Now | Simulacrush, Digital exhibition curated by Sistered, CMCA, Rockland, ME
2019 Flat Files 2020 Group Show, Tiger Strikes Astroid, New York, NY
The Missing Second Half, Able Baker Contemporary, Portland, ME
Boston Key Party, Curated by Jaws Group, Stove Factory Gallery, Charlestown, MA
Art Pm, BuoyGallery, Kittery, ME
2018 Artist Directions, Gallery 49, Portland, ME
2017 MidToast, Elizabeth Moss Galleries, Falmouth, ME
The Art of Watching: Privacy and the Public Eye,3S Artspace, Portsmouth, NH
2016 Supergems,Carole Calo Gallery; Stone Hill College, Easton, MA
New England Village: Rethinking Regional Identity, Sarah Orne Jewett Museum
Hole History, Asymmetrick Arts, Rockland, ME
2015 Ode to Letters, Engine Gallery, Biddeford, ME
Shapeshifters & Sharpshooters, 886 Geary Gallery, San Francisco, CA
10 x 10 show, June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, ME
2014 Lot F Miami, Lot F Gallery Wynwood, Miami, FL
Ready to Die, One Grand Gallery, Portland, OR
Space // Squared, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Its’ Virtue is Immense, Lot F Gallery, Boston, MA
2013 Steady Work, Space Gallery, Portland, ME
2011 Salt Water Camp: Quimby Colony Collective, Coleman Burke Gallery, Portland, ME
Salt Water Farm: Quimby Colony Collective, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick, ME
2010 Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, XL Projects, Syracuse, NY, Juried by Linda Erf,
Syracuse University BFA Exhibition 2010,XL Projects, Syracuse, NY
Residencies, Awards, Public Art
2021 Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Residency, Rockland, ME
2020 Recipient of Fellowship Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2018 Artist in Residence, IAPP, Washington, DC
2016 Hewnoaks: Residency in Lovell, ME
2015 Recipient of Maine Arts Commission ‘Individual Project Grant’
Recipient of ‘Kindling Fund’ Grant via Space Gallery / Andy Warhol Foundation
2014 Hewnoaks: Residency in Lovell Maine,
2010 Quimby Colony Salt Water Farm Residency
2006 Rhode Island School of Design Award given for excellence in the Creative Arts
Public Art
2021 Untitled Public Mural in collaboration with Tessa G. O’Brien, Biddeford, ME
2019 Public Mural; 80 Exchange St., Portland, ME
2018 Untitled Public Mural, Augusta, ME
2015 Untitled Public Mural, Portland, ME
Publications
David Harry, Portland Historic Preservation Panel Endorses Tommy’s Park Mural, December 10, 2018
Art Maze Magazine: Issue 9, Autumn, 2018
Jaed Coffin, Paint the Town, Downeast Magazine, June 2018
Katie Kelleher, Sensory Delights; Libations and Their Labels, Art New England Jan/Feb 2017
Jamie Thompson, Ones to Watch, Maine Home & Design, The Art Issue, April 2016
Ian Carlsen, Personal Graphemics, The Chart, Sept 2015
Best Of Maine: Mural Startup, Downeast Magazine, July 2015
Jenna Crowder, Talking to The Walls, Dispatch Magazine, Sept 2015
John Adamian, It’s a Sign, Take Magazine, Feb/Mar 2016
Related Experience:
Art Director, Oxbow Brewing Company
Founder/ Co- Owner Better Letter Hand Painted Signs
Co-Creator/ Curator of the Portland Mural Initiative
Production Assistant, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Co- Creator/ Manager of Base Camp Studios
Gallery Assistant, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland, Maine
Art Production for music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Coachella, Life is Good, Moogfest, Outside Lands, & Phish