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Steve Pearson

Steven Pearson is the Joan Develin Coley Endowed Chair in Creative Expression and the Arts and Professor of Studio Art at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD where he has been teaching studio art courses since 2004. He has served as the director of the college’s Esther Prangley Rice Gallery since 2005. Professor Pearson has explored narrative through nonrepresentational and representational painting and drawing, most recently with figures and still life. He received his A.A. in Fine Art from Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, NY, his B.S. in Studio Art from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, and his MFA in Painting from the Hoffberger School of Painting at MICA in Baltimore, MD, where he studied under Grace Hartigan, Sam Gilliam, Raoul Middleman and Archie Rand. Pearson’s exhibitions have been in such places as the American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center, Washington, D.C., Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, VA, VisArts, Rockville, MD, School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD, Art Association of Harrisburg, Delaplaine Visual Art Center, Frederick, MD, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA,  and McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA. Pearson’s paintings can be found in several public and private collections.

Visit Steven Pearson's Website

 

Education

1997
M.F.A. in Painting, Leroy E. Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
1994
B.S. in Studio Art, The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY
1992
A.A. in Fine Art, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Johnstown, NY

Research Interests

  • Contemporary Narrative Figurative Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking.
  • Previously focused on contemporary abstract and non-objective painting's connection 
    to narrative through composition, color, and media application.
  • Regularly presents papers on his own artwork, as well as his pedagogy related to
     foundation through advanced studio courses in painting, drawing, and design. 

Recent Courses

  • ART 1121: 3-Dimensional Design Concepts
  • ART 3317: Color in Art & Design
  • ART 4100-4400: Advanced Studio Art

Selected Publications

 

Solo Exhibitions:

2025 Hercules’ New Labors and Other Domestic Affairs, The Gallery at the Scott Center, 
Carroll Community College, Westminster, MD. 

2025 Abstractions Past/Present, Art Association of Harrisburg-Community Exhibition at 
Penn National Insurance, 2nd St. Harrisburg, PA.

Group Exhibitions:

2026 Beyond the Objects: The Grammar of Things, Esther Prangley Rice Gallery, 
McDaniel College, Westminster, MD

2026 Nightfall, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA.

2025 Mythography, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH.

2025 Art of the State, State Museum, Harrisburg, PA.

Awards and Honors

  • 2025 Faculty Creativity Award, McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
  • 2024 First Place: Drawing, Figuratively Speaking, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA. 
  • 2020 Appointed the Joan Develin Coley Endowed Chair in Creative Expression and the Arts 
  • 2019 Ira G. Zepp Distinguished Teaching Award (McDaniel College’s highest Honor)
Steve Pearson

"Thank you again for a great semester in Printmaking! I love traditional studio art and it was so much fun to get a chance to do it again. I especially enjoyed screen printing. You were so helpful and patient with all of us this semester, and no one could doubt that you care about your students and their success."

Lauren Beckjord '20 Studio Art (Graphic Design Track)