Bio

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Rob Kolomyski has an M.F.A. from Michigan State University, a B.F.A. from Eastern Michigan University, and an A.A. in CAD and Styling from Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich. The latter degree led him to a 10-year career as an auto body designer. He worked as an associate engineer at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., for six years before opting for a career change that allowed him to pursue his love for art, painting in particular, at a professional level.

Before becoming full-time faculty at Inver Hills, Rob served as a visiting instructor and visiting assistant professor at MSU. He also taught painting, drawing and art appreciation at South Texas College in McAllen, Texas. Rob teaches beginning and advanced drawing and painting at Inver Hills.

What Rob likes best about teaching is guiding students and getting them excited about art. He enjoys watching students develop their talent as they advance toward a goal. His teaching philosophy is succinct: "Be accessible, honest and fair."

Rob's intention is to create an educational environment that is instructive, stimulating and critical. Students will be challenged to think both creatively and critically to develop a vital decision-making process while enhancing their skills in visualization and spatial organization applicable to all types of media.

His advice to students thinking about the A.F.A. in Art stresses adaptability. "As an artist, you need to develop a lot of skills and be entrepreneurial," he said. "You can make your own job and make your own career. Teaching is an option to support your art—but you have to be willing to work hard. People in the arts work really hard to get where they are."

Rob's favorite artistic medium is painting, especially abstract landscapes. Over the last several years, he has shown at several national and international galleries and museums, including:

• Manifest in Cincinnati, Ohio
• Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts in Brownsville, Texas
• Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei, Taiwan
• Da Xiang Art Space in Taichung City, Taiwan
• Ever Gold Gallery in San Francisco, California
• The Lexington Art League in Lexington, Kentucky
• The Foundry Art Center in St. Louis, Missouri
• Max Fish Gallery in New York City, New York

Rob's work has also been selected for inclusion in several art publications, including:

• International Painting Annual
  • Manifest Press, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Weak Painting (exhibition catalog)
  • Garden City Publishing, Taipei, Taiwan
• "What is Weak Painting?"
  • Review by Jian Tzu-Chieh
  • Garden City Publishing, Taipei, Taiwan
• Studio Visit
  • Volume 8
  • Open Studio Press, Boston, Massachusetts