Keep the Faith I

Education

B.S. University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
M.A. Art Education, University of Illinois at Urbana
M.F.A. Northern Illinois University.

Over 65 awards in art: 27 fellowships and grants, and 51 teaching awards

Honorable Mention, Georgia Artist Art Competition, Atlanta, GA 2015
Merit Award, LaGrange National XXVII, LaGrange Museum of Art, LaGrange GA 2014
Inducted in the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s National Alumni Hall of Fame 2013
Woodruff Foundation Leadership in the Arts, Atlanta, GA 2012
The David C. Driskell Fellowship, The Experimental Workshop, Easton, PA 2011
NAEA Fellowship Anderson Ranch, CO, 2010
Artist & Influences, Hatch Billops, New York, NY 2009
Southeastern Region Secondary Art Educator of the Year, National Art Education Association 2004
Georgia Secondary Art Educator of the Year, Georgia Art Education Association 2003
Class Act 11 Alive Outstanding Teachers in Georgia 2003
Rhoden Smith Scholar, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 1985

Over 450 Art Exhibitions, including:

Embassy Istanbul, Turkey; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; The Armory Show, New York, NY; Art Basel, Miami, FL; Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; High Museum, Atlanta, GA; St. Louis University Museum, St Louis MO; The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; Terrell Gallery, Los Angeles, CA and various international exhibitions in Japan, Turkey, Nigeria, France, Italy, Paris and Brazil, among others.

Featured in over 2000 public, private, and corporate collections, including:

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC; William Jefferson Library, Little Rock, AR; Yale University Museum, New Haven, CT; Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia; The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA; IBM, New York, NY; Bank of America, Charlotte, NC; The Coca Cola Co, Atlanta, GA; Alston & Bird, Atlanta, GA; King & Spaulding, Atlanta, GA; Michael Jordan, Chicago, IL; Monica Pearson, Atlanta, GA; Darrell & Lisa Walker, Little Rock, AR; and Terry McMillan, LaJolla, CA.

Mr. Cole has created over thirty-five public art works. Public art works may be found in the Georgia International Convention Center, Atlanta City Hall, Georgia State University, The United Way and the Forest Avenue Public Library in Des Moines, IA and The Coca-Cola Centennial Olympic Mural for the 1996 Olympic Games. Recently, he finished a commission for the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport in Charlottesville, Virginia and for ESPN Zone in Atlanta. He is currently working on a 20’x55’x16” installation for the new Maynard Jackson International Concourse at the Jackson Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta.

Mr. Cole’s artwork has been featured in over 100 publications, including, American Artist Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Sculpture Magazine, The Union Tribune in San Diego, CA, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Upscale Magazine, and City Papers in Baltimore, MD. He and his artwork have appeared on NBC’s NBA Inside Stuff, TBS’ “Between the Lines”, and CBS’ “Good Day Atlanta.”