Vita

Bio.

Joel was raised in sunny California and has felt the pull of creativity, especially in the arts, since his childhood. He holds an MFA from The Academy of Art University and has taught painting at Walla Walla University since 2013. Much of his work celebrates individuals from the past. Brian T. Allen of the National Review called his work “Big, bold, and brazen with color.” His use of intense color and his splashy application of paint is what tends to draw the eye but a closer inspection reveals a careful value pattern and sound drawing technique. He likes to think of his work as a reexamination of subjects who may have been forgotten or overlooked by history but who he feels warrant additional consideration.

Permanent Collections.

Joels work can be found in these permanent collections: the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Blues Hall of Fame, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, the National Museum of African American Music, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the National Museum of the United States Air Force, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and the Delta Blues Museum.

Exhibitions.

Willie Mays Pop-up, San Francisco. 2024 The Black Market “Sianna”, Los Angeles. 2024 The Blues Foundation “Chroma in Blues,” Memphis. 2023 Clyde and Mary Harris Gallery “Gold Series,” College Place. 2018