Summer Program Lead Artist 2010
Summer Program Lead Artist 2015
Selden Gallery 2014 “Articulate”
Offsite Gallery 2015 “Art of African American Artists” curated by Maizelle
Offsite Gallery 2019 “Make Me Wanna Holler” curated by Maizelle
Summer Program Lead Artist 2019
Since relocating to Hampton Roads in 1999, Richard Ward has been most active in the arts community. He has exhibited his award winning works in various local exhibitions and competitions at the Rawls Museum Arts, the Suffolk Museum the Peninsula Fine Arts Center and the Courthouse Gallery. He has had a number of different paintings selected to be exhibited in group shows in the cities of Daegu and Seoul, South Korea.
In addition to his studio work, Richard Ward is the Artistic Director of Arts in Action Authenticated (AAA). AAA is an artist run – artist facilitated youth development program that uses art, life experiences and 30 plus years of teaching experience to work with adolescent and young adults to encourage their development as individuals.
Our summer program developed when Public Art Manager Karen Rudd met with former Parking Director Linda Davis and asked permission to install public art in city garages. Linda was a big supporter of the arts and was thrilled about the opportunity Norfolk students would have to learn about public art. One of Karen’s most important goals was to give local artists the confidence and knowledge of how to move from traditional studio work into the public art field.
Having worked with the Norfolk Art’s summer program to complete three murals, Richard has mastered his technique of forming shapes and symbols to create relief murals molded of Styrofoam and Parex mounted on Hardibacker board. He has also established a technique of creating a superior fade resistant finish using vibrant colors.
We love to see our artists move on to complete additional public art projects. Most recently in 2020, Richard began a series of 8 murals for the North Phoebus Community Center in Hampton. The 1st set of murals installed in their gymnasium is pictured below.
