David Holmes

BORN:1945, Newark, NY

DIED: 2014, Racine, WI

David Holmes was born and raised in Newark, New York. He attended the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, graduating Cum Laude. For the next few years, he taught children with cognitive disabilities at an institution in upstate New York. Then, he moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin – Madison for his M.F.A. He soon received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant to work as an artist in residence for Madison Public Schools during the 70s. In 1974, Holmes began working as an assistant professor of painting, drawing, and design at UW Parkside in Kenosha. By 1977, he became a full professor and by 1978 he stood as the Art Department Chair, a position he held until 1980 and then again from 88 to 90 and 98 to 2006.

Speaking on the development of his artwork, Holmes said, “I was trained as a painter but moved into sculptural forms to expand my creative possibilities. I have always felt the concept comes first and then you seek the media to articulate that idea. Therefore, I am a painter-