Michael O’Keefe lives in Dallas, Texas, and works as an artist in the fields of drawing, painting and sculpture. O’Keefe exhibits his work regularly in Dallas and is represented by Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden. O’Keefe is also represented by On Center Gallery in Provincetown, Ma.
O’Keefe received a Bachelor degree in Arts from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA after studying at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the International School of Art in Umbria, Italy. Following his undergraduate education O’Keefe continued his art education briefly at The New York Studio School. O’Keefe received an MFA from Southern Methodist University.
O’Keefe has taught as an adjunct professor in various college art departments including Southern Methodist University, Brookhaven College, Eastfield College and Collin College. He has also taught extensively outside of academia, for many years conducting a drawing program at the architect firm Corgan Associates, Inc., teaching at The Creative Arts Center of Dallas, participating in education programs at the Nasher Sculpture Center, and giving many lectures and demonstrations in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. In 2013, O’Keefe opened The O’Keefe Studio Center, an independent arts space in Richardson, TX dedicated to arts education and arts opportunities for local artists and art enthusiasts.
Education
2006 MFA Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX – Drawing and Sculpture
1999 BA Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA – Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Art History Minor
1999 New York Studio School, New York, NY – Post-graduate studies, Drawing and Sculpture
1998 (Summer) International School of Art, Italy – Undergraduate studies, Drawing, Sculpture, Art History
1997 Maryland Institute College of Art – Undergraduate studies – Drawing, Sculpture, Painting
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Excavations of Form / Archaeology of Feelings, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Dallas, TX
2019 Recognitions, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Dallas, TX
2018 Enduring in the Posture of Love, The Museum of Biblical Art, Contemporary Gallery, Dallas, TX (catalogue)
2018 Michael O’Keefe, Recent Work, Art Space 3700, 3700 McKinney Ave., Dallas, TX
2017 To Every Thing There Is A Season, Forrest and Virginia Green Mezzanine-Gallery, Charles W. Eisemann Center, Richardson, TX
2016 Michael O’Keefe: In Medias Res; Sculpture, Drawing, Painting, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Dallas, TX (catalogue)
2014 Michael O’Keefe: Sculpture and Drawings, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Dallas, TX
2012 Continuum, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
2010 Lady Classical, Mother Metamorphosis, and Other Holy Fables, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
2010 Michael O’Keefe, Faculty Project 24, Forum Gallery, Brookhaven College, Farmers Branch, TX
2008 Value and Myth: Recent Drawing and Sculpture, Noorwoodflynn Gallery, Dallas, TX
2006 Pulsing Impossibilities, Norwoodflynn Gallery, Dallas, TX
2005 Abraham, The Hawn Gallery, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Exhibitions
2022 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2021 From the Earth, On Center Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2021 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2020 On Being Human, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Dallas, TX
2019 White Rock Studio Tour, Dallas, TX
2018 Art Forms In Nature, The Gallery at North Haven Gardens, Dallas, TX
2018 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2017 The Spirit Of Abstraction, The Museum of Biblical Art, Dallas, TX
2017 Trees, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
2017 University of Dallas Regional Juried Ceramic Competition, U. of Dallas, Irving, TX
2017 Solitude, Still Point Art Gallery, Juried online exhibition
2017 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2016 8×8, MBA, Dallas, TX
2015 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2015 8×8, BMA, Dallas, TX
2014 The MAC at 20, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2014 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2014 Marking a Course, curated by Tracee W. Robertson, UNT Art Gallery, Denton, TX
2014 MAC Membership Exhibition, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2013 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2013 MAC Membership Exhibition, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2012 BCSA Art Faculty Exhibition, Forum Gallery, Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX
2012 Respect: Artists Invite Artists, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
2012 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2011 Elemental: color/line/texture, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
2011 Hecho En Dallas, The Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
2011 Dallas Art Fair, Fashion Industry Gallery, Dallas, TX
2009 The Plan is The Body, curated by Michael Garguilo, Big Chimney, Chicopee, Mass.
2009 Meadows Art Now: SMU Art Faculty Exhibition, The McKinney Ave. Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2008 DCCCD Faculty Exhibition, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX
2008 Academia Pushing the Boundary, The MAC, Dallas, TX
2007 Interventions and Contraventions: Michael O’Keefe and Nicholas Cairns, Norwoodflynn Gallery, Dallas
2006 Ray Larrow & Michael O’Keefe, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, New Works Space, Dallas, TX 2006
2006 The Shew, Mockingbird Station, Dallas TX
2006 Masters of Fine Arts Qualifying Exhibit, Pollock Gallery, SM
2005 Figure I, Norwoodflynn Gallery, Dallas, TX
2004 Nicholas Cairns and Michael O’Keefe: Painting, Sculpture and Drawing, Cantor Fitzgerld Gallery, Haverford, PA
2003 Emerging Brooklyn Artists, Gallery 718, Brooklyn, NY
2001-3 Gowanus Artists Association, Studio Exhibitions, Brooklyn, NY
Professional Activities
2020 Completed a monumental portrait sculpture of Van Cliburn, Installed at The Van Cliburn Concert Hall on the campus of TCU, Fort Worth, TX
2019 Curator, Deep Leap, Kettle Art Gallery, Dallas, TX
2018 Guest Lecturer, The Plano Art Association, Plano, TX
2018 Guest Lecturer, Art Club of Dallas, Dallas, TX
2018 Curator, Convergence, Group show at Art Space 1900 Lamar, Dallas, TX
2018 Guest Lecturer, The Dallas Philosophers Forum, Dallas, TX
2018 Evening Lecture Series at The O’Keefe Studio Center, Lectures: “Visual Vocabulary; Space, Form, Tone, Line, Texture, Color”
2017 Juror for the Canstruction Dallas, 2017, North Park Center, Dallas, TX
2017 Juror for the twelfth annual “125 Show”, Plano Arts Association
2017 Juror, Richardson Civic Art Society Annual Show, Richardson, TX
2016 Visiting Artist, University of Dallas, Art Department, Irving, TX
2016 Juror for the Canstruction Dallas, 2016, Fair Park, Dallas, TX
2016 Juror for the Plano Arts Association Portrait Exhibition, Courtyard Theatre Gallery, Plano, TX
2007 – 2016 Working Artist, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX
• Demonstrate personal sculpture techniques and methodologies as part of the ‘Target First Satuday’ Programming
2015 3rd Annual Pecha Kucha at The Nasher Sculpture Center, presenter, Dallas, TX
2015 Materials and Process Teaching Guide: Mold Making with Michael O’Keefe, Video produced by the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX
2015 Visiting Artist, lecture on professional development for graduate seminar, Irving, TX
2015 Evening Lecture Series at The O’Keefe Studio Center, Lectures: “Caricature: The Psychology of Deviation in Figurative Art”
2014 Careers in the Arts: Michael O’Keefe, Video produced by the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX
2014 Guest Lecturer, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2007-2014 Working Artist, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX, Demonstrate personal sculpture techniques and methodologies as part of the ‘Target First Satuday’ Programming
2014 From an Artists Point of View: reflections on the Minds Eye exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, gallery talk, DMA, Dallas, TX
2014 An Artists Reflections on Drawing: Looking at The Spanish Gesture, Gallery Talk at The Meadows Museum of Art at SMU, Dallas, TX
2014 Sculpture Demonstration, Visual Arts League of Lewisville, MCL Grand Theatre, Lewisville, TX
2013 Evening Lecture Series at The O’Keefe Studio Center, Lectures: “The Drawings of Edward Hopper”, “Modern Masters From The Art Institute Of Chicago”, “Rodin, Michelangelo and Phidias; reflections on the tradition of western sculpture”,“The Psychology of Representation; The Necessity and Limitations of Schema”, “Van Gogh -“Drawing is the root of everything.””, “Body Beautiful”
2013 Drawing Demonstration, Richardson Civic Arts Society, Richardson, TX
2012 Sculpture Demonstration, Plano Arts Association, Plano TX
2012 Juror for the Annual Texas Sculpture Association Exhibit
2011 Juror for the sixth annual “125 Show”, Plano Arts Association
2009-2011 Drawing Workshop, Nasher Sculpture Center Summer Teen Institute
2009 Member of the selection jury for the K. Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition, American Inst. of Architects
2009 Visiting Artist, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
2009 Member of the selection jury for the Young Masters Exhibit, Dallas Museum of Art
2006 A Look at Giacometti, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX, 8-session demonstration of the techniques and artistic philosophies of Alberto Giacometti, in conjunction with the exhibit Alberto Giacometti, The Women of Giacometti
2003-4 Visiting Artist, Haverford College, Haverford, PA
2004 Visiting Artist, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
Teaching
2013-Pres. Instructor, The O’Keefe Studio Center, Richardson, TX
2011-2013. Associate Professor of Drawing, Collin College, Plano, TX
2008-2013. Adjunct Professor, Drawing and Sculpture, Brookhaven College, Farmers Branch, TX
2007-2013. Adjunct Professor, Drawing, Eastfield College, Mesquite, TX
2007-2009. Adjunct Professor, Drawing and Sculpture, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
2007-Pres. Instructor of Drawing, Corgan Associates, Dallas, TX
2008-2013. Drawing Instructor/Lecturer, The Bonny Studio, Richardson, TX
2007 Instructor of Drawing, Creative Arts Center of Dallas, Dallas, TX
2005-7 Instructor of Art, Southern Methodist University, School of Continuing Education, Dallas, TX
2004-6 Graduate Assistant, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
2002-4 Instructor of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, Hospital Audiences, Inc., New York, NY
2000-2 Departmental Assistant, Haverford College, Haverford, PA