Heather Protz

Photographer Heather Protz (BFA ‘89, MFA ‘91) is a Professor of Photography at the College of Southern Nevada. Joining the department in January 2004, she has led the digital revolution in the Commercial Photography Program teaching Digital Darkroom, Digital Photography, Advanced Digital Darkroom, Vision Quest and Big Digital. In addition to teaching, she co-directors The Image Gallery, which specializes in the visual experience of still photography, moving images and experimental imagery.

Heather comes from Ohio. Her photographic background began with silver gelatin printing. From there Xerox and Polaroid became a passion on the way to the digital frontiers of today. She believes in the strong tradition of technique. Yet great photographs speak — they speak to the viewer, and this is what drives her to create work.

“Everyday I explore the world, my world, looking for or making an image. This exploration drives me. I’m always exploring, shooting, creating something. My interests define my work: television, popular culture, modernism, architecture — these are places I start when defining my photographic explorations.”

Heather received a Nevada Arts Council Fellowship for 2009 and a Ohio Arts Council individual artist grant in 2001. Heather has exhibited across the country in numerous group and one person shows.

Artist Statement:

Vegas: an embrace of the new, with a nostalgia for the old. This series has become a generational document of nostalgia – graphic, colorful, and bold.

Exhibitions

2010 Inspired, Fawick Gallery, Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio
2010 The Foundry Art Centre , Group 4 Award Photography 2, St Charles, Missouri
2010 LONNIE, 2-person exhibition (AMP-Alterwitz-Mizrahi and Protz) Sahara West Library, Las Vegas, Nevada
2010 PHENOMENAL PHOTOGRAPHY, Brett Wesley Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada

2009 Springs Preserve, ORIGINS Big Springs Gallery, AMP, Las Vegas, Nevada
2009 Marji Gallery, Inspired, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2009 Brett Wesley Gallery, NeonPin, Las Vegas, Nevada
2009 eXhibition Series (OXS), The Nevada Arts Council, Carson City, Nevada
2009 PIEA International Photo Contest, International Traveling Show, 3rd Place Faculty Portfolio
2009 Union Street Gallery, Assume Nothin, Chicago Height, Illinois
2009 Focus on Projects, Gary Reese, Suzanne Reese, Todd Miller, Komkrit, Heather Protz
2009 Rainbow Library and West Charlston Library, Las Vegas, Nevada
2009 Self Portrait: Silver Eye at 30, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2009 “Artwalk” Canyon Ranch Spa, Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
2009 50 State Photography Project, http://www.50statesproject.net/

2008 Marji Gallery, Unexpected Sequence, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2008 Space 237, AMP, Toledo, Ohio
2008 Peninsula Art Academy, AMP: Shared Images, Peninsula, Ohio
2008 Millworks Gallery, The Las Vegas Show, Akron, Ohio
2008 Left of Center Gallery, Shared Ideas/Stolen Places , AMP, Las Vegas, Nevada
2008 “Artwalk” Canyon Ranch Spa, Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
2008 fotofoto gallery, 4th Annual juried Competition, Huntington, New York
2008 Photo Review, 2007 COMPETITION ENTRIES: Places Exhibition, Online

2007 GRANT Ohio Arts Council, Individual Artist Fellowship Recipient
2007 Unexpected Sequence, James Hoyle Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007 Unexpected Sequence, Quiet Places Gallery, Henderson Nevada
2007 fotofoto gallery, 3rd Annual juried Competition, Huntington, New York
2007 Creative Images Fine Art Photography Exhibition, Indianapolis, Indiana
2007 Silver Eye Center For Photography, The Looking Glass, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2007 Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Annual Juried Show, Wilmington Delaware
2007 Foundry’s Photography: 2nd Annual, Foundry Art Center, Group 4 Award St. Charles, Missouri
2007 MOS Show, Texas Photographic Society, San Antonio, Texas
2007 Best Shot, Benham Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2007 Ohio University: 1990 Until Now, NCECA, Louisville, Kentucky
2006 DreamBox Foto Gallery, Foto Annual II Competition, Chicago, Illinois
2006 Great Nevada Picture Hunt, Nevada Magazine, Honorable Mention,
2006 Colors of Life 2006 International Photo Competitiion, The Gallery of Art and Design, Richmond, Virginia
2006 Las Vegas Art Roundup, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
2006 Great Nevada Picture Hunt, Nevada Magazine, Honorable Mention,
2006 Faculty Exhibit, The Image Gallery, The Community College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada
2006 Las Vegas and Beyond, Millworks Gallery Inc. Akron, Ohio
2005 Fast Forward or Flash Back, L.E. Meek Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2005 Fast Forward or Flash Back, Crandall Art Gallery, Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio
2005 Las Vegas Art Roundup, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
2005 ARTech: Man and Machine, Capitol Arts Network, Gaithersburg, Maryland
2005 Man and Beast, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
2005 5th National Juried Photography Exhibition, Honorable Mention, Stepping Stone Gallery, Huntington, NY
2005 Faculty Exhibit, The Image Gallery, Community College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada
2005 Summer in the Valley, Peninsula Gallery, Peninsula, Ohio
2004 New Faculty Exhibit, The Community College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada
2003 Seconds from Yesterday, Baldwin Wallace College, Berea, Ohio
2003 Beyond Pop, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, Maryland
2003 The Second Cleveland Biennial Juried Exhibition, Art Gallery, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio Won Best Still Photograph in Show
2003 Target: Audience, New Sense Enterprises, Home/Gallery, Lakewood, Ohio
2003 Washington Gallery of Photography, National Juried Show, Bethesda, Maryland
2003 Photo Review Competition, The Photo Review, Langhorne, Pennsylvania
2003 Recent Work, Kent State University, Stark Branch, Ohio
2003 Academic Alliance, Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania
2003 Faculty Exhibit YSU, Butler Institute of American Art, Trumbal, Ohio
2003 Seconds from Yesterday, Fine Art Services, Peninsula, Ohio, Youngstown, Ohio
2002 While Dogs Dream, SRO Photo Gallery, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
2002 Small Works Exhibit, Arts United for Davidson County, Lexington, North Carolina
2002 Three Rivers Art Show, Juried Exhibition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2002 Square City, Environmental Design Group Galleries, Akron, Ohio
2001 While Dogs Dream, Southern Light Gallery, Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas
2001 Faculty Exhibition, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio.
2001 Three Rivers Art Show, Juried Exhibition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2001 Winter Exhibition, DogStar, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University, Ohio
2001 Let’s See it Again & Again: An exhibition of Reproducible Media, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2000 While Dogs Dream, Gallery 1101, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
2000 Faculty Exhibition, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University
2000 Maryland Federation of Art Photo Exhibition, Annapolis, Maryland
2000 Humor in Art, Gallery West, Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio
2000 7 Years of Square, University Center Concourse Gallery, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
2000 The 2000 SOHO Photo National Competition, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, New York
1999 Ohio & Lake Erie West, Juried International Touring Art Exhibition, Sea Gate Art Gallery, Toledo, Ohio – Csongrad, Hungary – Szeged, Hungary – Lviv, Ukraine
1999 More From the Series of Trite, Weathervane Playhouse, Akron, Ohio
1997 Alternatives, Millworks Gallery, Akron, Ohio
1997 5th Anniversary Show, E.I.O. Gallery, Akron, Ohio
1997 Northside, Then & Now, Northside, Akron, Ohio
1997 Spring Art Walk, MODO Gallery, Peninsula, Ohio
1997 Marking Territory, Millworks Gallery, Akron, Ohio
1996 Urban Instinct, The Bank Gallery, Peninsula, Ohio
1996 Vision of Venus, Art at the Powerhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
1995 Five and Dime, In Collaboration, Akron, Ohio – Santa Monica, California
1995 Rooms, Millworks Gallery, Akron, Ohio
1995 WHY From the Series of Trite, E.I.O. Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
1995 On a Whim, The Bank Gallery, Peninsula, Ohio
1995 Home is Where the Art Is, The Smart House, Millworks Gallery, Bath, Ohio
1995 Members Show, E.I.O. Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
1994 Millworks, Thing Two, Akron City Center, Akron, Ohio
1994 Alumni Show, University of Akron, Emily Davis Gallery, Akron, Ohio
1994 E.I.O. Group Show 1994, Cleveland, Ohio
1994 Form in Two and Three Dimensions, Gallery West, Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio
1994 Womens Perspective on the Environment, Williams Atrium, Guzetta Hall, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
1993 NEW 1992-1993 WORKS, Colonial Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio
1993 Mixed Media Video Installation, “COURAGE?”, E.I.O. Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
1993 Faculty Exhibition, Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
1993 Autumn in the Valley, Among Friends Gallery, Peninsula, Ohio
1992 Books Plus, Invitational Exhibition, Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky
1992 The Peoples Art Show, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
1992 E.I.O. Gallery, Exhibition IV, Cleveland, Ohio
1991 50th Anniversary National Juried Exhibition, Lake Worth, Florida
1991 Confessions of Observations, Sigfried Gallery, Athens, Ohio
1991 Group See Exhibition, Kent/Stark Gallery, Canton, Ohio

COMMISSIONS
1995-1999 -Millworks Corporate Art Program, Works Hanging in the Facilities of; Summit AIDS Housing Corp., Advanced Elastomers Systems LP., Tell Companies LTD., Northside, Akron Canton Regional Airport
1993 -Group See, Commissioned Ceramic Tile Piece, 7’8”x24’, Akron Childrens Hospital