"Breaking Light"
The Creative Life of
Tom Creelan
April 2 - June 11, 2004

Thomas V. Creelan was born on November 6, 1950 in Akron, Ohio. He attended elementary school and high school there, graduating with a major in Language and History in 1968.

He then attended Ohio State College majoring in painting, drawing, and graphics. He graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. His post-graduate studies were also done at Ohio State University and in 1974 he received a Master of Fine Arts Degree with a major in Expanded Arts and a minor in Philosophy.

In September of 1974 through July of 1976, he received private instruction with C.Y. Woo in Chinese brush painting.

Special achievements during his education included National Honor Society and writing as a columnist for the school newspaper while in high school.

In college, he was Editor for a campus publication, Student Representative to the Faculty, and President of the Graduate Art Student Body. He was also a recipient of an Ohio Instructional Grant Scholarship.

From July of 1974 through 1976, he was an Audio-Visual Technician at Riverside Methodist Hospital.

In 1976, he and his wife, Pamela, moved to Monmouth, Oregon purchasing a farm just outside of the city. In Monmouth, he became an instructor at Oregon College of Education and remained at that job until 1978.

From that point on, he became an Instructor at Chemeketa Community College and maintained that position until just before his death.

Tom, along with his career as a dedicated Instructor, was also a committed studio artist. He has shown his work throughout the Willamette Valley in both group and one-man shows. He was also an accomplished musician and played flute with a group called, “Heather Breeze.”

Special thanks to the contributers of the art work who made this exhibit possible: Eileen Cotter Howell, Webster Black, Dale Cannon, George Fitzgerald, Jane Garland, Jane Kunde , ChemeketaCommunity College, Kristin Kuhn, Webster Black.

More information about Tom Creelan is available in the curator statements.

Mildred’s Window prismacolor, 1991	Stained Glass pre-1984	Spring Field I prismacolor, 1994
Boys prismacolor, 1986	Shadowed Earth prismacolor, 2002	Mildred’s Shellbox graphite, 1985 From the collection of Jane Garland
Open Crate prismacolor, 1985 From the collection of DaleCannon	Book of Life prismacolor, 2000 From the Collection of Eileen Cotter Howell	Moth in Flight graphite, prismacolor,1985 From the collection of Kristin Kuhns
Setting Light prismacolor, 1993 From the collection of Webster Black	Awakening prismacolor, conte crayon From the collection of Chemeketa Community College	Communion prismacolor, 1999
Morning Light (Cylamens) prismacolor, 1996 From the collection of Jane Kundel	Flood Light graphite 1985	Breaking Light prismacolor, 2002
Sunstar prismacolor, 1987	Anthurium prismacolor,1990	The Clearing prismacolor, 1998 From the collection of George Fitzgerald
Stargazer prismacolor, 1995	Sixteenth Summer prismacolor, 1996	Crate in the Sun graphite, prismacolor 1985