Gregory Spaid joined Kenyon's faculty in 1979 after receiving his MFA degree from Indiana University and teaching at Berea College. Spaid has recently returned to teaching full-time after serving for nine years in the academic administration, including six years as Kenyon's provost. He teaches courses in photography, color and design, and advanced studio work.

Spaid's artwork is in many significant collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the International Museum of Photography, and the J. Paul Getty Museum where he was recently included in the exhibition "Where We Live: Photographs of America from the Berman Collection." Spaid's photography books include Grace: Photographs of Rural America and On Nantucket.  

Areas of Expertise

Photography, mixed media, drawing, art education.

Education

1976 — Master of Fine Arts from Indiana Univ Bloomington

1969 — Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College

Courses Recently Taught

This course is an introduction to the principles, strategies and processes of photographic practice. It is designed to broaden the student's aesthetic explorations and to help the student develop a visual language in the media. This course includes instruction in digital camera operation such as image editing, creative camera work, color digital printing, and both natural and studio lighting concepts and composition. Through readings and discussions, students are introduced to different ways of conceptualizing photography, and students will examine a range of historical and contemporary photo work as an essential part of understanding the possibilities of image making. This is a project-structured course, with lectures, demonstrations, project assignments, regular critiques with active participation, discussions and one exam. Having a personal digital camera is recommended, although some cameras are available for student check out to complete the course. No prerequisite.

This class will extend the student's experience beyond the fundamentals of black-and-white darkroom photography, with projects in large-format photography and artificial lighting. Readings, lectures and critiques will expose students to significant issues in the history and current practice of photography. This counts toward the intermediate requirement for the major and minor. Prerequisite: ARTS 106. Offered every other year.