Rate My Professor Timothy Fisher

Timothy Fisher serves as Associate Professor and Drawing Coordinator in the Department of Visual & Media Arts at Grand Valley State University, a position he has held since joining the faculty in 1998. He earned his M.F.A. in Studio Drawing from the University of Cincinnati in 1996, M.A. in Studio Drawing and Painting from Central Washington University in 1994, and B.A. in Studio Drawing and Painting from Central Washington University in 1988. Before arriving at GVSU, Fisher taught as an Adjunct Instructor at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids from 1996 to 1998, and served as a Teaching Assistant for figure drawing and basic drawing courses at the University of Cincinnati from 1994 to 1996 and at Central Washington University from 1992 to 1994.

Fisher's research specializations lie in studio drawing and painting, where he creates oil paintings that explore iconography, archetypes, and narratives through dreamlike, surreal imagery such as tornados of fruit, milky floating grounds, flora, fauna, and human figures. These works juxtapose familiar, warm appearances with strange, sublime, and mystical elements drawn from European cultural traditions of symbols and desires, fostering reflective questioning and dialogue between subconscious mystery and conscious possibility. At GVSU, he coordinates the Drawing Program and teaches courses including Foundations: Introduction to Drawing I and II, Intermediate Drawing, Introduction to Painting, Life Drawing, Intermediate Painting II, and Advanced Drawing, in addition to co-leading the Art in London study abroad program. Fisher has earned major awards such as Best of Show at the Michigan Fine Arts Competition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center (2010); Grand Prize at the West Michigan Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts (2005); Best of Show at the National Spring Open Juried Exhibition, Wayne Art Center (2003); Best of Show at the 22nd Annual Michigan Artist Competition, The Art Center of Battle Creek (2002); and multiple Best of Show and placement awards in West Michigan Art Competitions and Great Lakes Regional Art Exhibitions between 1997 and 2010. Key exhibitions include solo shows at the Performing Arts Center Gallery, GVSU (2011), Springfield Art Museum (2006), Indianapolis Art Center (2004), and Midland Center for the Arts (2000), as well as participation in ArtPrize (2009), faculty exhibitions at GVSU, and national juried shows. His paintings are represented in public and private collections across the United States.