A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (BFA- Graphic Design) and the University of Georgia (MFA – Drawing & Painting), Troy Wingard has dedicated much of his career to teaching within the visual arts and creating his pastel and sculptural works. During his recent three year tenure as university instructor, he served as the Foundations and Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Visual Arts at Southeastern Louisiana University. Wingard has been a visiting artist and guest lecturer at a variety of institutions, both nationally and internationally, where he has conducted lectures and panel discussions, graduate studio critiques, and materials workshops.

For two years Wingard taught as an adjunct professor within the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia. A highlight in Wingard’s academic career was to be selected as one of the 2005 Top Twelve Professors by the UGA Student Government Association. Wingard was one of only twelve educators who were chosen out of over eighty nominations for this award from all UGA academic departments.

Wingard was also the Associate Director of the University of Georgia’s Latin America Studies Abroad Program where he has managed and taught drawing and painting in UGA study abroad art programs for Cuba, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. During his four year tenure with this program he has instructed over one hundred students abroad and coordinated eleven international service learning projects. In August of 2006 Wingard was presented with the Outstanding Leadership in Study Abroad Art Education Award for exceptional teaching and directorial service for the University of Georgia.

Wingard’s pastel paintings and drawings have appeared in numerous university solo exhibitions throughout the United States, most recently at Grambling State University and the University of South Carolina – Aiken. Internationally Wingard’s drawings have also been exhibited in Havana, Cuba; Budapest, Hungary; and Camagüey, Cuba. His work addresses questions centering on identity, culture and individualism within a modern context. Wingard’s pastels have also been showcased in a number of periodicals such as the 2001 and the 2003 southern region editions of the New American Paintings. In December 2010, Wingard will be a featured artist in the nationally syndicated magazine, The Pastel Journal.

Wingard has always been interested in the spiritual aspects of art and its depiction within the context of the modern individual. In his imagery he renders realistic and symbolic compositions of people, usually artists, who are each captured in subtle and quite moments of internal reflection. He began a new series in 2008 called “Glory Series”. Within this series Wingard explores the ideas, identity, culture and individualism within the context of each artist he depicts. Wingard is inspired and engrossed by each person and their incredible potential to create within their own lives, so he chooses to symbolize their portraits with imagery, objects and materials that emphasize an idea of “preciousness”. He uses chalk, paper and gold leaf to carefully construct a likeness of the subject, reinforcing the uniqueness of each individual – strong and optimistic.

Another direction in Wingard’s work is called “The Knick Knack Series”. In this series he adds sculptural elements to his pastel works by placing his pastel drawings into giant wooden shelves; painted black and modeled after Victorian and antique knick-knack shelves. Throughout much of history it was a common practice for families and individuals to have some form of altar or devotional space within their residence. Wingard considers the modern counterpart to this as the common knick-knack shelf; holding a varied selection of items; both precious and nostalgic. The shelves and the items are represented as striking symbols of experience and identity of the owner. Within some drawings gold-leaf is layered directly onto the paper and sometimes onto the wooden shelves to create what resembles a gilded altarpiece, creating a form of beatification with each of the individuals he focuses on.