Barclay Sheaks

Barclay Sheaks(1928-2010) was born in West Bend Indiana. He grew up in the Shenandoah Valley( Newmarket,Virginia )and was educated at Virginia universities including Richmond Professional Institute, The College of William and Mary(MFA), and Christopher Newport University(Doctorate of Humane Letters). Sheaks lived most of his life in the Hilton Village section of Newport News,Virginia or at his summer home on the river in Poquoson Virginia  .He was inspired by the natural environment of the Chesapeake Bay/Hampton Roads Virginia which influenced his subject matter and  his concept of space in the landscape. He was a pioneer in Acrylic Painting and wrote extensively on the medium and his techniques. His work appears in distinguished museum, university, corporate and private art collections worldwide including the Butler Institute of American Art, Columbia Museum, and the Chrysler Museum of Art.  Sheaks works were prominently featured in exhibitions sponsored by the American Watercolor Society, the National Academy of Design, the Corcoran Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution and others.  Standout exhibitions include his 2005 retrospective at the Peninsula Fine Art Center. He served as artist-in-residence for both the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Richmond Humanities Center, VA.  He was founder of the art department at Virginia Wesleyan College where he was resident artist and associate professor of art for 36 years until his retirement in 2006.