About

Artist Statement

I use textile crafts to explore masculinity’s conflicting messages, and I typically use the embroidery sampler form to document how I’ve been educated to be a man in US society and to document memories. My more recent active shooter / school shooting pieces (“run, hide, fight”) are my next generation samplers: I worked in educational institutions, in which we were trained on how to respond to active shooter situations, and these pieces with the directions from the active shooter workshops document my ongoing education.

CV

Selected Solo Exhibits

2016-2017
Strategies for Survival. Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, USA.

2013
Black and Blue. Sacramento Temporary Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, CA, USA.

An Early Sampling. Alumni Hall Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA. Curators: Sharon Bliss and Mark Johnson.

2011
Thread of Masculinity, v. 2.0. Ridley Gallery, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA, USA. Curators: James Devore and Johnnie Terry.

Manmade. Evolve the Gallery, Sacramento, CA, USA. Curators: Brady and Michelle Blakeley.


Selected Interviews

2020
Majkut, K. "Interview with Artist Bren Ahearn" by Co-Curator Katrina Majkut for the Art Exhibition Armed Disposal.

2017
Crowder, D. "Bren Ahearn: Artists That Inspire." TextileArtist.org.

2016
Crowder, D. "Bren Ahearn: Spin Me a Tale." TextileArtist.org.

Diaz, J. "Interview with Artist Bren Ahearn." Anti-Heroin Chic.

2015
Jarque, F. "Puntadas de doble filo." El País Semanal. (Note: my interview text appears in the sidebar.)

2014
Hightower, M. "The Big 5-0! An Interview with Bren Ahearn, Fiber Artist." Mixed Remnants.

2011
Chalmers, J. "eMbroidery – Bren Ahearn." Mr. X Stitch.


Selected Reviews of Shows and Work (Contact me for a full list)

2017
Ea, A. "Artist Feature: Bren Ahearn." Bellevue Arts Museum Teen Arts Council blog, January 9, 2017.

2016
Upchurch, M. "Artist confronts gun violence, gender roles through embroidery." Seattle Times, July 11, 2016.

Sommerfeld, S. "The Top Things to See or Do in Seattle: June 2016." Seattle Met magazine, June 2016, p. 98.

2013
Catalani, S. "Codes of Conduct." Surface Design Journal, Summer 2013, pp. 22-27.


Selected Press (Contact me for a full list)

2018
Kost, R. "Queer art exhibition explores shaping force of 'A History of Violence.'" San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2018.

Le, A.-M. "'It's Our Way of Resisting': An unlikely South Bay museum taps into a wellspring of pain over gun violence." San Francisco Magazine, April 2018, pp. 30-31.

Blume, L.B. and Weatherston, R. "Queering the Campus Gender Landscape Through Visual Arts Praxis." In Mapping Queer Space(s) of Praxis and Pedagogy, Queer Studies and Education (McNeil, E. et al., eds.), 2018, pp. 71-103.

2017
Hochberger, C. "7 Artworks Taking a Stance on Gun Violence." Artspace, December 4, 2017.

2016
Sinner, L. "On Display: Bren Ahearn: Strategies for Survival." Surface Design Journal, Vol. 40(2), Summer 2016, p. 68.

"Datebook: Bren Ahearn's Work on Gender and Masculinity at Bellevue Arts Museum, Washington" on Blouin ArtInfo, September 5, 2016.

Musterman, B. "Bren Ahearn: Strategies for Survival." Let's Talk Art with BrookePodcast, September 1, 2016.

"Shows to See." American Craft, August/September 2016. Vol 76(4), pp. 16-17.

"The Week in Craft: July 20, 2016." American Craft Council, July 20, 2016.

Murray, R. "Bellevue Arts Museum Exhibit Explores Gender Roles, Homophobia and Violence." Eastside Scene, June 24, 2016, pp.9, 12.

"Emotionally charged, tongue-in-cheek samplers by Bren Ahearn at Belleveue Arts Museum" on ArtDaily, June 11, 2016.

Seattle Met Staff. "The Top Things to Do This Weekend: June 9-12." Seattle Met, June 9, 2016.

2015
Nath, G. "Men who picked up the needle." Deccan Herald, September 20, 2015.

2015
Design Showcase 2011: Armchair Quarterback by Doug Brown and Bren Ahearn." Apartment Therapy, September 23, 2011.


Selected Presentations/Panels (Contact me for a full list)

2024
Bren Ahearn: 1964-2024. Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA, USA.

2021
Crafty Queers, v 5.0, Desert Weavers and Spinners, Palm Springs, CA, USA.

2020
Art Speaks: Pride Virtual Panel. Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN.

Description of Pieces in Armed Disposal Show. Victori + Mo, New York, NY, USA.

2019
Artists' Talk: Our Thoughts and Prayers are with You. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA, USA.

2016
Artist Talk: Bren Ahearn. Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, USA.


Selected Group Exhibits (Contact me for a full list)

2025
Art of the State, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, USA. Jurors: Shin-hee Chin, Brenton Good, Lauren Whearty.

March for Art, inLiquid, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

High in Fiber, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA, USA. Juror: THECOLORG.

2024
New Now VII. inLiquid, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Curators: Isabella Aimone, Andreina Mijares Cisneros.

2022
Text in Art. LightSpace Gallery, USA. Curator: Rebecca Giles.

2020
Uncertain Times. La Quinta Museum, La Quinta, CA, USA. Curator: Sharla Fox. (Here is a link to a video about my work.)

PRIDE. Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Curator: Tracy Krumm. (Here is a link to the virtual show.)

Armed Disposal. Victori and Mo, New York, NY, USA. Curators: Celine Mo and Katrina Majkut. (Here is a link to the virtual show.)

The Power of Words. Coachella Valley Art Center, Indio, CA, USA. Curator: Bill Schinsky.

2019
Our Thoughts and Prayers are with You. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA, USA. Curator: Jan Wurm.

2018
A History of Violence. SOMArts, San Francisco, CA, USA. Curator: Rudy Lemcke.

Guns: Loaded Conversations. San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, USA. Curator: Amy DiPlacido.

2017
Social Fabric/Moral Fiber. Gallery West, Grant Campus of Suffolk County Community College, Brentwood, NY, USA. Curators: Leila Daw and Michaelann Tostanoski (catalog: pp. 4, 6).

2016
(De) Constructing Identity. Greenly Gallery, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA, USA. Curator: David Kube.

Beyond the Surface. San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA, USA. Curator: Deborah Corsini.

2015
Needle's Eye. Contemporary Embroidery. National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway. Curators: Anne Kjellberg (Oslo), Knut Bull (Oslo).

Needle's Eye. Contemporary Embroidery. Kode, Art Museums of Bergen, Bergen Norway. Curators: Frode Sanvik (Bergen), Anne Britt Ylvisaaker (Bergen) (catalog: pp. 48-49).

2014
Scythia 10. Local Lore Museum, Kherson, Ukraine. Curators: Ludmila Egorova and Andrew Schneider (catalog: p. 10).

2013
Fibremen 3. Local Lore Museum, Kherson, Ukraine. Curator: Ludmila Egorova (catalog: pp. 6-9).

Crocker-Kingsley. Blue Line Gallery, Roseville, CA, USA. Curator: Michael Duncan.

2012
Pop-up Museum of Queer History – Philadelphia. William Way Community Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Curators: Buzz Slutzky et al.

Behind the Mask: Women, Men & Masculinities. Loranger Art and Architecture Center, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA and LeBel Art Gallery, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada. Curators: Libby Balter Blume, Ph.D., C.F.L.E. and Allegra Pitera.

2008
Design Shibori, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France (catalog: pp. 22-23).

Immediate Future: The 2008 Murphy & Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA. Curators: Dana Hemenway and Meg Shiffler.

The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity, Globalization, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA, USA. Curator: Amy Winter, Ph.D.


Selected Awards

2014
First Place Award for Sampler #11, Politically Charged Show. Curator: Shelly Willis, Director, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.

2010
SFSU Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Achievement.

2008
Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship in the Fine Arts (Sponsor: San Francisco Foundation).


Education

2022-Present
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Philadelphia, PA, USA
Continuing education courses in printmaking

2010
San Francisco State University (SFSU), San Francisco, CA, USA
Master of Fine Arts in Textiles.

1991
Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA, USA
Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

1986
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Bachelor of Science in Economics and Bachelor of Arts in English.