Jimmy Sellars

Selected Group Exhibitions
1977 • Crown Center Gallery Kansas City, MO USA
1985 • National Drawing Competition Denver, CO USA
1988 • Crash Phoenix, AZ USA
1989 • A. Jacoby Paradise Valley, AZ USA
1991 • Garage Exhibition Space Denver, CO USA
1991 • Core New Art Space Denver, CO USA
1991 • Phillip J. Steele Gallery Denver, CO USA
1992 • Studio 211 Denver, CO USA
1993 • Modern Art Exchange Houston, TX USA
1993 • Chaos Art Foundation Denver, CO USA
1994 • Center for Creative Exploration Denver, CO USA
1994 • 1/1 Gallery, Student Exhibition, Denver, CO USA
1994 • Higher Ground Denver, CO USA
1994 • Phillip J. Steele Gallery, Denver, CO USA
1994 • Women of the Arts Denver, CO USA
1994 • Foundry Arts, Denver, CO USA
1994 • Studio 211 Denver, CO USA
1995 • Oakhurst Denver, CO USA
1995 • The Urban Modern Chicago, IL USA
1995 • Phillip J. Steele Gallery Denver, CO USA
1995 • Core New Art Space Denver, CO USA
1995 • Foundry Arts, Denver, CO USA
1996 • The Foundry Arts. Denver, CO USA
1996 • Colorado AIDS Project, Art Auction, Denver, CO USA
1996 • ZIP 802 (Juror: Donald Kuspit) Denver, CO USA
2001 • IDAA Traveling Exhibition, Australia
2002 • IDAA Traveling Exhibition,
2003 • IDAA Traveling Exhibition
2003 • Pirate, Denver, CO USA
2003 • Colorado Art Expo, Denver, CO USA
2003 • Arvada Center, Art Market, Arvada, CO USA
2004 • Artyard Contemporary Sculpture, Denver, CO USA
2004 • IDAA Traveling Exhibition
2004 • Arapahoe College Gallery, Art and Mathematics, Lakewood, CO USA
2004 • Arvada Center, Art Market, Arvada, CO USA
2004 • Pirate, 25th Anniversary Show, Denver, CO USA
2005 • IDAA Traveling Exhibition
2005 • 44T Artspace, Denver, CO USA
2005 • Arvada Center, Art Market, Arvada, CO USA
2005 • Pirate, Denver, CO USA
2006 • Arvada Center, Art Market, Arvada, CO USA
2006 • Weilworks, Denver, CO USA
2007 • Mizel Museum, Singer Gallery, Denver, CO USA
2005 • Th Gallery, the Hague, the Netherlands

Solo Exhibitions
1990 • X Gallery Phoenix, AZ USA
1993 • Chaos Art Foundation Denver, CO USA
1994 • Studio 211 Denver, CO USA
1995 • Studio 211 Denver, CO USA
1995 • Higher Ground Denver, CO USA
1996 • Studio 211 Denver, CO USA
1996 • RMCAD Denver, CO USA
1997 • South Broadway Denver, CO USA
2004 • Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM USA
2004 • Weil Works, Denver, CO USA
2004 • Pirate, Denver, CO USA
2004 • Pirate, Denver, CO USA
2005 • ArtUnit, Haarlem, The Netherlands
2006 • Altena and Associates, Haarlem, The Netherlands
2006 • Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado USA
2006 • Pirate, Denver, CO USA
2006 • WeilWorks, Denver, CO USA
2007 • The Arvada Center, Main Gallery, Arvada, CO USA
2007 • Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado USA
2008• ArtUnit, Haarlem, The Netherlands

Selected Prizes and Awards
2007 • 2007 Mastermind in the Visual Arts Award, Denver, CO USA
2005 • Best Political Show, Westword, Denver, CO USA
1997 • South Broadway Best of Show USA
1996 • ZIP 802 (Juror: Donald Kuspit) Denver, CO USA
1995 • Phillip J. Steele Gallery ( Judge: M. Paglia) 1st Place Sculpture USA
1995 • Phillip J. Steele Gallery (Juror: M. Paglia) 2nd Place Sculpture USA
1995 • Phillip J. Steele Gallery (Juror: M. Paglia) 1st Place Drawing USA
1993 • Core New Art Space Best of Show, WOW USA

Teaching, Lectures, and Coordinating
1990 • Phoenix Installation: Teacher, Phoenix, AZ USA
1991 • AIOP: Teacher, Phoenix, AZ USA
1992-96 • The Foundry Arts: Coordinator, Teacher, Lecturer, Denver, CO USA
1993 • Learning Etc.: Teacher, Denver, CO USA
1994 ª Women of the Arts: Lecturer and Coordinator, Denver, CO USA
1994-96 • Center for Creative Exploration: Teacher, Denver, CO USA
1997 • Gove Community School: Teacher, Denver, CO USA
2000 - 05 IDAA, AOR: Juror, Sydney, Australia
2005 Chalkboard Master Class, 44T Artspace: Teacher, Denver, CO USA

Professional Affiliations
1991-01 • Studio 211: Director Denver, CO USA
1995-97 • LDAD: Denver, CO USA
1992-97 • The Foundry Arts International: Chairman Denver, CO USA
1991-92 • Chaos Art Foundation: Chairman Denver, CO USA
1999-2005 • IDAA: Sydney, Australia
2004-Present • DADA, Treasurer, Denver, CO USA
2004-Present • Photonet, Haarlem, The Netherlands

References available. List includes collectors in 19 countries. The names have been excluded for privacy without client's permission.

Jimmy Sellars has one of those rare brains with a bridge between the right and left lobes. He's a talented artist in his own right, but he's also a gallerist who aids other artists with their businesses. "I really just want to be a part of this community and help where I can," Sellars says.

That's quite the understatement.

Sellars has been a fixture in the Denver art scene since he moved here in 1990, but his artistic roots go much deeper. He grew up in Kansas City, the son of two artists, and was in his first show at the age of eight. "It was just a pencil drawing, and it was so great because they didn't know the age of the people who submitted stuff," remembers Sellars. "We showed up, and they're talking to us like, 'Don't you just love art?,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, that's my piece.'"

His family moved to Estes Park in 1982, and a decade later, Sellars came off the mountain and got involved with several Denver arts organizations; he also founded an international arts group. At the same time, he continued creating his own art and had his first local solo show in 1992, the same year he opened Studio 211. He had that gallery for about nine years, until the ballpark-area prices forced him out. After that, he was on Broadway for a nanosecond -- but by then he'd already found another constituency online. "I was new to the Internet, and it was very different back then," Sellars says. "I kept running into people here and there, and it was amazing how many artists were online in the beginning. I started this international group, and we had a couple of shows, several in the U.S and Mexico, and another traveling exhibit that was in Europe."

He was also experimenting with what would become his signature work: photographs of G.I. Joe dolls. His first show featuring the action hero was at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, and several hundred people turned out. "But then they all left for one of the movies that were playing," Sellars says, laughing.

That good humor has carried him over the hurdles of starting his own business, closing it and now restarting it as sellarsprojectspace, located behind the Oriental Theater. He's also formally assisting fellow creative types with their marketing and websites, even scouting potential galleries for them. And while he's working to create a Tennyson Street Arts District, he's also keeping an eye on the scene as a whole. "What I've seen, and I've always proclaimed this, is that we've always had an incredible arts scene," he says. "Being in one of the states with the lowest funding for the arts, it's amazing how much the artists have chipped in to make it as vibrant as it has been. People around the world have started to notice what is happening here, to invest more into what we do. This is really such an incredible community. I always feel fortunate to be a part of it."

And the community's fortunate to have him.

-Westword writer Amy Haimerl