Diane Kidd Gallery
Mission
The mission of The Diane Kidd Gallery at Tiffin University is to educate, enrich lives, and enlarge the world of students, staff and the larger community by providing a dedicated venue in which to present quality arts exhibitions and programs by talented professional, amateur and student artists.
Hours
The Diane Kidd Gallery is open to the public during the academic year Monday, Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Fridays by appointment only by appointment by contacting Joseph Van Kerkhove at Tiffin University at vankerkhovejm@tiffin.edu. The Gallery is closed during Tiffin University academic vacations.
Group tours of the gallery’s shows are also available. The Diane Kidd Gallery is located in the Hayes Center for the Arts. For a campus map, click here.
Exhibitions
2025-2026 Schedule
Sheilah Grogan
Artist Biographical Statement
Sheilah Grogan is a dedicated artist and educator whose work reflects a lifelong commitment to both creating and teaching. She earned her Bachelor of Education degree from The University of Toledo, where she was honored twice with the Walbridge-Sinclair Award for Art. She later completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Bowling Green State University, followed by postgraduate studies at Kent State University, where she studied under renowned studio critics Wayne Thiebaud and Philip Pearlstein. Thiebaud, who became a friend and lasting influence, continues to inspire her work.
Sheilah holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Cincinnati and has expanded her artistic studies internationally, including painting at Glencolmecille in Donegal, Ireland. Her work was exhibited at The Crown Gallery in Dublin, and she was featured in the first annual Women’s National Exhibition in the United States, hosted by the University of Northern Illinois. She is also included in Women Artists in America, published by the University of Tennessee Press.
As both a practitioner and advocate for the arts, Sheilah has lectured at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and the University of Indiana. She has contributed to arts education in numerous roles: as a Visiting Artist for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo’s Young Artists at Work program, as Curriculum Developer and Director of Art Education at the Children’s Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and as an instructor at the Toledo Museum of Art.
Throughout her career, Sheilah has been a transformative presence in the classroom, teaching at both Central Catholic High School and Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio. Her work continues to reflect her passion for nurturing creativity and making meaningful contributions to the visual arts.
Artist Statement
Loving Nature, I use it as a backdrop for my internal state of playfulness to unfold in my work. My paintings are not from Nature, but rather my internal response to it. I see a placid landscape and it triggers my imagination so that it becomes a setting for a quietly improbable scene with birds, fish, and animals behaving much differently than one expects. These are my dreamlike perceptions layered on earth, sea, and sky. Behind these quixotic and implausible narratives are oblique statements about power, freedom, and fantasy. In that sense, my paintings and drawing are a genteel rebuke against the “seen” world.
I am always conscious of flow in my work. I sometimes use bombastic color to develop this effluence. Negative spaces are critical. I love to create movement within the objects as well. I often create seemingly random patterns to help create this visual current.
I frequently work in a series, with each new painting or drawing driving the theme a little further. Ideas always seem open to me. Even after a painting is completed, I never completely finish turning the idea of it over and over in my head. During this process, I continually ask myself, “Is there a better way to express this?” Sometimes it has taken years to successfully achieve resolution.
Procedures
The Diane Kidd Art Gallery operates under the direction of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tiffin University. Decisions regarding exhibitions are made by the Art Gallery Committee, and exhibitions are planned at least one year to two years in advance. Daily gallery operations are managed by Joseph Van Kerkhove, Art Gallery Director. Exhibition proposals may be sent to Mr. Van Kerkhove using the contact information below:
Tiffin University
J. Van Kerkhove/Hayes Center for the Arts
155 Miami St
Tiffin, OH 44883
Proposals
Please include:
- A minimum of twenty high-resolution digital images
- Each image must be identified with First and Last Name, Title, Medium, Size, Date of artwork
- Brief biography
- Exhibition history
- List of publications
- Statement about proposed exhibition
- Contact information: mailing address, telephone, email
Learn more about Tiffin University’s unique scholarship opportunities in performing, visual and media arts.
Arts Scholarship Info
