EDUCATION
2017 MFA, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
1979 BA, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Journalism and Graphic Arts
1984 Missouri Photographic Workshop, Forsythe, Missouri
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2008-Present Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA, Associate Professor of Art
2017- Present Visiting Professor, Experience Liberal Arts College program, Shanghai, China
2011-Present Photo-Ops Workshops, Founder/Director, Philadelphia PA
2014- Present Trustee/ Advisory Board, Philadelphia Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
2012- 2013 Princeton Photography Club, workshop leader and Lecturer
2000-2004 Photography instructor, Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial,
Philadelphia, PA
1999-2000 Photography instructor, Perkins Center for the arts,
Moorestown, NJ
1983-2014 Staff Photographer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA
1996-1999 Founder, Director, Photo Session, annual photography
conference, Philadelphia, PA
1981-1983 Photography Instructor, Drury College, Springfield, MO
1980-1983 Staff Photographer, The Springfield News and Leader, Springfield, MO
1978-1980 Staff Photographer, The Muskogee Daily Phoenix, Muskogee, OK
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image, Philadelphia PA, Advisory Board
National Press Association, member
Society for Photographic Education, member
The Halide Project, Philadelphia, PA, member
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Shine, Unique Photo Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2021 An Overdue Conversation with My Father, Gatehouse Gallery, Guernsey UK, Part of the Guernsey Photo Festival
2020 An Overdue Conversation with My Father, The Print Center, Philadelphia PA
2018 Land, Sea, Air, NoBA Art Space, Bala Cynwyd, PA
2016 Works in Progress, Allens Lane Art Center, Philadelphia, PA
2013 The African American Cowboy Experience in America, Chilsom Trail Heritage Center, Duncan Ok
2011 Invisible, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2009 Unstructured, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2007 The World in a Grain of Sand, Sande Webster Gallery. Philadelphia, PA
Packard Reath Gallery, Lewes, DE
2006 What the Eye Doesn’t See, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Havana: A Place out of Time, The Silva Gallery of Art, The Pennington School, Pennington, NJ
Havana: A Place out of Time, Art/Place, Southport, CT.
2005 Trees, Sande Webster Gallery. Philadelphia, PA.
2004 Deep Deuce and Beyond: The Architectural Legacy of African Americans in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State Capitol, Oklahoma City, OK
We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA
1001 Homesteads, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Trees, Awbury Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
2002 A Sense of Place, installation at the Philadelphia International Airport
Homesteads, Edward Carter Gallery, Lewes, DE
Havana: A Place Out of Time, Monique Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY
2001 Havana: A Place Out of Time, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia PA
Havana: A Place Out of Time, Soho-Myriad, Atlanta, GA
1998 The Unseen Landmark, Eastern State College, Devon, PA
1997 Fleisher Exhibition #1, Samuel S. Fleisher Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
A Retrospective, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
The Long Ride Home: The African American Cowboy Experience in America, YWCA of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
1996 Photography: Contemporary Prospect '96, Historic Yellow Springs, Chester Springs, PA
The Long Ride Home: The African American Cowboy Experience in America, African American Museum of Dallas, TX
1994 Conoco Gallery, Oklahoma State University, Okmulgee, OK
Walt Whitman Center for Cultural Arts, Camden, NJ
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 We are Close In Distance, Roski Lindhurst Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angles, CA
Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy, Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM
2021 We Believed in the Sun, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, OK (two-person exhibit)
Horses?, CHART Gallery, New York City, NY
2020 From Here on Out, Integrated Art Group Gallery, Madison, WI
2019 No Cure for Mourning, Stockton University, Galloway, NJ
Artist In Residence Exhibition, Fitler’s Club, Philadelphia, PA
2018 The Pennsylvania Landscape in Impressionism and Contemporary Art,
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Innovative Means: Photography from the Collection, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
An Overdue Conversation with My Father, Marlin Art Gallery Camden County College, Blackwood, NJ (Two-Person Exhibit)
Altering Nature, Photo+Sphere, Ashville, NC
Summertime Salon, Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
2017 The Expanded Caribbean, Contemporary Photography at the Crossroads,” Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia
2016 African American Cowboys, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
Look Both Ways Art at the Crossroads of Abstraction and
Representation, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Complete Set, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Summer Salon, Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Divergence, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia
2009 Philly Salon, Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
Third Woodmere Triennial of Photography, Woodmere Art Museum,
Philadelphia
2008 Emerging to Established, 25 years of the Center for Emerging Visual Artist, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Pa
Art & the City, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2006 The Kandy Project, Jane & Bert Gallery, Lumeria Gallery, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Viajeros: North American Artist: Photographers’ Images of Cuba,
Lehigh University (traveling exhibition), Lehigh, PA
Noteworthy, 25 Years of Photography Exhibitions, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, PA
2004 Black and White, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2003 Group Photography Exhibition, Credit Suisse Bank, New York, NY
Impregnable Direction, Rush Arts Gallery, New York City, NY
Photography: Ten Years of Acquisitions, Haverford College,
Haverford, PA
A Pairing of Peers: Artists Invite, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
2002 Havana/Venice: Mirrors of Nostalgia, Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia, PA (two-person exhibition)
Queensborough Community College Art Gallery, Bayside NY
2001 America the Beautiful, Edward Carter Gallery, Lewes DE
Photography 19, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, New Jersey
Committed to the Image, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
Photo 2001, Monique Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY
2000 Fin de Siecle, Philadelphia Art Alliance (three-person exhibition)
Recently acquired works, The Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia PA
People and Places, Atlantic City Center for the Arts, Atlantic City, NJ
Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840- Present, Smithsonian Institution, Anacostia Museum, Washington, DC
1999 The Discriminating Lens, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
Art of the State '99, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, PA
Photography 17, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, New Jersey
Shutter, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (three-person show)
1998 Creative Artist Network, Federal Reserve Bank, Philadelphia, PA
Photography 16, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ
20 x 12: A Generation of Challenge Artists, Samuel S. Fleisher Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
Through the Heart of the City, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
1997 Photography 15, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ
1996 Hidden in Plain Sight, The Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA (three-person exhibition)
National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA
1993 The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA
Eyewitness 93, exhibition featuring winning photographs from the annual World Press Photo Awards, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands (traveling exhibition)
1991 Altered States- Alcohol And Other Drugs in America, Strong Museum, Rochester, NY
(traveling exhibition, acquired by the Smithsonian Institution as part of their permanent collection)
Visa Pour L, Image International Photojournalism Festival, Perpignan, France
SELECTED HONORS and AWARDS
2022 Infinity Award, TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Fitler’s Club Artist in Residency, Philadelphia PA
The Print Center 94th Annual International Competition
2014 Pulitzer Prize Nomination for New Leash on Life series of articles, Philadelphia Inquirer
2012 Pulitzer Prize as part of the Philadelphia Inquirer team reporting on
school violence
2007 Fleisher Challenge, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
2002 Ruben V. Burrell Photography Award, Hampton University Museum,
Hampton, VA
2001 Margaret Danby Visual Arts Award, Black Liberated Arts Center, Oklahoma City, Ok
2000 Jurors award and purchase award, Perkins Center for the Arts,
Moorestown, NJ
Society for Publication Design, Award of Merit, New York, NY
Society for News Design, Award of Excellence, New York, NY
1999 Jurors award and purchase award, Perkins Center for the Arts,
Moorestown, NJ
1998 Society for Publication Design, Silver Medal, New York, NY
1997 Jurors award and purchase award, Perkins Center for the Arts,
Moorestown, NJ
Selected One of the 50 Artist to Watch, Seven Arts Magazine,
Philadelphia, PA
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2022 Mary Albertson Faculty Fellowship, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA
Engaged Humanities Studio Grant, Swarthmore College Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, Swarthmore PA
in collaboration with Jody Joyner, Assistant Professor of Art, Swarthmore College and
Brandon Ritter, Director of Development, Farmer Jawn CSA
2021 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
2019 Independence Foundation Fellowship
2007 Independence Foundation Fellowship
2006 Intergeneration Grant, New Courtland, Philadelphia, PA
2004 Gap Grant, Pew Fellowships in the Arts
2003 National Endowment for the Arts Grant in collaboration with Black Liberated Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK
2001 Pew Fellowship in the Arts
2000 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts SOS Grant
1997-1999 Creative Artist Network Fellowship, Philadelphia PA
1994 National Geographic Magazine, Development Grant for Documentary Photography, Washington, DC
1993 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship
1991 Artist in Residence, Children's Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Sickle Cell Camp for Children
1996 Best of Show, Penn Charter Arts Festival Philadelphia, PA
1995 National Newspaper Magazine Society Award for Documentary Photography
1993 World Press Photo, Third Prize, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1992 National Society of Professional Journalists
National Press Photographers Association/ University of Missouri Pictures of the Year
Associated Press Managing Editors Award
WORKS IN SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Banana Republic corporate collection, San Francisco, CA
Eastern College, St. David's, PA
Federal Reserve Bank, Philadelphia, PA
Hyatt Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
Haverford College, Haverford
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC Johnson & Johnson corporate collection, Skillman, NJ
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Mosby Yearbook, Philadelphia, PA
Philip and Muriel Berman Museum
Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg, PA
Oklahoma State University, Okmulgee, OK
Petrucci Family Foundation
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Public Library, Print and Picture Collection, Philadelphia, PA
Samuel S. Fels Fund, Philadelphia, PA
Schuylkill Printing Facility, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.,
Conshohocken, PA
Sheraton Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
South Jersey Museum of Art and Culture, Somerdale, NJ
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Temple University Urban Archives, Philadelphia, PA
Vertical Screen, Warminster, PA
William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, PA
Woodmere Art museum, Philadelphia, Pa
Numerous private collections
LECTURES and JUDGING
2023 Lecture, We Are Still Here: A Conversation with Photographers Jeremy Dennis & Ron Tarver, Hudson River Museum
2021 Juror, Pictures of the Year International Photography competition, Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, MO, Virtual
2019 Lecture, An Overdue Conversation with My Father, Lecture, Society for Photographic Education Annual National Conference, Cleveland, OH
2015 Lecture, Ron Tarver on Charles Dodgson’s Photography, Rosenbach Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Lecture, Look Both Ways: Art at the Crossroads of Abstraction and Representation, Woodmere Art Museum
2013 Juror, Mid-Atlantic Arts Council, Baltimore, MD
2004 Juror, Pictures of the Year International, University of Missouri
2003 Juror, Ohio Council Arts Council
2001 Advisee, MacArthur Fellowship, Advisory Panel
1996 Portfolio Review, Society of Photographic Educators
1995 Lecture, 51st Temple Press Tournament, Keynote Speaker
1996 Lecture, Northeastern State University, Oklahoma Journalism conference
GALLERY AFFILIATION
Grand Image, Seattle, WA
Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Guernsey Press, Guernsey UK, Ron Tarver, An Overdue Conversation with My Father,
Jean -Christophe Godet, Friday, September 17, 2021
The Huffington Post, A History of Black Cowboys and The Myth That The West Was White, Pricilla Frank, January 23, 2017, Web
The New Yorker, Black Cowboys, Busting One of America’s Defining Myths, Emily Raboteau, January 22, 2017, Web
Philadelphia Inquirer, “Seeing the Invisible,” Victoria Donohoe, February, 25,2011
Philadelphia City Paper, “The Road Not Taken,” Robin Rice, August 14, 2010
Philadelphia Inquirer, “A ‘Divergence’ of photographic nuance,” Victoria Donohoe, August, 2010
Philadelphia Inquirer, “Two Toasts to Philadelphia Photography,” Edward J. Sozanski, October 4, 2009
Wilmington News Journal, “Photog’s Work Puts Different Spin on Universe,” Christopher Yasiejko, Cover Features Section, July 8, 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer, “Swarthmore’s List Gallery,” Victoria Donohoe, October 22, 2006
Art Matters Magazine, “The Inquisitive Lens of Ron Tarver,” February 2005, p. 9
Co-author of the book " We Were There, Voices of African American Veterans, Newsweek Magazine, From WWII to the War in Iraq," Amistad / Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY
African American Wisdom, P.100, published by Courage Books, an imprint of Running Press, Philadelphia, PA
Black and White Magazine, “Focus: Philadelphia,” Richard Pitnick, October 2004, pp. 48
The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Searching for Home," Edward J. Sozanski, November 15, 1996, Weekend Section, p. 41
Laura Meyers, January 2003, cover
Art Matters Magazine, "Photography Seen, Ron Tarver's Cuba at Sande
Philadelphia Weekly, "Island Images," by Roberta Fallon, August 8, 2001
Art Business News, "African American Art Moves Beyond Black and White,” Helene Ryesky, August 2001, Page 20
Philadelphia Citypaper, Time Travel, Ron Tarver explores Cuba, new and old, in his exhibit at Sande Webster, August 18, 2001
The New York Times, “Up-to-the-minute Show with Echoes of the Past,” February 14, 1999, page 14
The International Review of African American Art, Hampton University Museum, Volume 14, Number 4, page 10, article
illustrated with photographs from the Bridge series
The Daily Oklahoma, "Black Cowboy Focus of Fine Photo Exhibit,"
John Brandenburg, Oklahoma City, OK, September 10, 1997
The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Mysterious Paintings and Pictorialist Photos," Edward J. Sozanski, September 12, 1997, Weekend Section, p. 36
Seven Arts Magazine, "50 Rising Stars," February 1997, p.34
Samuel S. Fels Fund Annual Report, Illustrated with eight works from Drill
Team Series, December 31, 1996, Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The Truth and Beauty of Ordinary People," Edward J. Sozanski, November 15, 1996, Weekend Section, p. 40
National Black Arts Festival Exhibition Catalog, Atlanta, GA, July 1996
The Black Family, Deborah Willis author, Crown Publishing, published 1996
Portfolio 1995, Northeastern State University, "The Search for Cultural Heroes", Dana Eversole, Tahlequah, OK
The Muskogee Daily Phoenix, "A Long Ride Home," October 20, 1994, Muskogee, OK
Basic Media Writing (Fifth Edition), Melvin Mencher author, Brown & Benchmark, published 1994
The Camden Courier-Post, "Images of the Unsung Cowboys,"
Camden, NJ, October 14, 1994
"Altered States: Alcohol and Other Drugs in America," Patricia M. Tice, Strong Museum, Rochester, NY (exhibition catalog) p. 103
"World Press Photo Yearbook," Thames & Hudson, 1993
News Photographer Magazine, Journal of the National Press
Photographers Association, "Documenting Drug Life," Morrella Raleigh, February 21, 2003
TEACHING AND SERVICE AT SWARTHMORE
COURSES TAUGHT
ARTT 300 Photography I: Expanding Approaches to Foundational Photography
ARTT 310 Photography II - The Long-Term Project
ARTT 330 Photography III - Alternative Processes
COMMITTEE ACTIVITY
2020- Present Aydelotte Steering Committee
2021 Pulitzer Reporting Fellow Selection Committee
2019 Lang Center Advisory Committee
CAMPUS EVENTS ORGANIZED
2021 Exhibition, 2020 in Perspective, Swarthmore College List Gallery. Lecture and Co-Curated with Andrea Packard and Tess Wei
2019 Exhibition, Henry Horenstein: Selected Works, Swarthmore College List Gallery. Lecture and Co-Curated with Andrea Packard
Authored Mellon grant to create work with Chester Made artist collaborative inv Chester PA which culminated in an exhibition and round table discussion with Chester artists in McCabe Library
2018 Exhibition, Ten Years of Photography at Swarthmore, McCabe Library
2017 Lecture by Astrophotographer Jerry Lodrigus, sponsored by the departments of Astronomy and Physics and Art and Art History
Lecture, Justin Badach, McCabe Library
2016 Exhibition, April Saul: Our American Family, Swarthmore College List Gallery. Lecture and Co-Curated with Andrea Packard
Exhibition, Bruce Cratsley: Shifting Identities, Lecture, Swarthmore College List Gallery, Swarthmore, PA