Biography
Richard Heipp received his MFA from the University of Washington, and his BFA degree from Cleveland Institute of Art.
He has been a faculty member since 1981. Heipp is a painter, who has also creates large-scale installations and site-specific public art projects. He served as Director of the School of Art + Art History from 2010 – 2015.
Professor Heipp remains active an exhibiting artist. A retrospective exhibition surveying over 40 years of his artwork was featured at the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, FL from June 2 – August 25, 2018. The book ”Double Vision. Photocentric Paintings by Richard Heipp,” was produced in conjunction with the show and is available through the University of Florida Press at http://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781532374661
In addition to this retrospective, Heipp has had more than twenty-five solo exhibitions at venues that including the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida Holocaust Museum,The Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Stetson University, The Alexander Brest Museum, and the Center for Contemporary Art, at the University of Kentucky.
His work has also been featured in well over one hundred group exhibitions in institution such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Seattle Art Museum, The Boca Raton Museum of Art, and the Henry Art Gallery. His paintings and installations are included in many public and private collections including the Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, the Harn Museum of Art, the Polk Museum of Art, the Progressive Companies, McGraw Hill Co,Shriner's Children's Hospital, Miami University, and the City of Seattle.
Heipp’s many grants and awards have included six, State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowships, an Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award from the Southeastern College Arts Association, and a Southern Arts Federation, National Endowment for the Arts, Fellowship in Painting.
The Alachua County Art in Public Places Trust awarded Professor Heipp its inaugural “Public Art Award.” In conjunction with that award the City of Gainesville proclaimed January 10, 2015 as “Richard Heipp Day,” planting a tree in a city park in his honor.
His teaching has been recognized by two College of the Arts “Teacher of the year awards and his research contributions have been acknowledged at UF by numerous awards and grants including two Research Foundation Professorships and a Provost’s UF Term Professorship.