Adjunct Associate Professor, Fine Arts
Ceramics faculty

Contact Info

Fine Arts

Matthew Courtney is an adjunct associate professor of Ceramics in the Fine Arts program. His sculpture humorously mixes his love of sports and popular culture with a deep knowledge of the history of art and ceramics. Courtney applies his industrial design training to a playfully transgressive approach to the medium of clay. His current sculpture is heavily influenced by his three artist residencies in Lanzhou, China, where he was invited to explore the material and visual culture of the province of Gansu.

Biography

Matthew Courtney was born in Washington, D.C., and earned his MFA from Kent State University in Ohio. He currently lives in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife, artist and educator Jackie White.

Experience

Courtney began his teaching career at Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio, and since returning to Philadelphia in 1995, he has continually served as an adjunct instructor at many of the city’s most prestigious art programs, including Tyler School of Art at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and University of the Arts. Courtney has also been showing his work in Philadelphia and at various national and international juried and invitational exhibitions. He has been an artist in residence at Lanzhou City University, China, in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Most recently, he has exhibited his work at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists Gallery, Cherry Street Pier, the Mount Airy Contemporary at Intuitive Art Space, Cerulean Arts Gallery and InLiquid, all in Philadelphia, as well as at James Earl Carter Gallery, Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, Georgia. 

Visit Matthew Courtney's Website

Awards & Accolades

Courtney’s work has been recognized numerous times. 

  • Philadelphia Sculptors Velocity Fund: COVID-19 Artist Emergency Grant

  • Foundation for Contemporary Arts COVID-19 Fund, New York, New York

  • Center for Emerging Visual Artists Fellow (two-year fellowship)

  • Center for Emerging Visual Artists Fellowship finalist

  • 2016 Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art