Education
2017 MFA, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1984 Missouri Photographic Workshop, Forsythe, Missouri
1979 BA Journalism and Graphic Arts, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma,
Work Experience
2008 – present Associate Professor of Studio Art, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA,
2017 Visiting Professor, Experience Liberal Arts College program, Shanghai, China
2011– present Photo-Ops Workshops, Founder/Director, Philadelphia PA
2014 – 2020 Trustee, Philadelphia Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
2012 – 2013 Princeton Photography Club, workshop leader and Lecturer, Princeton, NJ
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, PhotoSession, 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
Selected Solo Exhibitions
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 State Capitol, Oklahoma City, OK
“We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans”, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA
“Homesteads," Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
“Trees,” Awbury Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
2002 “A Sense of Place," installation at the Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA
“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" Beaver College, Philadelphia, 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
2021 ¨From Here On Out¨, Integrated Art Group Gallery, Madison, WI
¨We Believed in the Sun¨, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, OK
2019 "No Cure for Mourning", Stockton University, Galloway, NJ
Artist in Residence Exhibition, Fitler 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, Asheville, NC
“Summertime Salon,” Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
2017 “The Expanded Caribbean, Contemporary Photography at the Crossroads,” Pearlstein Gallery, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
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, PA
2009 “Philly Salon,” Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
“Third Woodmere Triennial of Photography,” Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
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 Sande Webster Gallery, “Black and White,” Philadelphia, PA
2003 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, NJ
"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), Philadelphia, PA
"Recently acquired works,” The Philadelphia Art Museum, 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
"Eye Witness 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
Grants and Fellowships
2021. Guggenheim Fellowship in photography, New York City, NY
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, 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
Lectures, Judging, and Curation
2021 2020 IN PERSPECTIVE, Swarthmore College List Gallery, Swarthmore, PA, Curated with Andrea Packard and Tess Wei
2021 Pictures of the Year International, Columbia, MO, Judge
2020 Art of the State, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, Juror
Wendel White: Red Summer, Swarthmore College McCabe Library, Swarthmore, PA, Curation
2019 Henry Horenstein: Selected Works, Swarthmore College List Gallery, Swarthmore, PA, Curated with Andrea Packard
An Overdue Conversation with My Father, Society for Photographic Education Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH, Lecture
2017 African American Cowboys, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, Lecture
2016 April Saul: Our American Family, Swarthmore College List Gallery, Swarthmore, PA, Lecture and Co-Curated with Andrea Packard
Bruce Cratsley: Shifting Identities, Swarthmore College List Gallery, Swarthmore, PA, Lecture and Curation
2015 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, Philadelphia, PA, Lecture
2013 Mid Atlantic Arts Council, Baltimore, MD, Juror
Selected Honors and Awards
2019 Fitler Club Artist in Residency, Philadelphia, PA
The Print Center 94th Annual International Competition, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Pulitzer Prize Nomination for New Leash on Life series of articles, Philadelphia Inquirer
2012 Pulitzer Prize as part of 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
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 Journalist
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, PA
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
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
Temple University Urban Archives, Philadelphia, PA
Vertical Screen, Warminster, PA
William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, PA
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Gallery Affiliation
Grand Image, Seattle, WA
Soho-Myriad, Atlanta, GA
Robin Rice Gallery, New York, NY
Selected Bibliography
Generocity, For Black cowboys — from North Philly to small-town Texas — horses and riding are a way of life, Nick Lehr, April 2, 2021, Web
Vogue, “We’ve Been Here All Along, Doing It With Style”: The Lesser-Known History of the Black Cowboy, Christian Allaire, June 5, 2020, Web
Messy Nessy Chic, How Black Cowboys Built the American West: A Living History, June 5, 2020, Web
The New York Times, Restoring Black Cowboys to the Range, Sarah Maslin Nir, September 14, 2019, Web
Pitchfork, "How Solange and Mitski Reconsider Who Can Be the Cowboy," Michelle Kim, March 21, 2019, Web
Artsy, Why You’ve Never Heard about Black Cowboys, Molly Gottschalk, February 9, 2017, Web
Hyperallergic, "The Black Cowboys Whitewashed from, American History," Julia Friedman, February 8, 2017 Web
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
VICE, 'Black Cowboy' Exhibition Reveals a Forgotten Part of US History, Antwaun Sargent, January 7, 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
Photographers Association, "Documenting Drug Life," Morrella Raleigh, February 21, 2003
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 photograph 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
The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Searching for Home," Edward J. Sozanski, November, 15, 1996, Weekend Section, p. 41
National Black Arts Festival Exhibition Catalog, Atlanta, GA, July, 1996
The Black Family, Deborah Willis, 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
Selected List of Publications
“Young and Pregnant.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 15, 1987, pp. 12-18, cover article with thirteen black and white photographs,
“When Your Job Goes South.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, July 24, 1988, pp. 15-22, cover article with 7 black and white photographs,
“Brotherly Love.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, April 28, 1991, pp. 11-19, Cover Article with 13 black and white photographs,
“On the Street Where Heroin Lived.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, April 12, 1992, pp 29-44, cover article with 14 black and white images,
“Inner-City Slickers.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, July 19, 1993, pp. 19-25, Cover Article with 14 color images,
“Unrest in Peace.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, October 17, 1993, pp. 19-36, Cover Article with 7 black and white photographs,
“Grace land: The Eternal lure of the Wissahickon.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, October 27, 1996, Cover Article with 24 black and white photographs
“Swing Set: The Staying Power of Dancing Hand in Hand.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, January 24, 1999, pp. 5-12, Cover Article with 9 black and white photographs
“Spirits: Evoking the Ancient Powers of African Masks.” The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, February 7, 1999, pp. 13-19, Cover Article with 8 black and white photographs
2000 Havana: A Place Out of Time, 2000, published by Sande Webster Gallery, 2000, 13 toned black and white photographs