Photo by Egan Parks (Ian Breidenbach (left) with Emily Jay (right)
Ian Breidenbach (b. 1984) is a conceptual artist, curator, and educator based in Findlay, Ohio. In 2012, he founded The Neon Heater Art Gallery, an artist-run space servicing community of Findlay, Ohio and surroundings, providing access to contemporary art in a rural setting. His artistic practice explores the connective quality of narrative in the creation of worlds and possible futures. He holds a BFA from Wright State University in Selected Studies: Video Art (2009) and an MFA in Studio Art from Texas Tech University (2022). He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University at Lima, OH teaching Art and curating The Farmer Gallery.
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In 2018, he received the Palmer Scholarship from the Toledo Art Museum to conduct national research into Artist-Run Galleries and community engagement. In May 2022, alongside members of The Blue House Gallery, he organized Futures: A National Artist-Run Symposium in Dayton, Ohio to bring together gallerists from around the country to explore the issues and difficulties, as well as possible futures of the Artist-Run gallery community. This symposium follows years of research into the way that art can be a catalyst for community engagement, and how the Artist-Run model of curation is specifically suited to thinking about collaboration between artists and non-artists alike.
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