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.
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.