Sandra J. Reed, Professor of Art, earned the BFA in Painting and Drawing from Drake University as a National Alumni Scholar and the MFA in Painting from The George Washington University as the first Morris Louis Fellow in Painting. Following twenty-one years at the Savannah College of Art & Design as a faculty member and administrator, Professor Reed joined Marshall University in 2014. After serving as Director of the School of Art & Design during its first years in the downtown Visual Arts Center, she has avidly focused on teaching within the School of Art & Design and the Honors College, collaborative projects, personal creative work, academic conference presentations, and service roles. The following highlights a selection of recent activities. Reed delights in an expansive teaching portfolio that includes drawing and design, professional practice, and capstone courses, as well as Honors and Yeager seminars. She has facilitated several ambitious projects culminating in the exhibition of student work at museums, galleries, and project spaces. Last year, she hosted Becky Borlan as a Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professor in the Arts. Within Marshall, Reed convenes the College of Arts and Media Personnel Committee and is a member of the Faculty Senate Academic Planning committee, among others. She is an ardent supporter of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum as seen in coordination of the 2026 Black History Centennial Poster Competition for College Students and presentation of a research paper at the American Milestone Symposium. With funding from the Huntington Foundation, she concluded a three-year interdisciplinary art and aging study with Dr. Masa Toyama in January. They are invited co-keynote speakers for the 2026 College of Health Professions Research Day. She was a session chair and presenter at SECAC last October. She has been a member of the West Virginia Creative Network subcommittee since it was established in 2024 and served on the 2025 Creative Entrepreneur Fellows selection committee. In coordination with RenewAll, she initiated and presented a one-day public art symposium in 2025. She recently concluded a decade of service on the Mayor’s Arts Council and the Huntington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau board. Reed maintains an art studio in Huntington and regularly exhibits her paintings and drawings. Her works are held in numerous collections including the LaGrange Museum of Art, the Telfair Academy, and the United States Navy Memorial. She has presented four solo exhibitions over the past five years, including Refuge at the Esther Allen Greer Museum in Rio Grande, Ohio from March 16 to April 3, 2026.
Click here to view Professor Reed’s works of art
Click here to view ‘Conceptions of Flight’ Exhibit press release
Reed named Distinguished Drinko Fellow: https://www.marshall.edu/news/2022/04/13/marshall-drinko-fellow-sandra-reed-to-present-art-exhibit-at-south-charleston-campus/
Click to view the ‘Conceptions of Flight’ zine
The website, for the Selvage and Conceptions of Flight exhibitions, features online galleries of the exhibited artwork, audio recordings by the artists, and press releases from both exhibitions as well as the original exhibition essays by O’Malley and Peckham.
Mid-Prairie Alumni Awards: https://www.mphawksalumni.org/Alumni-Achievement-Awards
Weir Farm National Historical Park:
https://www.nps.gov/wefa/index.htm
Weir Farm Art Alliance (artist residency co-sponsor): https://www.weirfarmartalliance.org/
