The Diane Kidd Gallery at Tiffin University is pleased to present “Let All the Earth Be Jubilant,” an exhibition of paintings and drawings by artist and educator Sheilah Grogan. The exhibition will be on view from August 25 through October 3, 2025, with an artist reception on Friday, September 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. The artist will give a brief talk at 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
Grogan’s work is rooted in her deep love of nature, but rather than depicting it literally, she uses it as a stage for her internal responses, playfulness and imagination. “My paintings are not from Nature, but rather my internal response to it,” Grogan explains. Placid landscapes are transformed into settings for dreamlike scenes—birds, fish and animals behaving in quietly improbable ways. These quixotic narratives become, as Grogan notes, “a genteel rebuke against the ‘seen’ world,” raising oblique statements about power, freedom and fantasy.
My paintings are not from Nature, but rather my internal response to it.
Her work often explores flow and movement through bold color, negative space and seemingly random patterns that create visual currents. Frequently working in series, she allows each painting or drawing to push a theme forward, continuing to turn ideas over even after a work is complete—sometimes for years—before achieving a sense of resolution.
Sheilah Grogan is a dedicated artist and educator whose career reflects her lifelong commitment to both creating and teaching. She earned her Bachelor of Education degree from The University of Toledo, where she twice received the Walbridge-Sinclair Award for Art. She later completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Bowling Green State University, followed by postgraduate studies at Kent State University, where she studied with renowned studio critics Wayne Thiebaud and Philip Pearlstein. Thiebaud, who became a friend and lasting influence, continues to inspire her work.
Grogan also holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Cincinnati and has expanded her artistic practice internationally, including painting at Glencolmcille in Donegal, Ireland. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at The Crown Gallery in Dublin, and she was featured in the inaugural Women’s National Exhibition in the United States. She is also represented in Women Artists in America, published by the University of Tennessee Press.
In addition to her studio practice, Grogan has been a transformative presence in arts education, teaching at Central Catholic High School and Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio. She has also contributed through roles such as Visiting Artist for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo’s Young Artists at Work program, Curriculum Developer and Director of Art Education at the Children’s Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut and as an instructor at the Toledo Museum of Art.
Through her paintings and her teaching, Grogan continues to nurture creativity and make meaningful contributions to the visual arts. For more information, visit the Diane Kidd Gallery’s website at tiffin.edu/arts/diane-kidd-gallery or email Joseph Van Kerkhove at vankerkhovejm@tiffin.edu.