Artist Statement

I am always pushing to capture that boiling energy in a still moment. I strive to highlight that underlying current of emotion through my experiments in line, texture, and form.

Bio

David Schwartz was born in Ohio in 1991. His family moved to California in ‘97, where he graduated high school in 2009. He moved to Pennsylvania, and graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College in 2013. During his undergraduate studies, he took art, digital design, and animation courses at both Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote, produced, and drew an animated documentary interviewing three Bryn Mawr alumnae for his senior thesis.

He joined the art community in Normal, Illinois after graduation and exhibited around the town as well as continuing to take local art classes. Returning to Southern California, David continued to take art classes at MiraCosta Community College and participate in student shows and the student art club. He later became a teaching assistant and volunteered on weekends at Art Produce in North Park, San Diego.

Around 2018, David founded an online space dedicated to building comradery with an emphasis on supporting minorities between fans of the video game Don’t Starve Together. In the past six years of activity, this space has grown past its fan roots and into a tight-knit community. Together with this community, and with enormous support of the community leadership, David helped hold several successful online fundraisers for charity, raising a total of over $2000.

David now works in San Diego with his tuxedo cat, Alan Turing, and is currently finishing a six month mentorship with Ashton Gallery.

Education

2023

Mentorship at Ashton Gallery under Kate Ashton, Kristen Guest, and Brenda

2015 - 2017

MiraCosta Community College, Oceanside, CA

Life Drawing, Painting, Watercolor, Animation, Maya 3D, Programming

2009 - 2013

Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania — Bachelors of Fine Arts

Additional classes in digital art, design, and animation at the University of Pennsylvania and Haverford College

Exhibitions/Awards

2024

Blackout

Ashton Gallery

San Diego, CA

National Exhibit juried by Daniel Foster

Flesh and Bone

Escondido Arts Partnership

Escondido, CA

Local Exhibit juried by Melody Jean Moulton

Solo Exhibition

Studio 6

San Diego, CA

2023

Holiday Sip & Shop

Ashton Gallery

San Diego, CA

2017

All At Once

Kruglak Gallery 

Oceanside, CA

Revealed

Kruglak Gallery 

Oceanside, CA

1st and 2nd Place

2016

Undertones

Kruglak Gallery 

Oceanside, CA

1st Place

2015

Fictions I-III

Universities Gallery

Normal, IL

Collaboration w/ Laura Schwartz

Spring Bloom Fine Arts Festival

McLean County Arts Center

Normal, IL

2nd Place


Come Together Studios Screen Printing Exhibitions

Main Gallery 404

Normal, IL

2013

TriCo Film Festival

Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr, PA

Fine Arts Senior Thesis Exhibition

Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery

Haverford, PA

2012

Undergraduate Showcase

Addams Gallery

Philadelphia, PA


Student Showcase

Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery

Haverford, PA

2011

Mapping As Painting and Drawing: A Student Exhibition

Alcove Gallery

Haverford, PA

Experience

2024

Live Art Making

  • Created Mixed Media piece over the course of 3 hours during related exhibition

  • Drew an audience of 100 people

  • Engaged with audience by answering and prompting questions about the piece and the surrounding Mixed Media exhibition

2020-2022

Fundraiser Streamer

Remote

  • Raised $1,276 for Transgender Law Center June 2022 through Tiltify

  • Raised a combined total of $803.70 for Trans Lifeline during Trans Heart October 2020 and 2021 fundraising event through Tiltify

  • Formed and managed a fundraising team of 11 people

  • Scheduled and advertised events through Discord, Twitter, and Tumblr

  • Hosted guest artists, including a game dev from Klei Entertainment, for live charity drawing sessions

  • Streamed on Twitch for 5 hours each session with live audience of 30 viewers

2017

Teaching Assistant

MiraCosta Community College  Oceanside, CA

  • Supervised 25 students on life-drawing techniques during class

  • Arranged space for total of 10 models and briefed them on the the day’s lesson

  • Handled student behavioral issues as they arose in class

  • Prepared classroom layout of 15 easels and drawing horses before every lesson

  • Restored shared classroom to earlier conditions after each class in preparation for other professors

Intern/Community Volunteer Art Produce Gallery San Diego, CA

  • Aided in installation of 3 exhibits spanning drawing, painting, and sculpture visited by 200 guests

  • Prepared multiple types of art media for 3-4 art demonstrations weekly

  • Responsible for maintaining supplies for 10-15 guests and materials to ensure art workshops started on time

  • Trained and coordinated a constantly changing roster of 50 gallery guests of all ages in artist’s technique such as calligraphy and knitting during gallery hours for community projects

  • Taught 20 total weekly youth (K-12) painting and sculpting technique workshops during open art class community events with 10 reoccurring participants