EDUCATION
2007 MFA University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
1980 BFA Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
AWARDS
2019 Emmett O’Ryan Award for Artistic Excellence
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 Pathways, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, MS
2017 New Paintings, The Perfume Room, Memphis, TN
2016 The Sun Rose, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
2013 Arcadia, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
2010 Sublunary, Flicker Street Studio, Memphis, TN
2008 Homegoing, Askew, Nixon, & Ferguson, Memphis, TN
2005 Departure, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
2003 Looney, Ricks, Kiss Architects, Memphis, TN
1998 Askew, Nixon, Ferguson & Wolfe, Memphis, TN
1996 New Work, Ledbetter Lusk, Memphis, TN
1994 Kurts Bingham Gallery, Memphis, TN
1991 Askew, Nixon, Ferguson & Wolfe, Memphis, TN
1988 Schmidt Bingham Gallery, New York, NY
Alice Bingham Gallery, Memphis, TN
1986 Alice Bingham Gallery, Memphis, TN
1984 Alice Bingham Gallery, Memphis, TN
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 INSIDE/OUT, Binder Projects, Memphis, TN
2019 Feast Your Eyes, Binder Projects, Memphis, TN
2018 All Together Now, Flicker Street Studio, Memphis, TN
2018 Art of The South, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, TN
2018 Biennial Alumni Exhibition, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
2017 Small Worlds, Flicker Street Studio, Memphis, TN
2016 Let Me Whisper in Your Ear, Flicker Street Studio, Memphis, Tn.
2015 Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, Tn
2014 56th Annual Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Arts Center
2014 Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, Tn.
2013 Price is Right, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
2007 Museum at the University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
Caseworks, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
2003 Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
1998 Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
Director's Council Exhibit, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Memphis Arts Council's Arts Day, Memphis, TN
1997 Group Exhibition, Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
Body & Soul: Contemporary Southern Figures, traveling exhibit:
Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Cummer Museum of Art, Jacksonville, FL
ArtFair/Seattle (Ledbetter Lusk Gallery of Memphis) Seattle, WA
Memphis College of Art Biennial, Memphis, TN
Spectrum, Hunter Museum, Chattanooga, TN
1996 ArtFair/Seattle (Ledbetter Lusk Gallery of Memphis) Seattle, WA
Three from Memphis, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS
Tree as Icon, Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
1995 31st Annual Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Fogelman Collection, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
1994 Olga Dollar Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA
1993 From the Mountains to the Mississippi, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
Invitational Artist of Garden of America Exhibit, Dixon Museum, Memphis, TN
1992 Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa, Fe, NM
Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN
From the Mountains to the Mississippi, Memphis State University Gallery, Memphis, TN
1991 Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL
Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN
1986 Schmidt-Bingham Gallery, New York, NY
COMMISSIONS & PROJECTS
2010 Women's Foundation of Memphis, Memphis, TN
2006 Memphis in May, Memphis, TN
1998 Central Library (Memphis Public Library & Information Center), Memphis, TN
1996 Wolfchase Galleria, Memphis, TN
1994 Memphis Arts Festival, Memphis, TN, Festival poster
1993 Youth Services-Bridge Builders, Memphis, TN, Poster
Memphis Arts Council Calendar
Open House, National Alliance to End Homelessness The Children's Museum, Memphis, TN,
installation for the permanent collection
1989 Opera Memphis, Set design Collaboration, The Magic Flute, 1989 production
1987 Concert Magazine, Memphis Symphony, cover
1986 Art in Embassies Program
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
The Children's Museum, Memphis, TN
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
ARA Foods, Philadelphia
Askew, Nixon, Ferguson & Wolfe, Architects, Memphis, TN
Autozone, Inc., Memphis, TN
Boatman's Bank Headquarters, Memphis, TN
Federal Express Corporation, Memphis, TN
First Tennessee Bank, Memphis, TN
Green Square Capital, Memphis, TN
Hilton Hotels, Memphis, TN
Keye Media, New York, NY
Richard Manoogian, Taylor, MI
Memphis Cancer Center, Memphis, TN
Memphis Cook Convention Center, Memphis, TN
Memphis Public Library, Memphis, TN
Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN
Promus Hotel Corporation Headquarters, Nashville, TN
Schering Plough, Memphis, TN
Seessel's Supermarkets, Memphis, TN
Theatre Memphis, Memphis, TN
Trammel Crow, Memphis, TN
Union Planters National Bank, Memphis, TN
University Club, Memphis, TN
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Architectural Digest, Brendan Gill, Centerbrook, August 1988
Art Forum, Ronnie Cohen, Nancy Cheairs, April, 1988
Art in Creation, Boatman's Bank, Catalog, 1985
Catalog, Amman, American Art in the Embassy Residence, Tennessee Arts Commission, Nashville, TN
The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN
Fresh Looks of Summer Make a Competent Show, 1982
New Show Stands Out, May 1984
Donald LaBadie, Inner Light is Aglow, May 1985
Concert Magazine to Make Debut, September 1987
Concert Magazine, Susan Robinson, Memphis, TN, September 1987
Artist Cheairs Dreams Lead to Her First New York Show, December 1987
Mysticism Lives in Cheairs Work, May 1988
Cheairs Allure Beyond Words, April 1991
Fredric Koeppel, Cheairs Painting of Rare Quality, March 1994
Fredric Koeppel, As a teacher, Cheairs learns as she goes, December 2010
Flicker Street Studio, November 2011
Memphis Business Journal, Edwin Howard, The Visual Dimension, April 1991
Free of Pressure, Cheairs Charts New Painting Directions, January 1990
Cheairs Art in Transition, May 1988
Living Arts Magazine, A Chat with Nancy Cheairs, August 2006
Memphis Business Journal
The Visual Dimension, May 1984
Free of Pressure, Cheairs Charts New Painting Directions, January 1990
Cheairs Art in Transition, May 1988
Number One, Profiles, Memphis, TN Summer 1987
Number Eight, Elise Nester, Nancy Cheairs, Memphis, TN Spring 1988
RSVP, Kini Kedigh, Passionate Transformation, February 1997
WKNO-FM 91.1 (PBS), Charles Billings, January 1990