Artist Biography
Ian Torney is an artist, an arts educator, advocate and adminstrator, and an exhibition curator. He is a New England native who has traveled extensively, particularly in Europe to study and to paint, and who as worked in private secondary school art education for nearly three decades.
Mr. Torney holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College, graduating with a major in Visual Art and minors English Literature and Religion; and he holds both a Master of Arts in Art Education from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from the Art Institute of Boston. Ever the student, he has studied with classicist master painter Thomas Buechner in his studio in upstate New York, traveling with him to paint plein-air in Italy, France, and California; and he counts as mentors contemporary landscape painters Eric Aho and George Nick. Additionally Mr. Torney has participated in several art residencies, including: the New York Studio School; the Humberside School of Art and Design in Hull, England; the Anderson Ranch Art Center of Snowmass, CO; and Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. Mr. Torney actively exhibits his work annually, and was represented by the Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden of Concord, NH for two decades before their closure - he is currently represented by the Hurricane Mountain Design Gallery of North Conway, NH and the Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery of Sandwich, NH, as he is also a member of the Copley Society of Art in Boston, MA. He has been commissioned to paint several significant works, and his paintings are included in numerous private and corporate collections, including most prominently: Ameriprise Financial of Concord, NH; The Paraxel Corporation of Wellesley, MA; The Boston Private Bank of Boston, MA; The Black Creek Group of Denver, CO; D Magazine of Dallas, TX; and Solomon ETC Architecture of San Francisco, CA.
Mr. Torney began his career as a Teaching Fellow for the Hotchkiss Summer School, and taught for five years at the Pomfret School in Connecticut. In 1991 he joined the faculty at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire, where he taught for over 20 years and served as both the Fine Arts Program Director and Arts Division Head. In 2012 he joined the faculty at Milton Academy, located just outside of Boston Massachusetts, where he served for a decade as Chair of the Visual Arts Program - and oversaw the renovation of the “new” Art & Media Center - and he remains as Director of the Nesto Gallery. He has also taught numerous art workshops, and has been an Artist-In-Residence and adjunct faculty at the Kimball Jenkins Estate and School of Art in Concord, NH, an exchange faculty at Eton College, Windsor, U.K., a Visiting Artist to the Art Institute of Boston MFA program, and a Master Teacher for the St. Paul’s Advanced Summer Studies Program. Mr. Torney is an active member of the National Art Education Association, a member of the College Art Association, and has served in leadership roles with both the Art Association of New England Preparatory Schools and the Independent School Art Instructors Association. He has been invited to consult with secondary school art programs, and is eager to continue his Arts advocacy with programs seeking excellence and innovation.
Mr. Torney has curated numerous student, faculty and professional artist exhibitions and group shows with hundreds of artists, first through his work with the Art Center at Hargate Gallery at St. Paul’s School, and currently as the Director of the Nesto Gallery at Milton Academy.
Mr. Torney is available to consult with secondary school and continuing education art programs, about program and curriculum design.
Mr. Tormey is available to curate exhibitions and consult with gallery spaces.
Mr. Torney is available to teach artist workshops, particularly for plein-air landscape painting, or for the foundations of drawing, portfolio preparation and review, or for still-life or portrait painting.
Mr. Torney is available to create commissioned works, and his paintings are available for purchase. He is represented by the Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden - see www.themillbrookgallery.com.
