Joseph Sweeney – Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Joseph Sweeney graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) in 1976. He studied with and was influenced by: Isa Barnett, Sandy Ceaser, David Kettner, Boris Putterman, Gerry Herdman, Jack Andrews, Ray Spiller, Morris Schulman, Warren Rorher, David Fertig, Jane Piper, Sidney Goodman, and Lily Yeh.He received a Master’s Degree in Printmaking from the Art and Architecture department of Penn State University in 1980.While there studied with Bruce Shobaken, Diane Pepe and Peter Jogo.

A resident of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, he has taught or is teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The University of the Arts, Wayne Art Center, Woodmere Art Museum, and Chester Springs Studio. Primarily a landscape painter he was awarded Best of Show at "Images '98" Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts July 1998 and Best of Show for The Philadelphia Water Color Club 98th Anniversary International Exhibition of Works on Paper.In 2002 was awarded Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Catherine Gibbons Granger Award for Landscape, Chester Springs, PA. Also in 2002 he was awarded Best in Show by The Philadelphia Sketch Club Works on Paper. And in 2010 took second place for the same show. In 2006 took part in ART in Embassies Program. U.S. Dept. of State, (Catalog) Washington D.C. In the Embassies of Port-of Spain, Trinidad  & Kigali, Rwanda.

In 2013 he was awarded a three month residency at The Master Works Museum in Paget, Bermuda 2017 Residency at the Studios of Key West, FL. 2018 Residency At the Rose Cottage, Vinalhaven, Maine Recently awarded the Brandywine Conservancy Award 2019 Joseph Sweeney has been showing at Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia since 1980, and is also currently represented by: Gallery 222 in Malvern and Cerulean Gallery Many public and private institutions, private collections, and museums own his works.