Cynthia Nourse Thompson is currently Associate Professor and Director of the graduate programs in Book Arts + Printmaking and Studio Arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has also been named Curator and Consulting Visual Arts Director for the Joy Pratt Markham Gallery at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Prior to this position, Thompson served as Associate Professor and Curator of Exhibitions at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. During her tenure, she established a unique vision for the gallery as well as public spaces on campus—securing the University’s purchase of works by Willie Cole, Chakaia Booker and Leonardo Drew for the campus public art advisory board on which she served as a member. Thompson brought the printmaking exhibition Louise Bourgeois: Topiary the Art of Improving Nature to the gallery, as well as curated an exhibition in honor of African American History Month titled, Employing Voice, Embracing Agency that included works by Radcliffe Bailey, Demetrius Oliver, Mickelene Thomas, Kara Walker and Willie Cole, among others. As Curator of WAC she continues to fuel great interest in contemporary art in the northwest Arkansas region, establishing the Joy Pratt Markham Gallery as a premier venue in northwest Arkansas for exhibiting cutting edge, contemporary art.
Thompson also served for thirteen years as Professor of Book, Print and Paper Arts at Memphis College of Art [MCA], Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Curator and Director of Visiting Artist Lectures. As curator, she directed the overall management and administration of the gallery’s exhibition and visiting artist program; conceiving and directing all publications supporting the gallery’s voice; and maintaining and directing a dynamic and high-profile exhibition schedule for the gallery. During that time, Thompson created a national reputation and curatorial vision for the gallery at MCA. Exhibitions were reviewed in both local and national publications. Some of the international artists presented during her tenure included, among others, Louise Bourgeois, Petah Coyne, Lesley Dill Andres Serrano, Gary Schneider, and Amy Sillman; while visiting artists of the lecture series comprised Ghada Amer, Janine Antoni, Polly Apfelbaum, Willie Cole, Petah Coyne, Lesley Dill and Juan Sanchez. In 2000, Thompson founded the New Visions Exhibitions Series that focused on bringing cutting edge, challenging contemporary art to the College and the community-at-large.
Thompson has also been visiting faculty at University of Georgia’s study abroad program in Cortona, Italy; the prestigious Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy; and the University of Arkansas Program in Rome, Italy. Thompson has been awarded numerous residencies including Yaddo, Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, Women’s Studio Workshop, the Visual Studies Workshop, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Atlanta Printmakers Studio, Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon and a winter letterpress residency at Penland School of Craft. Thompson received her BFA in Printmaking from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In addition to teaching and curating, previously Thompson worked at Dieu Donné Papermill, Harlan & Weaver Intaglio and the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, now the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions.
Thompson also served for thirteen years as Professor of Book, Print and Paper Arts at Memphis College of Art [MCA], Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Curator and Director of Visiting Artist Lectures. As curator, she directed the overall management and administration of the gallery’s exhibition and visiting artist program; conceiving and directing all publications supporting the gallery’s voice; and maintaining and directing a dynamic and high-profile exhibition schedule for the gallery. During that time, Thompson created a national reputation and curatorial vision for the gallery at MCA. Exhibitions were reviewed in both local and national publications. Some of the international artists presented during her tenure included, among others, Louise Bourgeois, Petah Coyne, Lesley Dill Andres Serrano, Gary Schneider, and Amy Sillman; while visiting artists of the lecture series comprised Ghada Amer, Janine Antoni, Polly Apfelbaum, Willie Cole, Petah Coyne, Lesley Dill and Juan Sanchez. In 2000, Thompson founded the New Visions Exhibitions Series that focused on bringing cutting edge, challenging contemporary art to the College and the community-at-large.
Thompson has also been visiting faculty at University of Georgia’s study abroad program in Cortona, Italy; the prestigious Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy; and the University of Arkansas Program in Rome, Italy. Thompson has been awarded numerous residencies including Yaddo, Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, Women’s Studio Workshop, the Visual Studies Workshop, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Atlanta Printmakers Studio, Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon and a winter letterpress residency at Penland School of Craft. Thompson received her BFA in Printmaking from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In addition to teaching and curating, previously Thompson worked at Dieu Donné Papermill, Harlan & Weaver Intaglio and the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, now the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions.