Mel Rosas: Semiotics in Spanish, La mano
The James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History’s Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, at Wayne State University (WSU), is pleased to present Mel Rosas: Semiotics in Spanish, La mano, a billboard featured on the corner of N. Woodward Ave. and E. Forest St., Detroit, June 2 through July 9, 2021.
Mel Rosas, Faculty Emeritus, has served over 45 years as Professor of Painting and Drawing and Elaine L. Jacob Chair for the Art Department.
“Mel has made a real impact on the lives of so many Wayne State students through his decades of teaching in the city of Detroit. His powerful legacy lives on through work such as this,” said Sheryl Oring, Professor and Chair of the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History.
Mel Rosas: Semiotics in Spanish, La mano
N. Woodward Ave. and E. Forest St., Detroit
June 2 – July 9, 2021
Semiotics in Spanish, La mano, 2003 – 2021, oil on panel, Mel Rosas; presented by the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit
Photo Credit: Jeff Cancelosi
Biography:
Mel Rosas was born in Des Moines, IA and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Drake University in Des Moines. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Mel is a former professor with the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan where he served from 1976 - 2021. On June 2, 1994, he received a Board of Governor’s Faculty Recognition Award for outstanding professional achievement. From 2013 - 2021, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to WSU in the areas of creative activity, teaching, and service, Mel was appointed as the Elaine L. Jacob Endowed Chair in Visual Arts.
Mel has exhibited his drawings and paintings extensively in local and national venues and one can view his work in numerous corporate and private collections on national and local levels. Past exhibitions include the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; the Lemberg Gallery, Birmingham, MI; Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC; Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, OH; and the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. In addition, he has mounted eight solo exhibitions at the Davidson Gallery in New York City where his work was represented from 1991 to 2018.
His paintings and drawings are included in numerous private and corporate collections including the Chemical Bank, New York, NY, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, Carnegie/Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, Southeast Banking Corporation, Miami, FL, and the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.
He has been a recipient of the following grants: A Visual Artist’s Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1993; an Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Grant, New York, NY, 2003/2004; a Wayne State University Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Award, 2006 through 2008; and two Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grants, New York, NY, 2009 and 2018.
