Cliff Tresner, Professor of Art, comes from a farming background on the plains of Illinois and Indiana.
He attended Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, and earned a BFA in Sculpture/Woodworking
in 1990. From there he came to the south, attending The University of Mississippi,
Oxford, MS, and receiving his MFA in sculpture in 1994.
Mr. Tresner has been teaching sculpture and drawing at the University of Louisiana
at Monroe (ULM) since 1997. He has received many grants and awards including Best
in Show at the Louisiana Contemporary 2014 exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern
Art, New Orleans, LA; a Louisiana Division of Arts Fellowship; Northeast Louisiana
Arts Council’s “Artist of the Year Award”; second place award in the National Outdoor
Sculpture Competition, Lakeland, FL; and has received numerous Career Advancement
Grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts.
Mr. Tresner has an extensive exhibition record in drawing, painting, and sculpture.
His recent focus has been on large-scale outdoor public sculpture with exhibitions
in FL, NC, VA, LA, AL, NY, NC, and MS.
He serves the community as director of ULM's Sculpture Garden, an exhibition space
devoted to bringing artists from around the nation to the University and local community;
Director of ULM's Bry Hall Gallery, exhibiting artists of all disciplines; board member
of the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council; and is currently historian of Kappa Pi International
Art Fraternity.