Shaun Slifer

Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Shaun Slifer (b.1979) is an Appalachian artist, nonfiction author, self-taught historian, scrimshander, and museum professional based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His multidisciplinary creative work challenges the oppression of currently-dominant historical narratives, both social and ecological. Shaun regularly works in collaboration with artists and other specialists, and in collectively structured groups including the now-disbanded Street Art Workers and the Howling Mob Society, and currently Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative (of which he is a founding member) and the award-winning West Virginia Mine Wars Museum (where he is the Creative Director). Shaun has exhibited internationally in a variety of museums, galleries, and nonprofit spaces, as well as non-authorized public settings. He has presented on his research and creative practice at numerous universities and conferences in the United States and Western Europe. His work has been exhibited across the US and the world, including at the Queens Museum, the Biennial of Graphic Arts (Ljubljana, Slovenia), and the U.S. Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia (Italy). For his work with the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, he was presented with Honorary Membership in the United Mine Workers of America, Local 1440 in Matewan, WV - he is currently a UMWA Associate Member. His forthcoming book, _So Much To Be Angry About: Appalachian Movement Press 1969-79_, will be available on West Virginia University Press in the spring of 2021. Currently living in Pittsburgh, PA, with roots in Nebraska and Tennessee, Shaun received a BFA with a concentration in sculpture from Watkins College of Art in Nashville in 2003.

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