Aaron S. Bivins
Toledo, Ohio
Aaron S. Bivins artwork currently in stable representation at 20 North Gallery
For purchase inquiries, please contact 20 North Gallery:
419-241-2400 or info@20northgallery.com
Artist Biography
Aaron S. Bivins attended The University of Toledo in Ohio, receiving a B.A. in Art, as well as a Teaching Certification. He has also studied watercolor landscape painting with the late prominent Toledo watercolorist, Walter Chapman and acrylic and oil landscape painting with noted Toledo artist, Richard Dziak.
Working primarily in acrylic, oil and watercolor, he also explores other media as he paints portraits of people and animals, landscapes, architectural studies and still life. Mr. Bivins is a former junior high school art teacher in the Toledo Public School system—he now serves as a painting demonstrator and conducts watercolor and acrylic workshops and classes, as well as jurying art shows throughout the region.
Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards, including several Best of Show and First awards, at shows such as the Crosby Festival of the Arts (receiving a First Award in 2015), Toledo Botanical Gardens; Art on the Mall, The University of Toledo (First Award in 2012); the Roots of Diversity Multicultural Art Show, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo; Arts, Beats & Eats in Pontiac, Michigan; the Findlay Fine Arts Festival (in Ohio); the Marion Art and Music Festival (in Ohio); the Salt Fork Arts & Crafts Festival, Cambridge, Ohio (First Award in 2016); Harrison Rally Day for the Arts Fine Art Show, Perrysburg, Ohio (Best of Show in 2012) and many others.
Aaron Bivins’ paintings are represented at many galleries throughout the Northwest Ohio region and his numerous community and commercial gallery exhibits include two solo exhibitions at Flatlanders Gallery in Blissfield, Michigan; a 2017 solo exhibit at American Frame in Maumee, Ohio; 20 North Gallery’s 2017 Luminosity and yearly contributions to both the past annual Juneteenth Celebration at the Toledo Museum of Art and 20 North Gallery’s annual Black History Month exhibits—for which he was the featured artist in 2010. In spring of 2020, Bivins’ debuted a new series of abstract paintings in a solo exhibition at 20 North Gallery, Around the Corner: Aaron Bivins Abstract.
In 2015, he was honored with a solo exhibition, Great Migration, at the Main Library Gallery of Toledo Lucas County Public Library. The exhibit was inspired by the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to northern US cities in the early to mid-20th century. The show comprised twenty watercolor portraits of African American citizens, painted from historical and contemporary photographs, including some of Bivins’ own family, connecting contemporary audiences to the vast historical narrative of the Migration.
Mr. Bivins is an Associate member of the Ohio Watercolor Society and Past-President of the Northwestern Ohio Watercolor Society. He is also a member of the Toledo Artists Club. Aaron Bivins’ paintings are included in many private collections throughout the country, as well as in the corporate collection of ProMedica at The Toledo Hospital and the Toledo Federation of Art Societies’ permanent public collection.
Previous 20 North Gallery exhibitions including artwork by Aaron Bivins
- Ancestral Africa: January 26 – February 28, 2001. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Black History Month 2005: January 28 – February 28, 2005. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Black History Month 2006: January 27 – February 24, 2006. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Black History Month 2007: February 6 – 25, 2007. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Black History Month 2008: January 25 – February 28, 2008. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Black History Month 2009: January 30 – March 1, 2009. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- The 15th Annual Black History Month Exhibit: January 29 – March 6, 2010. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- The 16th Annual Black History Month Exhibit: January 28 – March 12, 2011. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Black History Month 2012: January 27 – March 10, 2012. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- 20 North/20 Years: April 20 – May 26, 2012. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Art for All Souls: November 2 – January 12, 2013. Click to view exhibit postcard.
- Luminosity: April 7 – June 30, 2017. Click to view exhibit page.
- Around the Corner: Aaron Bivins Abstract: April 10 – September 12, 2020. Click to view exhibit page.
- TFAS100+3: Juried Members’ Exhibit: October 9 – December 26, 2020. Click to view exhibit page.
- 20 North / 30 Years: April 19 – June 24, 2023. Click to view exhibit page.