Aaron S. Bivins

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.

Photo courtesy of the artist

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

For purchase inquiries, please contact 20 North Gallery:
419-241-2400  or  info@20northgallery.com