Steve Snell

Steve Snell wants adventure, or at least the image of one. His work is inspired by the mythology and popular culture of American history and the Western landscape. He both celebrates and critiques this fantastic, fabricated, and complicated narrative through painting, video, and ‘real’ adventures. From floating a cardboard replica of Lewis and Clark’s keelboat on the Missouri River to a random encounter with Alec Baldwin while hiking across Western Massachusetts. 

Snell’s work attempts to engage life as though it were an epic movie, or at least present the image that it is one. Steve has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY, the Teton ArtLab in Jackson, WY, and along the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska and British Columbia, which was sponsored by the National Parks Service and Parks Canada. His work has been shown in galleries and film festivals throughout the United States, including the Aspen Shorts Fest and the Currents New Media Festival in Santa Fe. Steve earned his M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2011) as well as a B.F.A. in Painting / B.S. in Art Education from Miami University (2006). He currently is an Assistant Professor of Art in the Foundation Department at the Kansas City Art Institute.