Professor
School of Arts & Sciences
Sonja C. Davidow ’56 Endowed Chair of Fine Arts
Joyce J. Kolligian Distinguished Professor in the Fine and Performing Arts
jkeenan@colby-sawyer.edu
603.526.3667
Professor Keenan joined the faculty in 1990 and teaches all aspects of ceramics, East Asian art history, First-Year Experience and Wesson Honors Program courses, along with online courses in visual art studies. In conjunction with his faculty role, he serves as the Director of William H. and Sonja C. Davidow ‘56 Fine Art Gallery, which presents four to five major exhibitions each year.
Active internationally, his studio work explores Raku and high fired glazed ceramics, along with anagama wood-fired functional and sculptural clay work. Professor Keenan has led students on earthquake relief and field study trips to Nepal for the Wesson Honors Program and in 2015 was a Fulbright scholar in the craft/ceramics department of the Tokyo University of the Arts.
Professor Keenan was named the Joyce J. Kolligian Distinguished Professor of Fine and Performing Arts in 2009 and awarded the Sonja C. Davidow ’56 Endowed Chair of Fine Arts in 2015. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. He has presented and exhibited his work widely in the United States and abroad.
Studio ceramics
Ceramic history
East Asian art history
Japanese language and culture
Kyoto City University of Arts, Graduate School, Kyoto, Japan, 1983-86, Ceramics and Art History, M.F.A. - C.A.G.S.
University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 1978-1982, East Asian Studies, B.A.
Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan, 1980-81
Associated Kyoto Program (AKP), Carlton College
UNH Elliot Fellowship recipient for junior year study of Japanese language, art and culture