Spectators: Photographs by Tom Patton, Words by Rob Davidson

Rob Davidson is the author of two short story collections, Field Observations (Missouri, 2001) and The Farther Shore (Bear Star, 2012), and a scholarly monograph, The Master and the Dean: The Literary Criticism of Henry James and William Dean Howells (Missouri, 2005). Davidson’s awards and honors include winning the 2009 Camber Press Fiction Award, judged by Ron Carlson; a 1997 AWP Intro Journals Project Award; a Pushcart Prize nomination; and having twice been selected Artist-in-Residence at the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony in Woodstock, New York. His fiction, essays and interviews have appeared in Zyzzyva, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Indiana Review, The Normal School, New Delta Review, the AWP Writer’s Chronicle, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing and American literature at California State University, Chico.

Tom Patton has been actively engaged with photography since 1970. He received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute (1976), MA (1977) and MFA (1982) degrees from University of New Mexico. He has held full-time teaching appointments since 1982. From 1983-2002 Tom headed the photography program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and was the chief architect of their successful BFA program. Patton joined the Art and Art History faculty at California State University, Chico in 2002, Chairing the program until 2007. With nearly 250 exhibitions and more than 60 publications, Patton’s art has been widely seen. In addition to shows in the USA, he’s also shown in Australia, Japan and Europe. Patton has received fellowships from the James D. Phelan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts as well as numerous University grants. His work is included in several prominent public collections including: Australian National Gallery; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; St. Louis Art Museum; Seattle Art Museum; Portland Art Museum; Milwaukee Art Museum; Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; and the Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website