Sherry Leedy established Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art over two and a half decades ago. Since the gallery opened, Leedy has curated literally hundreds of solo and group exhibitions that have set a standard of excellence. From the start Leedy worked with nationally and internationally known artists including some of the most important American ceramic and glass master artists of our time, Peter Voulkos, Rudy Autio, Jun Kaneko, John Mason, Therman Statom and Dale Chihuly among others. In addition to the gallery’s prominence in the Midwest, it is known nationally by reputation and through its participation in prestigious international art fairs in Chicago, New York and Miami.
Sherry Leedy is recognized as an important leader in the revitalization of the visual art scene in Kansas City. As the first and longest running contemporary art gallery in the neighborhood, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art was instrumental in the establishment of the Crossroads Arts District. The Kansas City Historical Society acknowledged Leedy in 2001 as a recipient of their Preservation Award and Leedy received the Urban Hero Award from the Downtown Council of Kansas City in 2007 for her efforts in creating and revitalizing the Crossroads Arts District.
In addition to her gallery activities, Sherry Leedy is currently working as co-curator on a major retrospective exhibition, Chris Gustin: Masterworks in Clay, for the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA. The exhibition will open in October 2012. In 2004, Leedy organized, curated, and toured a museum exhibition of artist Judy Onofrio’s sculpture of the last decade, Come One, Come All. The exhibition traveled to the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO; the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, the North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks; and the Rochester Arts Center, Minnesota. In 1996, Leedy co-curated Pure Vision: American Bead Artists, with B.J. Shigaki, former Director of the Rochester Arts Center, Minnesota for Exhibits USA. Pure Vision toured museums throughout the United States from 1997-2000.
Sherry Leedy holds a M.F.A. degree from the University of Kansas, Lawrence and a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri. She received a National Endowment for the Arts/Mid American Arts Alliance Fellowship in 1984. Leedy taught at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls; Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS; and the Kansas City Art Institute, MO before establishing her gallery.
Sherry Leedy continues her commitment to her own art at her studio in Kansas City. Leedy’s work is in the permanent collections of the Nerman Museum for Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; Sprint Corporation, Leawood, KS; First National Bank, Columbia, MO; and AT&T, Kansas City, MO among others.