James "Jim" Coates headshot

James Coates, M.F.A.

Professor Emeritus

College
Fine Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Art & Design

Research Interests

Environmental Sculpture, Ceramics, Paper Making 


Education

M.F.A., Clemson University
B.F.A., University of South Carolina

Biosketch

Jim Coates lives and maintains a studio in Southern, N.H. He completed his M.F.A. at Clemson University and his B.F.A. at the University of South Carolina. His sculptural installations, objects and drawings have been exhibited nationally. He has permanent public commissions at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord, N.H., Saint's Memorial Hospital in Lowell, Mass., and his work is represented in numerous private collections. He has received sculpture fellowships from the South Carolina State Arts Commission, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. He is a former MacDowell Artist Colony Fellow, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts has honored him with the designation of Lifetime Fellow. 

Jim Coates's work revolves around an interest in shelter forms (primitive, modern and contemporary) and their relationship to the natural environment. He is interested in the simplicity and proportions of these iconic shapes and humankind's psychological dependence on them. He uses natural materials to focus on the ephemeral and fragile qualities found in nature and our built environment. The natural environment and the woodland forest continue to guide his studio practice.

  • UMass Lowell Image
    Discovery
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    Hood Museum
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    Moving Day
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    Nesting Shelter
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    Ritual of Shelter
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    Rose Museum Lean-Tos
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    The Shelter Within
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    Slocom Drawing
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    Tiverton Tower
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    Tree House