BIO

April Deacon is a visual artist and art educator based in Wheelersburg, Ohio. She holds a BFA in Studio Art from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MA in Studio Art from Marshall University. Working primarily in painting, sculpture, and mixed media, her practice oscillates between celebrating and critiquing humanity by exploring the beauty, contradictions, and complexities of the human experience.

Her work has been exhibited nationally, with select exhibitions including Projecting Grace at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the Ohio Biennial Juried Exhibition at the Riffe Gallery, Hear Our Voice: Art of the Women’s March in Asheville, North Carolina, Come Along with Me at the Riffe Gallery, New Neon at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California, and Women of Appalachia at the Dairy Barn Arts Center. She is also a Joseph Editions Ohio Portfolio Artist.

In addition to her studio practice, April has dedicated more than two decades to teaching art at the secondary level. Currently at Portsmouth High School, she has twice been named Teacher of the Year. Her classroom philosophy centers on arts integration and community-based learning, often connecting students with visiting artists to create public art projects in Portsmouth, including large-scale relief murals and a human rights–themed sculpture garden. 

Exhibitions

Women of Appalachia, Dairy Barn Art Center, Athens, OH 2025

Here, Appleton Gallery , Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, OH September 2024

Cream of the Crop, SOMACC, Portsmouth, OH June 2024

Ohio Biennial Juried Exhibition, Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH January 2022

​Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum of Art, Portsmouth, OH July 2021

Projecting Grace, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA August 2020

Ohio Biennial Juried Exhibition, Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH January 2018

Hear Our Voice, Art of the Women's March, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC June 2017

Come Along with Me, Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH curated by Richard Fletcher April 2017

Hear Our Voice, Art of the Women's March, Seattle Center for Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA February 2017

Teachers Exhibit, The University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH February 2017

Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum of Art, Portsmouth, OH July 2016

Ohio Rising, Lancaster Festival, Lancaster, OH August 2015

Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum of Art, Portsmouth, OH July 2014

New Neon, The Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA February 2014 

Teachers Exhibit, The University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH November 2013

Once Upon A Time, The Pump House, Chillicothe, OH November 2013

​Reincarnate, Gallery 2011, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH April 2013

course/discourse, Baltimore, MD curated by Rick Delaney December 2012

AC-3D, The Danforth Gallery, Livingston, MT July 2012

Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum of Art, Portsmouth, OH July 2012

The Hillel Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH February 2012

Forgotten, Short North Tattoo, Columbus, OH December 2011

Eleven, Columbus, OH November 2011

Brothers Drake Meadery, Columbus, OH August 2011

Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum of Art, Portsmouth, OH July 2010

Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum of Art, Portsmouth, OH July 2008

Awakenings, M.A. Exhibition, Birke Art Gallery, Huntington, WV December 2007

Exhibition 280, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV April 2007

Body Shots, Marshall University, Huntington, WV March 2007

B.F.A. Exhibition, Lynn Mayhew Gallery, Delaware, OH March 2001

Five Colleges of Ohio Art Exhibition, Wooster, OH 2001

Permanent Collections

Columbus Museum of Art “The Idiosyncrasies of Jimmy Mountcastle” 2013 Gift of Ron and Anne Pizzuti

Awards and Publications

Commendation from Senator Uecker, Human Rights Garden Project, Portsmouth High School 2017

Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Portsmouth High School 2017

People's Choice AwardCream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum 2016

Best of Show, Cream of the Crop, The Southern Ohio Museum 2014

Make Your Mark, Lark Books, 2014

Ohio Portfolio Artist, Joseph Editions, Sponsored by Ron Pizzuti 2013

course/discourse by Rick Delaney 2012 

Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Portsmouth High School 2011

Education

Master of Arts, Studio Art, Painting, Marshall University, Huntington, WV  December 2007 

Teaching Certification, Visual Arts K-12, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH   July 2003

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH June 2002


CV

@aprilawakening

@aprilawakening