Nicolas teaches beginning and intermediate levels ceramics courses as well as sculptural foundations and design. Other responsibilities include managing the Studios and Department Programs. He was a two-year Resident Artist at the Archie Bray Foundation. He has exhibited regionally and nationally in small group and solo exhibitions at venues including Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Carnegie Art Center, Phipps Center for the Arts, Modlin Center for the Arts, and Mulvane Art Museum. Nicolas has recently received a McKnight Artist Fellowship and a Minnesota State Arts Board, Artist Initiative Grant.
Nicolas uses clay and press-molded multiples to build sculptural accumulations which investigate the confluence of society, geography, and memory. Regarding clay and the ceramic process, he reflects “…a material which is both intimately connected to our humanity and can be made to take any form, a companion to society, I feel it owns a historicity like almost no other.”
ART-121: Sculptural Modes
ART-241: Clay & Context: Intermediate Ceramics
ART-299: Arts Now: Pro Practice + Creative Dev
ART-141: Form and Surface, Developing Ceramic Tech
ART-144: Building Ceramic Surface & Composition
ART-243: Handblt Cer Sculpt I
ART-291: Independent Study
ART-383: Handbuilt Ceramic Sculpt II
ART-391: Independent Study
ART-242: Wheel Thrown Ceramics I
ART-382: Wheel Thrown Ceramics II
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Regis Center for Art MFA Northern Michigan University BFA