About

Drawn to the visual qualities of random found objects and drawing from a professional career in museum exhibition design, my work joins experimentation and happenstance with careful planning and design. I first began making mirrors out of old Monopoly and Parcheesi boards as gifts for family and friends. This quickly evolved into more unique, free-form wall reliefs and shadow boxes to eventually include free-standing sculptures and what I call “semi-functional furniture.” Most recently, I’ve dipped my toes in to making whimsical lighting fixtures.

A tinkerer by nature, I derive energy and inspiration from the iterative trial-and-error process of assemblage and from the joy of the hunt as I mine my collection of more than thirty years.  I want viewers to be drawn in to study details, discover materials, and ponder possible motives and narratives.

“Selecting an object is a creative act. When an object’s practical function is removed, it becomes something else. The act of presenting the object and giving it a title, introduces ‘a new thought,’ thereby giving it a new meaning.”

— Marcel Duchamp

EXHIBITIONS

SOLO:

Re|Context, The Art League Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia, August 11 — September 5, 2021.

Transcomplementations, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio, June 29 — August 15, 2019.

GROUP:

Circular Showcase Creative Reuse Design Competition, Community Forklift, Edmonston, Maryland, October 15, 2026.

Glen Echo Park Labor Day Art Show, Glen Echo, Maryland, September 5-7, 2026.

Curator’s Selects | Artomatic 2024, The Athenaeum, Alexandria, Virginia, June 27 — August 4, 2024. Group show consisting of work by fifteen artists selected by Athenaeum curators from among the 800+ artists who participated in DC’s Artomatic 2024 earlier in the year.

Artomatic 2024, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC, March 8 — April 28, 2024.

Our American Soul: National Juried Group Show, Gallery Underground, Arlington, Virginia, February 27 — March 29, 2024. 3rd prize recipient for Self-Inflicted.

Xylem: A Branch of the Permanent Collection, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio, February, 2023 through Fall, 2023.

Artists’ Choice: Regional Juried Group Show, Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC, August 4 — 27, 2023.

Bits & Pieces, Falls Church Arts, Falls Church, Virginia, November 19, 2022 — January 8, 2023.

Dada 2.0, Del Ray Artisans, Alexandria, Virginia, February 4 — 26, 2022.

Line upon Line, Falls Church Arts, Falls Church, Virginia, November 6 — December 12, 2021.

2021 Fall Salon, Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia, November 10 — December 12, 2021.

Smithsonian staff art shows 1998, 2011.

JUROR:

44th Annual Show, Anderson Arts Center, Anderson, South Carolina, 2019.

EXTRAS

Blog Interview, Ten Questions for Bryan Sieling, The Art League, Alexandria, Virginia, August 13, 2021.

Video Interview, The Art League, Alexandria, Virginia, August 12, 2021.

BIO

2020 — present / Recontextualizer and Tinkerer at bryansieling.com, Alexandria, Virginia

2009 – 2020 / Chief of Design, National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington, DC

2000 – 2008 / Chief of Design, Newseum, Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC

1991 – 2000 / Exhibition Designer & Design Manager, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC

1989 – 1991 / Exhibition Designer, Staples & Charles, Ltd., Washington, DC

1983 – 1987 / Curator of Education & Ancient Legacies Exhibition Project Manager, Southern Ohio Museum & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio

1982 — 1983 / Volunteer docent and gallery assistant, Southern Ohio Museum & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, Ohio

EDUCATION

1987 - 1989 / M.A. Museum Studies with concentrations in exhibition and set design, The George Washington University, Washington, DC

1977 – 1981 / B.S. Environmental Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1973 — 1977 / Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth, Ohio