Frank Shifreen (born February 29, 1948) is an American artist, curator, and teacher. Shifreen played a significant part in the art movement of New York City in the early 1980s, organizing massive artist-run shows that brought thousands of people to Gowanus, Brooklyn. Since then, he has organized socially conscious art exhibitions across the United States and abroad, including From the Ashes, a massive exhibition organized in the aftermath of 9/11. A neo-expressionist and social sculptor, he is a graduate of the Pratt Institute and Adelphi University, he is currently finishing a doctorate in art and art education at the Teachers College at Columbia University. Early life Shifreen was born in New London, Connecticut on February 29, 1948. He was raised in New York City, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in 1976. Artistic background Shifreen is a mixed-media artist who has worked in painting, sculpture, digital photography, live performance, landscape painting, and massive installations. His early inspiration included the work of the great abstract expressionists, such as Clyfford Still, Philip Guston, and Willem de Kooning. Starting after he graduated in 1976, Shifreen began designing sets and props for various theater and dance companies in the United States and Europe. He began advertising his own solo exhibitions in 1976 with distinctive black-and-white posters plastered throughout New York City. He later used the same tactics to advertise the larger artist-organized events he helped found. His work has been a staple in underground shows and galleries on the Lower East Side, Manhattan and Brooklyn since the 1970s. By Winter of 2001, he had already had more than 40 shows of his painting and sculpture in the U.S. and Europe. He has performed at venues such as Club 57, Des Refusees, and the Boston Museum School. His work has appeared in the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The City Museum of San Francisco, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Vassar College, and the Gallerie di Collosseo in Italy. Teaching background In 1993 began attending Adelphi University, graduating with a master's degree in Science and Education (specifically special education) in 1996. He started teaching homebound disabled students for the New York City Department of Education in September 1996. He began attending Columbia University in 2001, and he is currently finishing a doctorate in Art and Art Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. His specific area