Professor David Todd is an esteemed art history professor at DSC. His developed approach to teaching is thoughtful and unique, which can all be attributed to his distinctive past.
A former basketball prodigy from Northern Pittsburgh, his early years were dominated by sports, not art. Ranked number one in his county, Todd was a star on the court, earning a basketball scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh—ranked sixth in the nation at the time.
Todd was a year ahead in school and finished high school at 17. Graduating in the midst of his parent’s stressful divorce, Todd decided not to pursue his basketball scholarship. Instead, he chose to do construction work in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, before eventually enrolling at Slippery Rock University.
Unsure of his direction, he took general education classes before a friend suggested he take an art course.
“You’re always drawing,” his friend remarked, “Why don’t you take an art class?”. Todd did just that, enrolling in a painting class. “So, I took a painting class, and I thought, this is what I’m supposed to do!”.
From that moment on, Todd’s focus shifted entirely to art. He majored in fine arts with a concentration in painting, graduating with the first-ever fine arts degree in painting from Slippery Rock University at the age of 21. He was deeply inspired by the “humanistic” art professors at Slippery Rock University.
Soon after, his painting entitled Wedlock won a student art competition. He describes the painting as an “anxiety” ridden, nude illustration of a man and a woman from their knees up. His prize was a full scholarship to attend Steven F. Austin University in Texas. Despite the uncertainty, he packed everything he owned into a Dodge and drove over 1,200 miles to Nacogdoches, Texas, to pursue his MFA. By the age of 24, he had earned both his MFA and written his doctoral thesis, becoming the youngest graduate in the history of the program.
Todd admires the Renaissance period, although he identifies as an abstract expressionist. He has a deep appreciation for Dutch-American artist, Willem de Kooning, one of the pioneers of abstract expressionism. As an artist, Todd works primarily with acrylics and mixed media, incorporating materials like shards of stained glass, cloth, paper, and even game pieces into his large-scale works. His process is organic, creating pieces with “no beginning and no end,” heavily influenced by cubistic space and surrealism.
“My main goal, for all students, whether they’re in art history or whether they are in studio art is, confidence in self-expression.”
His passion for encouraging creative thinking extends beyond the classroom, as he leads art seminars for young adults on the autism spectrum every four to six weeks—a deeply personal commitment, as his son Aidan, now 26, has Asperger’s syndrome.
“Art is the mirror of society,” he says, emphasizing that without the artifacts and paintings from past civilizations, we would know little about human history.
Todd’s advice for students considering a career in the arts is to, “know it all”, “build that library in your head”, and “to be wide open, no preconceived notion.” He encourages students to always seek adventure.