Before her appointment at St. Edward's University, Hammonds was an independent curator, organizing large-scale art exhibitions and events including the "Visual Fringe" in 2004 and 2005, part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. In 2005, she accepted the position of exhibition coordinator at the Art Academy of Cincinnati where she developed a professional exhibition and visiting artist program. In addition, Hollis has been teaching art at the college level since 2001 at the University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University and the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Hammonds also founded and became the executive director of the nonprofit arts organization The Artery, in Newport, Ky. This 15,000 square foot facility housed a professional gallery for emerging and mid-career artists, a black-box theater and 15 artist studios rented at subsidized rates. The building was also home to the New Edgecliff Theater.

Born in the Independence, Ky., Hammonds followed in the footsteps of her artistically inclined parents, learning to draw, draft and paint at a young age.

"My work is simply about documentation; cataloguing and archiving my life through the observational drawing of all of that is around me," Hammonds said. "Growing up in the Midwest, collecting was a natural activity for me. From Cold War obsessions to nick-knack excesses, I mimicked my family's bizarre ritual of saving everything, and hoarding anything found in multiples. In rebellion against the excesses of my parents, I became a minimalist in my adult life. It is through the non-stop collection of these observational drawings that I'm playing out my childhood remembrances."

She graduated with a BFA in Drawing from Northern Kentucky University in 1998, and received an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Cincinnati in 2001.

Hammonds has been the recipient of many accolades throughout her career. She was named "Leading Woman in Arts and Entertainment in Cincinnati" in 2003, and was ranked number five as "Most Influential People in the Arts" by Cincinnati CityBeat that same year. She was also named "Graduate Student of the Year" and "Student of the Year" in 2001 at the University of Cincinnati.

She has exhibited her work throughout the U.S. including shows at Indiana State University, the Arts + Literature Laboratory, and Atlantic Center for the Arts. She was recently offered a residency at Millay Colony for the Arts, and received a Presidential Excellence Grant from St. Edward's University.

For more information on Hollis Hammonds visit http://myweb.stedwards.edu/lauraah