June 21, 2017

Blaise Tobia is a gifted and productive artist, a committed teacher, and a tremendous citizen of the College and University. He came to Drexel to co-develop our major in Photography and was its first director. He also helped develop the major in Digital Media and spent a year as its director. He has had solo exhibitions at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, the Hillyer Art Center, and O.K. Harris Gallery, and his work has been included in group shows in New York City, Beijing, London, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Antonio, among others. His book, Castle of Eufemio, was published in 2007.  Blaise’s advocacy and support for an empowered faculty in a system of shared governance and for the introduction of digital technologies into our curriculum and facilities are notable contributions that will continue to inform our College’s future.

He was an early adapter of digital imaging and introduced digital courses into the new photo major in 1989, making it one of the first with a digital component. He also began experimenting with digital online printing, using it for on-demand publication of numerous books. He was a visiting artist multiple times at the American Academy in Rome, as well as at the Vermont Studio Center, and his images have been featured extensively in numerous publications.

Blaise has been tireless in his service to the College, the University, and his field. He has served on the Faculty Senate, chaired the Westphal Faculty Caucus, represented Westphal as the Institutional representative to NASAD, served as an active participant in the College Art Association, and was a mainstay of the College’s Curriculum Committee.