Al Leitch
About Al Leitch
Having always been interested in art I was fortunate enough to have been selected to participate in art programs for high school students at the Carnegie Museum of Art and Carnegie Mellon University.
However, with engineering and business degrees, I pursued an academic career in accounting at several major universities, with the last 23 years at the University of South Carolina. During my career I taught many students, published over 60 articles in leading journals, coauthored three books and held endowed professorships. Upon retirement from USC I was named Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
Inspired by the Hudson River School and their vision of the natural beauty around us, I decided to renew my love of art upon retirement by taking numerous workshops and becoming active in the Columbia art community. I studied under Michael Story and Linda Sheppard, both nationally known pastel artists. I served as workshop coordinator, Vice President and President of the Crooked Creek Art League. I’m a member of the Village Artists Gallery at the Village of Sandhill where I show most of my work.
My work has been exhibited in numerous local and state venues, where I have won several awards. Of particular note, I was part of a two-month art show at the Center for the Arts at USC Beaufort. I was juried into the Southeastern Pastel Society's 17th, 18th and 19th International juried Exhibits in Atlanta; juried into the Southeastern Pastel Society’s Visual Arts Center Exhibition in Roswell, GA.; juried into Appalachian Pastel Society's 2018 show; selected to show one of my paintings at ArtFields, which is a competitive show featuring 400 artists from all over the Southeast; juried into from "Etchings to Pastels" at the Charleston Museum; and participated in the Pastel Society of South Carolina's shows at the Convention Center in Charleston, Old Santee Canal Museum and the Circular Congregational Church in Charleston. I was part of my Reunion’s art exhibit at the Bibliowicz Gallery in Millstein Hall at Cornell University. Recently I achieved Member of Excellence in the Southeastern Pastel Society and was juried into the American Pastel Society as an Associate Member.
