Richard Speer is the author of Matt Lamb:  The Art of Success (John Wiley & Sons) and a forthcoming literary novel.  His most recent short fiction appears in Sedition magazine.

Honored by the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists, Richard has contributed articles, essays, and reviews to Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Opera News, The Sacramento News & Review, GLASS Quarterly, Digital Photo Pro, and The Oregonian.  He is contributing editor at Art, Ltd., editor of the Matt Lamb Blog, and visual arts critic/Arts & Culture writer at Willamette Week, the Pulitzer Prize-winning alternative newsweekly in Portland, Oregon.  As a critic-at-large for ARTnews, he has reviewed shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palm Desert, Miami, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Portland.  He has written catalogue essays for some of the world's foremost contemporary artists.

Formerly a television news anchor/reporter, Speer worked at NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX affiliates throughout the United States and now uses his media expertise to help a variety of business, non-profit, and individual clients with writing, editing, and public relations projects.

As a print journalist he is acclaimed for his interviews and profiles of figures including Luciano Pavarotti, Philip Glass, Camille Paglia, Chuck Palahniuk, Barbara Branden, E. Fay Jones, and James Lambeth.  Lecturing on journalism, aesthetics, and popular culture, he has appeared before audiences at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), the Arie Crown Theater (Chicago) and the V.F.W. National Convention (Washington, D.C.), where he shared the podium with former Secretary of State Colin Powell.  As a talk radio guest, he has appeared on stations including KRLA (Los Angeles), WJR (Detroit), KPAM (Portland), KBOO (Portland), and WUCF (Orlando).  See complete résumé below.  E-mail Richard at richardspeer@gmail.com.

Richard Speer
Author/Journalist/Writing Consultant
E-mail:  richardspeer@gmail.com

Current Projects

Author
• Matt Lamb:  The Art of Success (John Wiley & Sons) is the critically acclaimed biography of controversial painter Matt Lamb.
• Forthcoming literary novel promises a lively, unconventional take on the soul of a generation.
• From the Heart:  The Sculpture of Martin Eichinger is a forthcoming coffee table book about sculptor Martin Eichinger, delving into the artist's life, career, and passionate advocacy of narrative romantic art.
• Forthcoming as-yet-untitled coffee table book will profile artists associated with the studio glass movement, among them Klaus Moje, Richard Marquis, Dante Marioni, Jessica Loughlin, Giles Bettison, and many others.
• Forthcoming murder mystery doubles as a biting satire of Speer's former milieu, local television news.
• Latest short fiction, "Blood, Sex, and Adobe," appears in Sedition magazine.

Freelance Writer
Current and recent projects include articles, essays, and reviews in:
• Newsweek;
• Salon;
• The Los Angeles Times;
• ARTnews;
• Art, Ltd.;
• Opera News;
• GLASS Quarterly;
• The Sacramento News & Review;
• Digital Photo Pro;
• The Oregonian;
• and other national, regional, and local publications (click hyperlinks above to see clips).

Catalogue essays include:
• an essay on artist Jun Kaneko's New Glass at Bullseye Gallery (Portland, OR);
• an essay on painter Matt Lamb's exhibition, Lamb Encounters Picasso at the Centre Picasso (Horta, Spain);
• an essay on Matt Lamb's exhibition, Lamb Encounters Miró at the Centre Miró (Mont-roig, Spain)
• an essay on Henry Hillman, Jr.'s glass sculptures
• an essay on Joe Thurston's abstract paintings at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery (Portland, OR);
• an essay on painter Michael Kessler's Calvin Cycles at the Gallery Bienvenu (New Orleans, LA), showcased at the Red Dot Art Fair (Miami Beach, FL)
• essays on painter Barry Mack's series, Natural Forces and Mack's series, Doorways at Lawrence Gallery (Portland, OR);
• an essay on Santa Fe painter Selena Engelhart at Atomic Café (Santa Fe, NM) ;
• and a monograph on painter Piet Mondrian for Final Cause.
 

Visual Arts Critic/Arts and Culture Writer, Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon
Review art exhibits, shows, and happenings at galleries and museums in Portland for the city's Pulitzer Prize-winning alternative newsweekly; report on cultural news events and emerging figures in the Northwest and larger West Coast art scene; edit the paper's weekly Visual Arts coverage, including gallery listings and News & Hangings; contribute cultural and lifestyle features and cover stories, including restaurant reviews and profiles of local and national cultural figures such as Camille Paglia, Chuck Palahniuk, and Philip Glass; maintain an active presence in the Northwest arts community; serve as moderator and/or panelist in round-table discussions on art-related topics, such as the televised panel discussion on digitally produced art sponsored by the Beaverton Arts Commission; serve as judge for statewide art competitions and juried shows.   Click here to read current and past visual arts reviews and features.

Editor, Matt Lamb Blog
Edit the official blog of acclaimed painter Matt Lamb; update content three times a week; facilitate discussion of artistic, metaphysical, and political issues between Lamb and the online community; manage and moderate comments; initiate themed topics, acting as liaison between Lamb and web-surfers; publicize the blog by writing press releases and online communications; administrate all technical and editorial issues related to the blog.

Freelance Editor/Writing Consultant
Help corporate, small-business, non-profit, and private clients with editing, writing, public relations needs, and advertising copy under the auspices of Speer Creative Consulting.  Create, co-author, and edit book proposals and nonfiction books including A Child Divided with Susan Buchweitz and Advertising:  Industry in Peril by John Michelet.  Provide strategic public relations counsel and marketing services to a variety of business clients, including:  "FreeNation.TV"; Saint Edward Mercy Medical Center; Derma-Tech; Wiederkehr Wineries; Café Chisme; and Chez Charles restaurant.  Facilitate media coverage.  Produce corporate videos.  Manage all aspects of trade show planning, with a proven track record of success at international conventions such as the National Association of Television Production Executives (NATPE).  Supervise internal and external corporate communications, including press releases, memos, executive speeches, and newsletters.  Provide writing, proofreading, photography, videography, editing, web-design, on-camera training, and image consulting services.

 

Public Speaker/Lecturer
Lecture on topics including journalistic ethics, art criticism, music, and philosophy before organizations such as Portland State University, Portland Community College, Newspace Center for Photography, Portland City Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The Objectivist Center, and the New Intellectual Forum.  Click here for more information.

 

Awards and Honors

 

• 1st Place, Best Lifestyle Feature, Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Chapter (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska) for "The Fuzz that Was," cover story for Willamette Week

• "Best Writer Keeping Portland in the National Eye," TJ Norris, unBLOGGED, 2007 Northwest Best

• "Best Speak-Your-Mind Arts Writer of 2006," TJ Norris, TJNorris.net, "Best of 2006"

• "Best Fashionably Scandalous Writer of 2005," TJ Norris, OregonLive.com, "Best of 2005"

• 1st Place, Best Spot News Report, Associated Press, for "Nursing Home Fire" for KFSM-TV

• 1st Place, Best Feature Report, Associated Press, for "Beat the Heat" for KFSM-TV

• 1st Place, Best Feature Report, Associated Press, for "Flavors of Life" for KFSM-TV

• 2nd Place, Best Feature Report, Associated Press, for "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow" for KFSM-TV

• 2nd Place, Best Feature Report, Associated Press, for "Ozark Gothic" for KFSM-TV

• 1st place, Best Spot News Report, Associated Press, for "Sister Spirit Protest" for WHLT-TV

• Inductee, American Academy of Achievement, recipient, Golden Plate Award

• 1st Place National Winner, National Association of Broadcasters, Broadcast Education Association $1,500 Award

• 1st Place National Winner, Veterans of Foreign Wars "Voice of Democracy" $16,000 Broadcast Scriptwriting Competition

 

Past Projects and Work Experience

 

Anchor/Reporter, KFSM-TV (New York Times-owned CBS affiliate), Fayetteville/Fort Smith, Arkansas
Co-anchored top-rated 6 and 10 pm weekend newscasts; covered local and national politics, local censorship/civil liberties issues, and features (specializing in medical news and reports about architecture and the culinary arts); profiled Frank Lloyd Wright protégé E. Fay Jones, architect and passive solar design pioneer James Lambeth, and gourmet chefs Charles Clark, Cheryl Cuzco, and Miles James; served as Managing Editor for weekend newscasts, supervising weekend staff, providing direction to weekend reporters and producers, and acting as liaison between weekend and weekday staff; reported general assignments during the week with multiple daily live shots; helped maintain and update the station's interactive website.

Weeknight Co-Anchor, 5 News on Fox-46, KPBI-TV (FOX affiliate), Fort Smith, Arkansas
Co-anchored 9 pm newscast produced by KFSM and aired live on KPBI-TV.

Anchor/10 p.m. Producer, WJTV (CBS affiliate), Jackson, Mississippi
Anchored weeknight News Now and hourly prime-time news updates at this powerhouse station in Mississippi's capital city; on-line produced the station's flagship weeknight newscast, JTV12 News at 10.

6 and 10 p.m. Anchor/Reporter, WHLT-TV (CBS affiliate), Hattiesburg/Laurel, Mississippi
Co-anchored weeknight 22News at 6; produced and anchored 22News at 10; reported general assignments; did live shots for WHLT, WJTV, and CONUS; profiled opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti and U.S. Senator Trent Lott.

10 p.m. Co-anchor/Reporter, WHLT-TV, Hattiesburg/Laurel, Mississippi

Weekend Anchor/Weekday Reporter/Fill-in Weathercaster WHLT-TV, Hattiesburg/Laurel, Mississippi

Editor/Assistant Producer, WESH-TV (NBC affiliate), Orlando, Florida
Wrote news copy and edited videotape for weekday 5 pm and 6 pm newscasts; edited videotape for hour-long 2News Weekend Sunrise and 2News at Noon.

Newswriter/Overnight Update Producer, WESH-TV, Orlando, Florida
Wrote and produced updates for anchors Steve Rondinaro, Robin Chapman, Wendy Chioji, and Scott Hanson.

News Reporter/Anchor, 89.9 WUCF-FM, Orlando, Florida

News Intern, WESH-TV, Orlando, Florida

News Intern, WFTV-TV (ABC), Orlando, Florida
(Additional responsibilities as assistant to Action Reporter Todd Ulrich.)

Anchor/Producer, Student Standpoint, a weekly half-hour show cable talk show produced in the studios of the University of Central Florida and aired throughout the state of Florida.

Announcer/Music D.J., 89.9 WUCF-FM, Orlando, Florida

Assistant Tour Guide, "Top Tours," Kaiserslautern, Germany
Assisted tour guide Kay Taylor on double-decker luxury bus tours from Germany to Amsterdam and London; gave presentations on artist Vincent Van Gogh in preparation for tours of the Vincent Van Gogh Museum; helped lead tour groups in The Hague, Vollendam, Madurodam Miniature Park, and Scheveningen boardwalk, and Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, "Beefeaters" Medieval Extravaganza, and Buckingham Palace's Changing of the Guard.

Pianist/Accompanist, German-American Institute, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Performed solo and as operatic/Broadway accompanist under Herr Hartmut Gimmler, Director of the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut, in concerts in the Saarbrücken/Saarlouis area.

 

Education

 

• Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

• Communications/Journalism major; Humanities minor

• Honors program graduate; 3.73 G.P.A.

• Phi Kappa Phi (academic honor society); Phi Eta Stigma (Society of Professional Journalists); Golden Key; "Who's Who Among American College Students"

• Graduate, Central Florida Lyric Opera Resident Singer's Training Program

• Valedictorian (4.0 G.P.A. on a 4.0 scale), Zweibrücken American High School, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

Additional Information

 

• Lecturer, Portland State University, English Department, "Writing about Events:  The Arts"
• Lecturer, Portland Community College, Art Department, "Artist Skills and Professional Practices"
• Lecturer, Newspace Center for Photography, "Deconstructing Criticism"
• Lecturer, Marty Rudolph Seminars, "How to Write an Effective Artist Statement"
• Guest speaker, Portland City Club, Arts and Culture Committee
• Moderator, panel discussion on digitally produced art, Beaverton Arts Commission, Beaverton, Oregon
• Faculty Member emeritus, The Objectivist Center, Washington, D.C.
• Nominator, Portland Art Museum Contemporary Northwest Art Awards
• Judge, Visual Codec "One Shot" competition and subsequent book
• Judge, "Best of Show" category, Beaverton Arts Commission Annual Visual Arts Showcase
• Judge, e-merge 2008, a biennial exhibition sponsored by Bullseye Gallery
• Seven-time host, local segments, Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon
• Fluent in German with strong knowledge of Italian and French
• Strong knowledge of politics, current events, and philosophy
• Musical background (former concert pianist and opera singer)
• Board Member emeritus, Fort Smith Symphony Steering Committee
• Excellent typist (90 wpm)
• Skilled in Microsoft Word, Newstar for Windows, Newstar II, Dynatech Newstar, Basys, etc.
• Videotape editing experience in DVC Pro (Digital), Betacam SP, MII, and 3/4" formats
  

 

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