Dale Edwin Sherrard

Dale Edwin Sherrard passed away Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. He was 53 years old.

The son of John and Donna Shafer of Cambridge, Ohio, and the late Dale Erman Sherrard, he graduated from Cambridge High School before attending Columbus College of Art and Design. Upon moving to New York City in the early 1980s, he immersed himself in the lively downtown NYC arts scene, creating sound and performance art while moving in a wide circle of poets, artists and painters. He installed art pieces at the nightclub club AREA and performed at CBGB and similar venues, before moving to Liege, Belgium, where he founded Groupe Des Artistes. Upon returning to New York City in 1995, he took a job at Dresdner-Kleinwort-Wasserstein, where he worked for 12 years. While there, he worked toward and completed a Master of Fine Arts degree from Bard College's Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, where he was mentored by such sonic innovators and composers such as the late Maryanne Amacher, Pauline Oliveros and master engineer Bob Bielecki.

His work and collaborations (with sculptor Luca Buvoli) were installed in the La Biennale di Venezia (2007), ICA (Philadelphia) and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), among other venues. He was always working with artists, filmmakers, poets and dancers. His work was focused primarily on the use of human voice and text, and he was particularly interested in the subtleties of concise audio editing, multi-channel production, "guerrilla" field recording and audio sculpture. As mentioned, he has worked with many artists over the years – both in New York and Montana – and his sound work and collaborations have been with artists, writers, dancers, and filmmakers such as Anya Cloud, Roger Hedden, John Pilson, Courtney Saunders, Andrew Smith, Tony Torn and Ken White, as well as with his wife, poet Prageeta Sharma.

In 2007, Sherrard moved to Missoula, where he performed and worked on many films, presented numerous installations, happenings and sonic works, and taught in University of Montana's Media Arts program, where he founded and built a sonic arts sound lab. A deeply admired professor and dear friend to all, he was sought out for his inspiring pedagogy and deep engagement with artistic practices.

Beloved father of artist Aja Mujinga Sherrard; brother of Jody Sherrard; uncle of Ashley McCullers, Chase Robinson, Lauren Robinson and Corbin Robinson; stepbrother to Sue Rakowich, Michael Shafer and Rick Shafer; son-in-law to Mahesh and Bimla Sharma, brother-in-law to P. Manu Sharma; and husband of Prageeta Sharma. He will be profoundly missed.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to this scholarship: youcaring.com/other/memorial-scholarship-in-investigative-art-practices-in-sound/290695.
Read Dale Sherrard's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.