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Early Life, Family and Training

Tim Lowly was born Timothy Hadlock Grubbs in 1958 in Hendersonville, North Carolina. His early years were shaped by a move to South Korea when he was three years old, following his parents who served there as Presbyterian missionaries. During this time, he spent his days learning the piano and the guitar, developing a connection to music that would remain a constant throughout his life.

His formal training in art took place at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he focused his studies on art. In 1981, he married Sherrie Rubingh. The couple made the choice to change their surname to Lowly, a decision that reflected a shared sense of identity. In 1985, they had a daughter named Temma.

Technique and Style

Lowly’s early practice was defined by the exacting, slow process of egg tempera. This method requires mixing pigment with egg yolk to create paint, a technique that demands patience and precision. His work from this period often focuses on children placed in mysterious or unsettling circumstances. He frequently uses the image of his daughter, Temma, who is severely disabled, to explore themes of human presence and vulnerability. Through these figures, he seeks to move the viewer toward a sense of compassion, looking at disabled children as human beings rather than through the lens of what is considered normal or abnormal.

Since 2000, his primary medium has shifted toward matte acrylic. This change in material does not alter the quiet, observational nature of his subjects. His paintings often feel intimate, as if the viewer is standing in close proximity to the figures within an interior space. There is a tension between the physical distance of the subjects and the psychological intimacy of the scenes. The works often take on an ethereal quality, appearing as interpretations of photographic images that capture a specific, fleeting moment of connection or isolation.

• Beloved (2004)
• Listen (1995)
• Temma on Earth (1999)

Career and Professional Life

Lowly’s life has been shared between the studio and the classroom. For nearly three decades, from 1994 to 2023, he served as a professor and the gallery director at North Park University in Chicago. This period of teaching coincided with a steady recognition of his practice through various grants and fellowships. He received an Individual Artist Grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts in 1987, and later, the Illinois Arts Council awarded him Fellowships in Visual Art in both 1995 and 2005.

His work often addresses the presence of disability in daily life, moving away from seeing it as something separate from the human experience. He uses his paintings to advocate for a specific kind of sight—one that views people as they are, without the labels of normal or freak. This focus is often tied to his daughter, Temma, whose life informs much of his recent output. He currently resides in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, where he continues to focus on his making of art.

Where to See the Works Today

His paintings reside in several permanent collections across the United States. You might find his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Other pieces are held by the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. These works sit in quiet spaces, waiting to be seen by those who walk through the galleries.

In the South, the Arkansas Art Center maintains a collection of his art. His presence is also felt in the Pacific Northwest, where the Frye Museum in Seattle, Washington, holds his paintings. Even in corporate settings, his imagery is present, such as in the McDonald's Corporate Collection. These various locations keep his visual language accessible to different audiences.