IMPACT
August 31-November 20, 2020
Impact presents works of art by Victoria Elbroch, the 2019 award recipient, and Shaina Gates and Mary O’Malley, finalists of the prestigious Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The exhibition, originally scheduled for the spring of 2020, was postponed when the University transitioned in March to remote learning in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The grant recognizes the contributions of working artists to the cultural life of the region by providing an annual financial award of $25,000 to support the artistic growth of artists and crafts people. It is designed to help in the development of an artist’s career, providing unrestricted financial assistance to meet the needs of artists to advance their studio practice. The award is also intended to inspire philanthropy by encouraging others to support artists living and working in our community as well as the many local arts organizations who present the visual arts to the public.
Victoria Elbroch is a long-standing member of the Boston Printmakers and the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. Her mixed- media drawings of landscape are sometimes made into photo-polymer intaglios. The grant has allowed her to express her passion for ancient trees by making much larger and more detailed drawings. Gifted in both drawing and a variety of printmaking techniques, Elbroch continues to expand her knowledge, skills, and talents by enrolling in classes, artist workshops, and intensives with enthusiasm and her love for learning. Her work is included in numerous public and private collections.
Shaina Gates’ graphite drawings of pieces of paper seemingly crumpled and folded randomly explore and illustrate complex mathematical concepts pulled from the field of computational origami. Mary O’Malley’s stylized works on paper merge her interest in garden design and flora and fauna with ordered, symmetrical compositions and ornamentation to create romantic designs of unabashedly bold patterns and embellishments.
While all three artists represented in Impact create works on paper, their widely divergent approaches and techniques speaks to the breadth of creativity, talent and independence of artists working locally and whose artistic contributions enrich the cultural life of the community.
