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Michele Chisholm Leavitt

   

Exploring the art making possibilities of cast off materials intrigues me. Quilt making and carpet making history bears witness to the varied artistic accomplishments of those exploring the application of art forms to recycled materials. Products born of this type of exploration are often meant for use but they are just as often meant to be enjoyed simply as visual art.
Stuff thrown out every day; plastic shopping bags, children’s toys, bottle caps, paper products, and card board spools, sail making and rope manufacturing materials, fiber, fabric, and used clothes are some of the things that suggest myriad inventive opportunities for me. My collection is growing and ideas keep flowing.
The entire body of my work includes collages made with fabric or paper materials, quilts, plastic laminated Plexiglas, carpets woven in Turkey, drawings, paintings, photos, and installations. I’m currently working on a large project combining photography, drawings, and constructions based on a single theme: unconsciously working and living within modern art.

Leavitt
'Friendship Sloop', machine sewn frazzlin’ appliqué, 12" x15"
 
   
 

Education: MFA Cornell University, BFA Rochester Institute of Technology

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2006-9   ART IN EMBASSIES, US Dept of State, American Embassy, Lithuania
2006   SELECTIONS FOR THE ART LEAGUE OF RI (juried) Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2006   ART QUILTS (juried) Whistler House Museum, Lowell, MA
2005   GENERATIONS OF R.I. MASTERS, 1890-2005, Imagine Fine Art, Smithfield, RI
2005-8   TRASHFORMATIONS, Fuller Craft Museum-traveling (Juror:  Lloyd Herman), Brockton, MA
2005, 02, 99, 98  NAM, 01, NAM ANNUAL JURIED
2004   SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT (solo installation) CCRI Knight Campus Gallery, RI
2004   ART QUILTS NEW ENGLAND (juried) Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA
2004   ART LEAGUE OF RI MEMBERS, A &C Fine Art gallery, East Greenwich, RI
2003   RISD SUMMER FACULTY, Providence, RI
2003   AMERICAN DEMOCRACY UNDER SIEGE (invitational) Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2003 & 1999- ABSTRACT AND AVANT GARDE  (juried) Wickford Art Association (award) RI
2003   CELEBRATING WOMEN ARTISTS, Rhode Island Tourism Council, Providence, RI
2003   CREATIVITY - NEW WORKS GRANT RECIPIENTS, Rhode Island Foundation Gallery, Providence, RI
2003   FIDELITY INVESTMENTS ANNUAL JURIED, (Juror: Jay Coogan), RI
2003   RI2000, 9/11/01(Juror: Judith Tannenbaum) Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2002-3- DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES (juried) Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
2002   MIXED MEDIA (juried) Providence Art Club, Providence, RI
2002   TEARS, University of Virginia Art Museum (solo installation)
2001   FOLLOWING THE THREAD; R I QUILTS (juried) Newport Art Museum, RI
2001   ARTISTS RESPOND TO THE ENVIRONMENT UNDER SIEGE (invitational) Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2000   RHYMES & RHYTHMS, ArtWorks! (Juried) New Bedford, MA
2000  - TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT (solo Installation) New Works Grant RI Foundation
1998, 1999- ART OF THE NORTHEAST (Juror, Alan Stone) Silvermine Guild, New Canaan, CT

ADJUNCT ART PROFESSOR:
2003   Present RISD, Pre College, Providence, RI
2003   Present Community College of Rhode Island
1985-86, 1988-89, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
1986-87 Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY.  86 - 7
1976-80 State University of New York, Delhi, NY

SELECTED AWARDS:
2001   Rhode Island Foundation, Individual Artist’s Award, New Works Program $15,000
1984   Cornell University, Research Fellowship
1984   Council for the Creative and Performing Arts Award, Cornell University $1500
1976   America the Beautiful Fund, Grant $2000

SELECTED COLLECTIONS:
University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA
Hallock Architects, Inc.  Wickford, RI
Louisa Sarofim collection, Board President, The Menil Collection, Houston TX
Claire Malliares’ collection, Vancouver, BC
The Elliott Porter House, Santa Fe, NM
The Willett Free Library, Saunderstown, RI
The Capital Group, Cranston, RI
The Newport Art Museum, Newport, R I
Connecticut Graphic Art, Norwich, CT

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Providence Journal Bulletin, Arts, “Art From the Ashcan,” Section E, p. 1, p.8.  Jan. 05
Sunday Boston Globe, Arts & Entertainment, Quilt Shows... September 12, 04, p. N6
Art Papers Magazine, May/June, 03, Reviews, p.40
Pictorial Quilts, Nina Holland, 78, A. S. Barnes & Co., New York.  pp. 46, 58 - 59
Antiques and the Arts Weekly, August 02 and September 0185 – 6

 
 
       
 
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