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Carlow University
Press Release Details
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| For Immediate Release |
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University Communications & External Relations |
| August 27, 2012 |
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Drew Wilson |
| 12-35 |
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Director, Media Relations |
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412-578-2095 (phone) |
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412-260-6807 (cell) |
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412-578-2080 (fax) |
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agwilson@carlow.edu |
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| Carlow University Hosts Exhibit of the Art of Janet McKenzie |
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"Holiness and Feminine Spirit" Is the Theme for this Award-Winning Artist
Pittsburgh, Pa. - Carlow University will host an exhibit of the work of award-winning artist, Janet McKenzie, from September 17 through October 19, in the Kresge Theatre Lobby, located on the fifth floor of Grace Library, on the Carlow campus. The public will be able to view the exhibit only at select times.
"Janet McKenzie focuses her life's work primarily on the subject of women and views her work as a symbolic voice for women who are not able to speak for themselves," said Sister Sheila Carney, special assistant to the President for Mercy Heritage. "Incorporating diversity, children, and symbolic imagery into her work, Janet explores the sacred voice within her which seeks expression."
The formal opening and a reception with the artist, which is open to the public, will be September 17, 2012, at 7 p.m. in the Kresge Theatre Lobby. The exhibit will also be open to the public from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on three consecutive Sundays -September 23, 30, and October 7 - as well as Saturday, October 13, also from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.
One of the paintings on display will be Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, which was commissioned by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Carnegie, Pa., and will be on display in that parish following the exhibition at Carlow. The painting was commissioned for the parish by Carol Riley, who was a member of the team advising Father David Poecking, the parish priest.
McKenzie is a native New Yorker, born in Booklyn, and raised in and around New York City. She now lives in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
She studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC) and the Art Students League (NYC), on scholarship. She was the recipient of the Edward McDowell Traveling Scholarship, which sent her to Europe for a year to study and travel. At the time, she was one of the youngest recipients of the McDowell, which is the Art Students League's most prestigious award. After returning to New York, the League gave McKenzie her first solo show. Since that time, she has focused her life's work primarily on the subject of women.
The artist's devotion and commitment to imagery of women has in many ways to do with the loss of her mother and grandmother at an early point in her life. She realized that their journey all women's really was interwoven and linked together. She grew to believe that her work would serve as a symbolic voice for women who were not able to speak for themselves.
In the mid-1990s, McKenzie began to incorporate diversity, children, and symbolic imagery into her work with women. At the same time, the need to explore a sacred voice within her work surfaced, partly influenced by time spent in New Mexico.
Her painting, "Jesus of the People," was selected from a field of 2,000 artists as the winner of the National Catholic Reporter's competition for a new image of Jesus at the Millennium. The Carlow exhibit marks the first that "Jesus of the People" has been exhibited in Pittsburgh.
"Holiness and the Feminine Spirit the Art of Janet McKenzie," a book featuring many of the paintings in the exhibit, will be on sale throughout the show. The artist will be available to autograph books at the opening reception. For more information about the exhibition of McKenzie's work, please call Sister Sheila Carney at (412) 578-6424.
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About Carlow University
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, Carlow University is a comprehensive master's institution dedicated to learner-centered education at the collegiate levels and at the elementary school level in the Campus School of Carlow University.
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