The Shelley Hoon Keith Quiet Study Lounge, located on the second floor of the Student Center, has a beautiful view of Westhaver Park. There are work tables and comfortable chairs for students to use for individual study. This space hosts campus events including galleries, guest speakers, book signings and academic breakout sessions.

Gallery

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery at Curry College in Milton, MA offers innovative exhibitions of regional, national, and international artists and designers. We are celebrating lifelong learning and involvement in the arts through exhibitions emphasizing artistic excellence found in diverse disciplines.

2023-2024 Exhibition Proposals

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery is currently seeking solo or group exhibition proposals from artists for the 2023-2024 academic year. Please send interest by email to alison.poordonahue@curry.edu and state what you may be interested in along with a link to your site.

Current/Upcoming Exhibitions

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery at Curry College in Milton, MA is proud to present, Olivia Parker’s, Persephone’s Graffiti.

Every year in my backyard messages are written in the darkest ink. In late October and early November white spires push through the earth, grass, and leaves. As the mushrooms open and lift their caps black spores shower out and soon the ink follows, sinking back into the earth. Wrenched from their habitat and placed on paper these mushrooms perform, sending out black powder and then a copious amount of black ink that looks blue if it reflects the sky. These are messages left just before winter, just before their originators disappear into the earth. These pictures are a collaboration between the mushrooms and me.

As harbingers of a tough New England winter to come these markings seem to speak of the strange winter of 2020 and to me they also hint at the dark times in the 17th century when my European forbearers invaded New England and one of my ancestors was hung as a witch by her own people. Life has, however, a way of seeming joyful and once in a while funny even in the worst of times. The reflections of blue sky and the persistent insect tracks remind that life above ground goes on.

After graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in Art History, Olivia Parker began to make and photograph ephemeral constructions in 1973. Represented in major private, corporate and museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Peabody Essex Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Parker’s work has been published in four monographs and in numerous magazines in the United States and internationally. She has had over 100 solo exhibitions in museums and galleries in the United States and abroad. Also, she has lectured extensively and conducted many workshops. In 1996 she received a Wellesley College Alumnae Achievement Award. Residencies include Dartmouth College, The Aegean Center for The Fine Arts, MacDowell, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Cassilhaus. In 2019, Olivia was inducted into The International Photography Hall of Fame. In 2022, Lesley University awarded Parker with an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts.

A skiing accident in 1995 ended Parker’s view camera photographs. Unable to work in the studio or darkroom for a year because of a shattered leg, she experimented with computers and digital software. As software and equipment improved, fine images and stable prints evolved. Although Parker misses making silver prints, new ways of photographing with digital cameras have opened worlds. “Digital allows me total freedom to experiment without worrying about film usage or precise camera set up. In the beginning, view camera work was, however, a much better teacher for me than digital would have been. It made me slow down, consider image edges and think about the dynamics of what falls between the edges.”

Co-Curated by: 
Alison Poor-Donahue, MFA
Professor and Chair, Visual and Performing Arts Department
and
Jim Fitts
Professor, Graphic Design

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery would sincerely like to thank the executive team for making this exhibition possible. For information or a private tour, please contact Alison Poor-Donahue, curator at  alison.poordonahue@curry.edu or 978-407-3121.

Olivia Parker is represented by Robert Klein Gallery in Boston.

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery is located on the second floor of the Student Center at:

Curry College 
1071 Blue Hill Avenue 
Milton, MA 02186

Call for Student Art: Fall 2023 Visual and Performing Arts Exhibit

Have you been making art this summer? We want to see! Submit your art for an opportunity to be showcased at the Curry College Visual and Performing Arts Exhibit.

Submit Your Entries

We are encouraging our students from the Visual & Performing Arts Department working in any medium, at any level, to submit their art to be showcased and shared with the Curry community this fall. We are interested in displaying a variety of creative mediums, including 2-D and 3-D works. If you have questions about exhibiting, please contact alison.poordonahue@curry.edu.

• 2-3 pieces per student
• Submissions accepted on a rolling basis
• Art is due by Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

Eligibility:

This call is open to all Curry College Visual & Performing Art Department Students. Digital work must be printed. Please contact Alison Poor-Donahue if your files need to be printed on the Canon or Epson Large format printers. All printing must be completed by the deadline, August 30th. All students are allowed to submit up to three works.

This show will be curated based on the number of submissions and space available. Acceptance of ALL your work is not guaranteed.

Image Upload Guidelines:

1. Save entries as a jpeg with a maximum file size of 25 MB
2. Name your jpeg entries: Last Name_First Name_Title.jpg (Example: Brown_John_The Green Stripe.jpg)
3. The Title MUST match the Title of Entry
4. Please retitle jpgs as needed. Use UPPER and lower case

Label Requirements:

Label with name, title, email, and phone number securely fixed to the back of the artwork.

Liabilities and Responsibilities:

Curry College will not be responsible for loss, theft or damage of any artwork, no matter what the cause. By submitting artwork to this exhibition, each artist agrees to this statement. Artwork is not insured by Curry College during the exhibition. Adequate insurance is the sole responsibility of the artist.

By submitting entries, the artist must acknowledge the availability of the artwork to be juried into this exhibit, and that the artwork cannot be withdrawn later.

Publicity:

By entering this exhibition, the artist gives consent that the submitted images can be used by Curry College for reproduction in print and on social media, for publicity and educational purposes, with artist credit given.

Questions:

Contact Alison Poor-Donahue at alison.poordonahue@curry.edu.

Submit Your Entries

Recent Exhibitions

Joe Lyons, Branded

March 20 – April 21, 2023

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery at Curry College in Milton, MA was proud to present, “Joe Lyons, Branded” a solo exhibition that featured project profiles on 15 of Joe’s client projects. Each client is different, from different industries with different audiences, but all of the work involved Joe designing or redesigning their branding.

Joe Lyons is a creative problem solver with a reputation for being hands-on with design challenges. As the owner and creative director of Boston design studio, Spin350 Creative, he has developed a massive body of work in design and music that includes 4000+ design deliverables over the past 23 years.

Joe’s expertise in design has led to speaking engagements at Apple’s landmark store in Boston, Mount Ida College and Curry College for AIGA and press mentions on/in Boston.com, BostonMan Magazine, The Source, Okay Player, WickedLocal and more. Joe was the 2021 fall cover of InBoston Magazine, where writer David Bruce did an in-depth feature on Joe’s design career.

Joe’s awards include the 1999-2000 Bridgewater State College Event of the Year, the 2010 Main Streets Boston Business of the Year Award and the Crossen-Sullivan Award for Outstanding Support. He wrote and directed the music video “Jesus” for country music singer/songwriter Louie Bello which was chosen as a 2021 official selection by the Peachtree Village International Film Festival.

Joe’s personal brand, “Every Day is a Canvas” is an initiative that he started in 2019 to foster creativity, inspiration and collaboration, both on Instagram (@everydayisacanvas) and in-person at the Spin350 design studio. Joe has collaborated with musicians, photographers, videographers, athletes, celebrities, and more on limited edition apparel releases, give-aways of his artwork, IGLive specials and various other mediums of content creation.

Since opening Spin350 in 2001, Joe has had the opportunity to work with many high profile clients including James White of the New England Patriots, Reebok, Harvard, etc. and his branding and design work has appeared in local venues including Fenway Park, the Boston Marathon and the Boston Garden. His work has also appeared in publications including The Boston Herald, Globe and Metro and on national television shows including Ch.5’s Chronicle, TNT’s Boston’s Finest, Good Morning America and Extreme Home Makeover.

Curated by Alison Poor-Donahue, MFA
Professor and Chair
Visual and Performing Arts Department

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery would sincerely like to thank the executive team for making this exhibition possible. For information or a private tour, please contact curator Alison Poor-Donahue at  alison.poordonahue@curry.edu or 978-407-3121.

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery is located on the second level of the Student Center at:

Curry College 
1071 Blue Hill Avenue 
Milton, MA 02186

Left Brain, Right Brain

January 30 - March 3, 2023

Curry College’s Shelley Hoon Keith Quiet Study Lounge Gallery presented the work of thirteen artists that engage with science in a new exhibition - Left Brain, Right Brain at Curry College showcases works by artists making art in a broad range of media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, digital print, 3D print, and animation. Objects in the exhibit comprise a powerful sample of art made in conversation with science, including work inspired by the human body, the microscopic world, climate change, and the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Exhibition Overview

The Left Brain, Right Brain Exhibition was curated by Julie Martini, Assistant Professor of Studio Arts at Curry College. “I am so excited to highlight the work of these talented artists and their creative inquiries into human experiences like extreme weather and the Covid-19 Pandemic that we are living through,” shares Martini.

The title of the exhibition, “Left Brain, Right Brain” refers to an oft-repeated theory that scientists believe is likely a myth- that the right side of the brain is more active in creative personalities, and the left side of the brain is more active in analytical personalities. “This myth is a proxy for the idea that creativity and logic, as well as art and science, are totally unconnected, even cut off from one another,” says Martini. The objective of the exhibit is to create a cross-disciplinary dialogue that explores the connections between art and science.

The exhibition included works by David Bligh, Colomba Klenner, Julie Martini, Nathalie Miebach, Anna Mogilevsky, Lior Neiger, Leah Netsky, Liz Nofziger, Paulina Perlwitz, Steve Sangapore, Elizabeth Shores, Keri Straka, and Andy Zimmermann. A reception was held on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

General Information

Press Contact

Julie Martini
Assistant Professor of Art, Exhibition Curator/Artist
jmartini0814@curry.edu
617-333-2192

Faith Ninivaggi: Unwavering Spirit

October 14, 2022 - January 23, 2023

Listen: Audio Guide
The exhibition was accompanied by collective voices of Unwavering Spirit featuring an original piano piece by Composer Valeriia Vovk of Odesa, Ukraine.

Unwavering Spirit, an exhibition by artist Faith Ninivaggi at The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery, was recently broadcast as a featured event by Chronicle on WCVB. The exhibition documents and presents Boston area students affected by the war in Ukraine and is on display until January 23, 2023.

Featured in What Will You Remember December’s Best Photo

The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery at Curry College in Milton, MA was proud to present, Unwavering Spirit, a new exhibition of portraits and interviews by artist Faith Ninivaggi documents and presents Boston area students affected by the war in Ukraine. Far from home, from the onset of the Russian invasion, this young generation banded together in solidarity to support one another and raise awareness about their besieged home nation. Ninivaggi’s photos capture their perseverance and strength amidst uncertainty and fear. The portraits demand the viewer’s attention, and for a brief moment instill a calm into the subject’s life; a respite from the ongoing war. These young Ukrainians turned activists for their people, country and culture now recognize that the skills and knowledge they came to the U.S. to learn will be critical in helping to rebuild a better and stronger Ukraine. As our country grows numb to the horrors abroad these portraits and their words remind us that their stories matter. The viewer cannot and should not, look away from these photographs, and the truths they present.

Faith Ninivaggi’s black and white, 4x5, large format film portraits of young Ukrainians living and studying in Boston feel immediate and at the same time effortlessly timeless. With a refined and humanist vision born from years as a photojournalist, Ninivaggi captures the most historical and influential moment in these seventeen lives, as their world is thrust into sharp focus, fearing for their families and reimagining home from afar. Ninivaggi’s camera bears witness to the physical and psychological effects of the war on these young adults. Through a collaborative process, Ninivaggi creates a platform for participants to be seen and heard. “Now looking back, it was so lovely to have someone to talk to, to really listen. I am very grateful of you.” noted Darya who was interviewed in her Somerville apartment as the war broke out. She has since moved back to Ukraine, her home - “where I am meant to be.

The raw and fluid emotional interviews raise awareness and evoke compassion - giving viewers pause to recognize and question how we are all descendants of war. It is a notion that struck Ninivaggi deeply in 2017 when she witnessed her own Grandfather's passing. She notes, “In the forty years I had on this planet with my grandfather he never told me stories about the time he served during the war. It was esoteric to hear him asking for the friends he had made during the war in his last days with us. It really got me thinking how much the war affected his life and about the transgenerational effects war has on all of us.

In this body of work Ninivaggi continues to highlight Generation Z, investigating how this generation will fare in the future. Recognizing the psychological toll the pandemic was having on teenagers Ninivaggi spent two years documenting their experience. In March of 2022 her attention quickly turned to the young Ukrainians who suddenly did not have the luxury of “getting back to normal.” A group whose coming of age has already been greatly impacted by living through a pandemic, is now completely uprooted by war. “The mother in me really feels for these young adults. Photography is a means for me to connect and in my own small way make a difference."

Faith Ninivaggi is a Boston/New England Regional Emmy Award winner. Her work is currently on view in the 17th Julia Margaret Cameron Award Exhibition at the FotoNostrum Gallery, Barcelona, Spain as well as in the exhibition, Tender Age at the Panopticon Gallery, Boston, MA. The past three year she has been a Critical Mass Finalist. Ninivaggi has been exhibited at the International Center for Photography, New York, NY; The Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA; Centro Fotográfico Manual Alvarez Bravo, Oaxaca, Mexico; Vermont Center of Photography, Brattleboro,VT; Robert Raizes and VanDernoot Galleries, Cambridge, MA, and the Wotiz Gallery, Milton, MA. Ninivaggi has spent the past two decades working as a photojournalist and has been published extensively worldwide. She has received numerous awards recognizing her work. Ninivaggi received her BFA from The Art Institute of Boston and her MFA from Lesley University. The artist was born in 1977 in Weehawken, New Jersey and moved to the Boston area in 1997 where she still resides and works.

Curated by Alison Poor-Donahue, MFA
Professor and Chair
Visual and Performing Arts Department

The Shelley Hoon Keith Quiet Study Lounge Gallery would sincerely like to thank the executive team for making this exhibition possible. For information or a private tour, please contact Alison Poor-Donahue, curator of Unwavering Spirit at alison.poordonahue@curry.edu or 978-407-3121.

Reconstructed Remains

March 21 – April 28, 2022

The Shelley Hoon Keith Quiet Study Lounge Gallery at Curry College in Milton, MA was proud to present Reconstructed Remains, a gallery of mixed media artworks by Jim Fitts and Stephen Sheffield.

This exhibition included original works of art from the artists’ private collections. Many of the pieces had never been previously exhibited.

Both artists do not utilize any digital production techniques in creating their work, and even though both artists incorporate found materials into their art, their approach to their work and the resulting pieces are quite unique.

Jim Fitts states that he “has collected anything that has caught his eye, no matter what media or subject matter, and attempts to incorporate it into a sometimes-chaotic composition based on a formal grid structure.”

Stephen Sheffield states that he is “influenced by past and modern masters of collage and montage such as Robert Rauchenberg, David Hockney and Alexander Rodchenko, I work to construct iconic and sensitive intersecting moments between the past and the present.”

Jim Fitts is currently a Lecturer at Curry College. He has been a graphic designer, fine arts photography teacher, lecturer, and curator for over 30 years. He has had an award-winning career in both advertising and design. His mixed media work has been included in numerous group exhibitions and the subject of a solo exhibitions.

Stephen Sheffield is a native of the Boston area. He obtained his BFA in painting and mixed media from Cornell University in Ithaca NY in 1988. He went on to receive his MFA for photography and mixed media from the California College of the Arts in Oakland CA in 1993.

Stephen has exhibited nationally and internationally for many years and has a few large-scale commissions in Boston, Cambridge and New York, Philadelphia and beyond. He has been exhibiting his work every year since 1990 and his work has been featured in many national and international publications. Spanning the past 18 years Stephen has been represented in Boston by the Media Gallery, the Judi Rotenberg Gallery and most recently by the Panopticon Gallery.

Curated by Alison Poor-Donahue, MFA
Associate Professor, Graphic Design
Visual and Performing Arts Department

The Shelley Hoon Keith Quiet Study Lounge Gallery would sincerely like to thank the executive team for making this exhibition possible. For information or a private tour, please contact Alison Poor-Donahue, curator of Reconstructed Remains at alison.poordonahue@curry.edu or 978-407-3121.

Shelley Hoon Keith Quiet Study Lounge Gallery
Curry College 
1071 Blue Hill Avenue 
Milton, MA 02186