State Arts Council Announces Providence Artist Julie Gearan will paint Governor Chafee Official Portrait
The
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts announced today that Governor
Lincoln D. Chafee has selected Rhode Island artist Julie Gearan to
create his official portrait. Gearan, of Providence, was chosen from
among 124 artists who applied late last year as part of a national
search conducted by the State Arts Council.
State
law requires that an official portrait be commissioned for each
Governor before he or she leaves office. The law calls on the Secretary
of State's office to oversee the selection process. The Rhode Island
State Council on the Arts assisted the Secretary of State and Governor
in organizing the process of securing and reviewing applicants for this
commission. The fee for this commission is $15,000, the same fee paid
for the official portrait of former governors Lincoln Almond and Donald
Carcieri.
"Commissioning
a portrait of a governor is an important event in the life of Rhode
Island," said Randall Rosenbaum, director of the State Council on the
Arts. "Art is the way society preserves its history. Great art tells a
great story, and walking through the halls of the state house, you
experience the history of Rhode Island."
Artist
Julie Gearan agreed, saying,"to be a part of this historic tradition in
portrait painting is a wonderful opportunity. I look forward to working
with the Governor to capture his unique character as well as his
specific place in Rhode Island history. It should be a very interesting
project."
Julie
Gearan, a recipient of several awards, including a 2007 Merit Award
Fellowship in Painting from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts,
is a Providence resident. Ms. Gearan teaches at the Rhode Island School
of Design and Roger Williams University, and has taught at the
University of Rhode Island, the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago and
at Indiana University campuses in Florence, Italy and Bloomington,
Indiana. Her work is in several private collections, and she has
exhibited work in Rhode Island and throughout the country. She earned
her B.F.A. at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, and a Master of
Fine Arts from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Ms. Gearan
also studied for two years at the Rome campus of Temple University and
at the Yale University Summer School for the Arts.
With
regards to painting portraits, Ms. Gearan stated, "As a painter of
themes that connect human relationships of past and present, linking
ancient myths with our current everyday lives, I have always been
interested in the possibilities of "the portrait" in painting. From the
austerity of Holbein to the grace of Van Dyck, I have studied the genre
intensely. Gilbert Stuart's portraits of skaters fueled the fire in a
recent series I painted since living here in Rhode Island. The
organization of color, the language of light and dark, and the mastery
of the human form, all contribute to the greatest portraits, but it
seems to me that it is the sensitivity to the human spirit that makes a
portrait painting most memorable. I take these inspirations with me when
painting a portrait, attempting to gather likeness and character while
simultaneously aspiring to make a strong work of art."
More information can be found at Gearan's website at http://juliegearan.com/ . Samples of Gearan's portrait work can be found at http://www.arts.ri.gov/images/
The
portrait is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year, and
will be ready for an official unveiling just after Governor Chafee
leaves office.
