ARTicipation for Adults

This ARTicipation workshop will explore using books as subject matter in an art making experience. Personal expression of all levels will be encouraged to create a work of art that could be either abstract or realistic based on our topic Books in Art. 

This event corresponds with ARTscapades: Books in Famous Artwork on March 20th. The lecture looks at a wide range of artists who found innovative and provocative ways to put books, people reading books, and scenes from books into their works. 

The instructor, Jeanne McDonagh, will provide reference images and a still life of books but also suggests the participants bring any resources they would like to incorporate into their art. Instructor will share the art styles both traditional and contemporary including Abstraction, Cubism, Precisionism, Futurism, Art Nouveau and Abstract Expressionism. Using these resources, the group will be encouraged to create a visual story in their own personal voice.

About the Instructor: Jeanne McDonagh is a digital arts teacher and artist who recently retired from a 32-year career at New Canaan High School. Ms. McDonagh, who considers herself a “lifelong learner,” earned a BA, BS from Saint John’s University and an MFA in Painting and Graphic Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In addition to her teaching career, Jeanne McDonagh has exhibited her photography at Mystic Museum of Art, Fairfield Museum, and Carriage Barn Arts Center. She has been a photography juror and commentator for the Lower Fairfield Photography Club (2009 – 2020) and the Norwalk Photo Club (3013).