NEW ORLEANS, June 02, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carolyn Heller Art (carolynhellerart.com) and the Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University today announced that dozens of the popular Florida artist’s drawings and paintings will be acquired by the place that helped shape her style as a painter for nearly 60 years.
To honor the Newcomb College legacy and commemorate the museum's 20th anniversary, the museum will present an exhibition of nearly 20 of these works, alongside recent acquisitions by other noted Newcomb College artists including Mary Alice Peak Reiss, Louise Grosz, Ida Kohlmeyer and Stephanie Hirsch.
“Women of Newcomb, Recent Acquisitions,” opens with a reception the evening of June 3 and runs through July 24. The event and exhibition are free and open to the public. At the conclusion of the show, many of Heller’s pieces will enter the university’s permanent collection.
“It’s an honor to have her early work back on campus,” says Fran Heller, the artist’s daughter who created carolynhellerart.com in her mother’s memory. “We recently found many pieces she’d drawn while she was studying at Newcomb. She would be thrilled to know her work is being shown with other great alumnae, and it’s our family’s pleasure to share some of her pieces with the university’s permanent collection.”
ABOUT CAROLYN F. HELLER
Carolyn F. Heller was a Florida artist who created works of bold shape and vivid color. She was influenced by abstract expressionism early in her 60-year career, yet her style evolved to embrace an unambiguous and playful vitality that mirrored her personality. She started drawing and painting in the 1950s at Newcomb College in New Orleans. Beginning with printmaking, wood-cuts and acrylics on canvas, she expanded into mixed-media on fabric, decorative art and furniture. In every context, her work was sensual and full of energy. Passionate about public art, she was a long-serving member of the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. She also helped establish the county’s Public Art Committee, which selects and purchases artwork for public display. The Carolyn F. Heller Grant, an award supported by a fund initially created by donations to Hillsborough Arts, is presented annually to the top-scoring artist in the Council’s Individual Artist Grant Program. The program funds accomplished artists or those with promising potential, providing support for specific projects that would further advance the artists’ professional growth. Carolyn’s daughter, Fran Heller has recently pledged that the award will become a permanent gift to the Hillsborough Arts Council. Past winners of the award are: 2016 – Laura Waller, 2015 – Susan Gott, 2014 – Michael Covello, 2013 – Michael Parker and 2012 – Arnolkis Turro. Visit www.carolynhellerart.com for opportunities to view and purchase works from Heller’s private collection. See more of her work at www.facebook.com/carolynhellerart.
ABOUT THE NEWCOMB ART MUSEUM OF TULANE UNIVERSITY
The Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University builds on the Newcomb College legacy of education, social enterprise and artistic experience. Presenting inspiring exhibitions and programs that engage communities both on and off campus, the museum fosters the creative exchange of ideas and cross-disciplinary collaborations around innovative art and design. The museum preserves and advances scholarship on the Newcomb and Tulane art collections.
The academic institution for which the museum is named was founded in 1886 as the first degree-granting coordinate college for women in America. Out of the school’s famed arts program, the Newcomb Pottery—today considered one of the most significant American art potteries of the twentieth century—was born. The museum pays tribute to its heritage through shows that recognize the contributions of women to the fields of art and design.
Free and open to public, the museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. For general information, please visit http://www.newcombartmuseum.tulane.edu or call (504) 865-5328.