The 72nd Greeley Park Art Show Adult Competition judges’ bios are as follows:
SUSAN SCHWAKE
Susan is most interested in the role color plays in life and often alters or amplifies color to uplift the work or draw greater attention to overlooked details. She explores and documents her view of nature, decay, relationships, the mundane and fantastical within her daily art making practice. Profoundly interested in blurring the lines between reality and dreams her paintings often feature both specific or composite locations rendered in unexpected color and form. Susan’s passion for teaching art and bringing out each student’s personal style has found her working in diverse settings for over 20 years. She has inspired thousands of people in private and public schools, museums and libraries, community organizations, special needs agencies, summer camps, intergenerational facilities, at Plymouth State University and her own little art school, called artstream in Rollinsford, New Hampshire. Susan has also taken her classroom online and offers a series of e-courses that include painting, printmaking and mixed media. She has written six books about creating art with children (and daring adults. To date, Susan has curated over 100 compelling contemporary exhibitions at artstream gallery featuring hundreds of national and international artists’ work. She also provides consulting services and has curated exhibitions for corporate art clients. Susan lives and works on the Seacoast of New Hampshire. Deeply rooted in the belief that art truly builds a community she spearheaded the creation of the City Arts Commission in Rochester, NH. She also founded Art Esprit, a local artist non-profit organization and served as the first president, later as board member, and organized events and public art exhibitions. Among other volunteer work in the arts, Susan organized two art auctions to benefit the Rochester Opera House and later served as a board member. Susan serves on the advisory board of the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts, NH.
MAGGIE JONES
Maggie Jones is an art educator and Nashua local with over 10 years of experience in the local art community. She holds a BFA in Illustration and a MAT from the New Hampshire Institute of Art at New England College. Maggie is passionate about the role of visual communication in shaping the world around us and believes strongly in the value of arts education in developing critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. In the past Maggie has worked with Positive Street Art and The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua. She currently teaches various drawing courses at Nashua High School South where she also serves as the advisor to the National Art Honor Society and she also teaches drawing at Nashua Community College. She is most recently serving as a board member for the Scholastic Art Awards of New Hampshire. She is excited to serve as a judge and looks forward to celebrating all the work of this year’s artists at Greeley Park.