Elizabeth Myers Castonguay: January 2025
Elizabeth Myers Castonguay’s work, in the past 24 months, has been in group exhibitions at the: Art Complex Museum (MA), Ceres Gallery (NYC), Rockport Art Museum (MA), Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition Open Juried Exhibit (Award, NYC), Salmagundi Art Club (NYC), Crary Museum Art Gallery (Solo Invitational, PA), Cotuit Center for the Arts (MA), Mark Rengers Gallery (Solo Invitational, PA), Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art (Award 2022, Ligonier, PA), Scollay Square Gallery (Boston), ARC Gallery (Chicago), One Art Space (Award, NAWA NYC),and with Group A (Pittsburgh). The artist’s work has been in numerous juried exhibits yearly for decades.
As a child, Elizabeth studied oil painting with artists from the Art Students League of New York before moving back to Pittsburgh where she was born. She earned BA, BFA, and MFA degrees at Gettysburg College, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and American University (Washington, D.C.). Castonguay was accepted into the AAP soon after returning to Pittsburgh with an MFA. Her work was exhibited several times at the CMOA in juried AAP Annual Exhibitions. The artist’s paintings are in dozens of private and corporate collections from coast to coast. The work has won numerous awards and has been in many publications. Castonguay has studios in Pittsburgh and NYC though her larger work is done in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh studios are open daily. Groups also use the Grandview Avenue studio to entertain clients, board members, and for fundraisers. Elizabeth teaches life drawing in her studio at the Highline (Pittsburgh) and does art critiques on Zoom.
I have spent a lifetime observing, researching, and making artwork about my passions: human diversity and the preservation of nature. Something as small as a fruit fly, an interesting human head, or a magnificent winter landscape seen from the train, as I travel between my studios in Pittsburgh and NYC, can inspire a large painting. I take joy in learning that the tiny eyelashes on some birds are modified feathers, the fruit fly has a few body parts like our own, the bird’s nest in our yard holds fast in the winds even when porch furniture is in flight, and the shape of the human nose provides climate control and has adapted to different environments over generations.
For the past fourteen years, I have created paintings that unite humanity and nature because during this time the number of endangered species of wildlife and plant life has risen from 40,000 to over one million. The current paintings are generally divided into sections because humans and nature are complex, varied, and all beings are sentient. Colors are frequently placed next to their complement to show the strength of opposites while colorful grids represent DNA common to all life forms. Mother Nature is often used as a metaphor for women since many find themselves in situations of endangerment globally. Within the work there is urgency but also an element of hope because we can all engage in the stewardship of nature and help others to appreciate the diversity of our own species.
Upcoming Exhibitions:
- Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Ligonier, PA
November 15–February 2, 2025
- Robert Morris University, Visions & Voices (AAP), Pittsburgh, PA
January 28–March 7, 2025
- AAP Featured Artists Exhibit, Pittsburgh, PA
March 1–April 18, 2025
- Ceres Gallery, 547 W. 27th St., New York, NY 10001
October 2025. Six new ’Tapestry of Nature / Endangered’ paintings will be on exhibit
More exhibits 'in the hopper’ so please check Instagram.
