MaryAnn Cleary

Art is a way of expressing my inner feelings and spirit. I look for subjects that move and connect with me both visually and emotionally with the hope of translating the ordinary into a moving experience for the viewer. By using a pastel stick or a brush loaded with oil paint, I design and create two-dimensional paintings that are intimate and emotional.

I am a Signature Member of the American Women Artists. I have taken art classes in college and from many master artists. Learning is a never ending passion.

Workshops taken in recent years include those by Marc Hanson, Mary Pettis, Kami Mendick Polzin, Scott Lloyd Anderson, Albert Handell, Deborah Parish, Debora Stewart to name a few.

2020. Creative Support Individual grant , Minnesota State Arts Board
2020 Pintura Floral Juried Competition and exhibition, Honorable Mention
2020 Accepted into American Women Artists Spring Floral Exhibition online, rep'd AWA Signature member status
2019 Pintura Floral Juried Competition & exhibition, First Place
2018 Boldbrush Painting Competition, rec'd. FAV 15% for March
2017 Accepted into juried American Women Artists National Museum Exhibition, AZ , rec'd Artist with Distinction
2017 Accepted into juried Minnesota State Fair Exhibition
2017 Awarded grant with Copper Street Brass, "Beyond Ordinary", as artist for community event
2016 Accepted into American Women Artists National Juried Exhibition held Sept 2016
2016 McKnight Fellowship Award, East Central Regional Arts Council, Braham,MN $7K award
2016 Invitation for Seasons of St. Croix Plein Air Paintout, St. Croix, MN
2016 Lake Country Pastel Society, Hopkins Art Center, Honorable Mention
2015 Lake Country Pastel Society, Merit Award, Red Wing Art Depot
2015 Image Art Show, Braham, MN
2015 Arts & Cultural Heritage Grant, $2500, East Central Regional Arts Council
2015 Go Paint! Durand, WI, “Best Chippewa River Ptng” Award, H.M Quick Paint
2014 Jaques Art Center, Aitken Plein Air, Aitken, MN First Place”
2014 Lake Country Pastel Society, Member Show, Burnsville, MN “Merit Award”
2014 Fresh Paint Plein Aire, Durand, MN “Morsbach Farm Award”, Quick Paint “Honorable Mention”
2014 McKnight Fellowship Award, East Central Regional Arts Council, award of $7K for “De-mystifying Color and Light” project.
2013 Bloomington Arts Center, Lake Country Pastel Society, “People’s Choice Award”, “Honorable Mention Award”, judged by Albert Handell, Bloomington, MN
2013 Jaques Arts Center, Summer Plein Air Event,“Third Place Award”,Aitkin, MN
2013 Fine Art Studio Online Competition, selected in FAV15 for April 2013
2013 Image Art Show, “Third Place Award”, Sandstone, MN

2017 Presentation of incorporation gold leaf into artwork, Banfill-Locke Art Center
2015 Paint & Pinot” workshops, CCFA and North Folk Winery
2014 The Magic of Color and Light, Cambridge Center for the Arts
2014 Several “Paint & Pinot” workshops, CCFA and North Folk Winery
2014 Demonstration on “Making Handmade Pastels”, Cambridge Center for the Arts
2014 Workshop on “Pastels”, Cambridge Center for the Arts, March
2013 Presentation and demonstration on “Making Handmade Pastels”, Lake Country Pastel Society, New Brighton, MN
2013 Workshop on Drawing with Conte, March, Cambridge Center for the Arts

2019 Oil Painters of Minnesota Plein Air Competition and Exhibition, Grand Marais, MN
2018 "Gifts of Nature" Solo Exhibiton at Jaques Art Center, Aitkin, MN
2018 Joint exhibition at Halberg Center for the Arts, MN, "Horizons"
2017 Accepted into juried exhibition by Grand Marais Art Colony Plein Air event
2015 Cambridge Allina Hospital, Healing Arts, Jan-March
2014 Solo Exhibition, Cambridge Center for the Arts, “The Magic of Color & Light”
2014 Red Wing Art Center, Plein Air Event
2014 Grand Marais Art Colony, Plein Air Event
2013 Sandstone Arts Center, Exhibition
2013 Grand Marias Art Colony, Plein Air Event, Grand Marais, MN

Nicholai Fechin, Sargent, Rembrandt. Russian Impressionists, Tonalists

minnesota, landscapes, water, midwest, lake superior, river