Crazy Quilt | 40 pieces, 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy and Gatlinburg TN Fires, 12" x 12"
Maybe Baby | 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy, 36" x 36"
Maybe Baby | detail, 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy, 36" x 36"
Nesting | 2017, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy, 40" x 40"
Cross Roads | 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy, 24" x 24"
Blocked In | 2015, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy, 36" x 36"
Crazy Eights | 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy and Gatlinburg TN Fires, 36" x 36"
Lucy in the Sky | 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy, 24" x 24"
Cats and Mice | 2018, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy and Gatlinburg TN Fires, 24" x 24"
 Tennessee Strong | 2017, salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy and Gatlinburg TN Fires, 36" x 36"
Rise Up | 2012, salvaged wood, 26" x 26" x1"
Barcoded | 2013, salvaged wood, 24" x 24" x 1"
Washed Up | 2014, salvaged wood, 43.5” x 43.5” x 1”
Squared Off | 2014, salvaged wood, 34” x 34” x 1”
Barn Razing | 2012, salvaged wood, 30” x 30” x 1”
Relative Confusion | detail
Move Closer In | 2013, salvaged wood, 39” x 39” x 1”
No items found.
X
No items found.
X
No items found.
X
Rise Up | 2012, salvaged wood, 26" x 26" x1"
Barn Razing | 2012, salvaged wood, 30” x 30” x 1”
No items found.
X
No items found.
X
No items found.
X
No items found.
X

Member Portfolio

Laura Petrovich-Cheney

Philly girl living in Boston

Résumé

Artist Statement

Concerns for our environmental lead to me collect salvaged wood from Hurricane Sandy. These storms are growing larger and stronger each year. Inspired by patchwork scrap quilts and weavings, my sculptural wall works are constructed using traditional carpentry tools – bandsaw, table saw, sanders. I lived through Hurricane Sandy and my repetitive process of cutting and organizing the wood into mathematical grid patterns helped me restore some order in my mind after losing my childhood home.  I never paint or repair what I find – the faded colors, scratches, nail holes mark the passage of time and are vital reminders of a once lived life. Working with discarded materials invites exploration of ideas universal to the human experience: nostalgia, second chances, renewal, memory, and the beauty of imperfection.  My goal is to create object of beauty and comfort that began as discarded scraps made meaningful by piecing scraps together.

Artist Biography

Laura Petrovich-Cheney is a contemporary artist working with salvaged wood collected after living through an environmental disaster. A former fashion designer and art educator, she is directly inspired by quilts and weavings. She is a nationally recognized, award-winning artist and teacher. Her residencies and fellowships have included The Arctic Circle, the Vermont Studio Center, A.I.R. Gallery, Center for Emerging Visual Artists and Boston Society of Arts and Crafts. She has been awarded with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts Grant with the National Park Service, Barbara Deming Grant, and Geraldine Dodge Grant. In 2017, she was awarded a  New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellow in Sculpture and was awarded a 2021 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Craft.

Education

2011
Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
MFA, Studio Art, Summa Cum Laude
1993
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
MS, Fashion Design, Magna Cum Laude
1989
Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
BA, Fine Arts, English Literature

Continuing Education
2005 - 2006
Studio Art-Venice, Steinhardt School, New York University, New York, NY

Awards & Honors

2013
Juried Member, Sculptors Guild of New York
2012
Signature Artist Member, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
2009
Focus New Jersey Exhibit, Second Place, New Jersey Art Center, New Milford, NJ
2008
Eastern Region Elementary Art Educator of the Year, National Art Education Association
Governor’s Award for Excellence in Art Education
2007
National Youth Art Month Award of Excellence, National Art Education Association
Governor’s Award for Excellence in Art Education
2006
Honorable Mention, Birds, Monmouth Museum Juried Show, Lincroft, NJ

Residencies
2013 - 2014
Fellowship, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
The Arctic Circle Residency, Svalbard, Norway
2010
Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland
2004
Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA

Bibliography

2016
UPPERCASE magazine, 30th Issue, July 2016
2014
Creative Quaterly, The Journal of Art & Design, Issue 33, Spring 2014
2013
Shrift, Gwen, “Infinite Variety,” The Intelligencer, November 1, 2013, page 1.
Stein, Don, “Asbury Park Resident Prepares to Travel to the Arctic Circle,” The Coaster, July
25, 2013, page. 1
Bellantoni, Ralph J., “Swimming Upstream,” Asbury Park Press, May 10, 2013, p. 16
Shrift, Gwen, “Sculpture 2013,” Philly Burbs.com, April 19, 2013
Manufactured Dissent, February 5, 2013
2012
"Week #8 Summer Friday Selected Artist," Blouin ArtInfo.com, August 10, 2012
Shields, Nancy, “Public Art Graces Asbury Park and Long Branch,” Asbury Park Press, June 29, 2012
Shrift, Gwen, “Where twisted metal artfully entwines works of whimsy,” Philly Burbs.com
Mici, Bora, "Female Artists Take Up Environmental Message," Gaithersburg’s Patch, June 27, 2012
Young, Adele, “Local Artists in 33rd Annual Juried Show,” The Hub, January 19, 2012
2011
Alaks, K., “Wiseman Gallery’s Water Themed Show Makes Big Splash,” Grants Pass Daily Courier, Nov. 14, 2011: p. 6a
Moore College of Art & Design, 2011-12 Graduate Studies Admission Catalog, page 16.

Collection

Public
Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Jersey City, NJ
Sculpture Park, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA
Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
MD Anderson Cooper Hospital Cancer Center, Camden, NJ
Salvage Sale Corporation, Houston, TX
Monmouth County Arts Council, Red Bank, NJ

Affiliation

New York Sculptors Guild, Brooklyn
Philadelphia Sculptors
Women Caucus for Art, Philadelphia Chapter
Secretary, 2012-2013
College Art Association
Monmouth County Arts Council
New Jersey Education Association
National Art Education Association
Art Educators of New Jersey
Vice President and Conference Chair, 2009
Adcovacy Chair and Youth Art Month Chair, 2007-08
Secretary, 2006

Professional Experience

2014 - present
Adjunct Art Professor, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
2001 - 2014
Art Teacher, Lakewood Board of Education, Lakewood, NJ
2010 - 2012
Education Director, New Jersey Museum of Contemporary Art
1999 - 2001
Second Grade Teacher, Franklin Charter School, Somerset, NJ
1996 - 1998
Fashion Designer, Dawn Joy Fashions, New York, NY
1993 - 1996
Associate Designer, Mothers Work Maternity, Philadelphia, PA

Exhibitions

Solo
2020
Title TBD, Burger Gallery, Kean University, Union, NJ
2019
Against the Grain, Berea College, Berea, KY
2018
Memory and Material, International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Lincoln, NE
Life in Patterns, Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Stitched in Wood, Chadron State College, Chadron, NE
2017
Left Behind: Sandy Quilts, Atlantic Highlands Arts Council Gallery, Atlantic Highlands, NJ
2016 - 2017
What Remains: Wooden Quilt Sculptures, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
2016
On Track, Broadway Gallery, South Amboy, NJ
Piece by Piece, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD
2015
Around the Block, John Sloan Art Center Gallery, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA
By the Block, James Howe Gallery, Kean University, Union, NJ
2014
Block Party, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
Solo Exhibit, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA

Group
2016
The Art of Refuse, The Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ
Curator: Anne Trauben
2015 - 2016
Pattern Pieces: Can You Make a Quilt Out of Wood?, James Michener Museum. Doylestown, PA
2014
Equilibrium, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
ECO-Art, JAM Gallery, Malvern, PA
Fountain Fair, Sculptors Guild, New York, NY
Governors Island Exhibit, Nolan Park, Sculptors Guild, New York, NY
Open Orange, Vallery Arts Firehouse Gallery, Orange, NJ
2013
Signature Artist Series, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
Small Works, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Sculpture Show, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA
Recent Graduates, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Preemptive Strike, Arts Guild New Jersey, Rahway, NJ
2012
Works In Wood, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA
Works on Paper, Perkins Art Center, Moorestown, NJ
TechKnowledge, Holy Family University Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Signature Artist Exhibit, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
Garbage Barge Revisited, Islip Museum, Islip, NY
Centennial Juried Show, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
Sculptoure: An urban sculpture park, Shore Institute of Contemporary Art, Asbury Park, NJ
Reusing our Resources, Sandy Springs Museum, Sandy Springs, MD
Arts Pride NJ: Inspiring Women, A Celebration of the Visual & Culinary Arts, Hospitality House, Trenton, NJ
2011
Works on Paper, Markeim Art Center, Haddonfield, NJ
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring: The Global Water Crisis, Wiseman Gallery, Grants Pass, OR
MFA Thesis Exhibit, Goldie Paley Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Arts Connection 7, George Segal Gallery, Montclair, NJ
Annual Juried Show, Monmouth Museum Lincroft, NJ
2010
Juried Show, Shore Institute of Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, NJ
Sneak Peak: MFA Exhibit, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Previous
This is the start of the list
Next
This is the end of the list