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
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
