Exhibits & Events
At Home and Abroad
On view September 7-November 1, 2025
Opening Reception/Artist talk: September 7, 2pm – 4:00pm
At Home and Abroad presents a series of acrylic paintings by Pia De Girolamo that explore the contrast between faraway landscapes and familiar surroundings. The exhibition includes works inspired by her travels through places like Patagonia, the Canadian Rockies, and Italy, shown alongside scenes drawn from everyday life in and around Philadelphia. From sweeping mountain vistas to suburban walking trails and city bridges, these paintings reflect DeGirolamo’s ongoing interest in how place shapes experience—and how memory, movement, and observation shape her paintings.
Working from sketches, photographs, and her own visual impressions, De Girolamo builds each painting as a kind of map—not a literal one, but an emotional and sensory record. In her studio, she revisits places she’s been, letting memory and intuition guide her choices in color, form, and composition. The resulting work ranges from loose abstraction to structured geometry, with attention to both natural formations and the built environment.
Though the settings vary, the impulse behind the work remains consistent: a desire to understand and connect with the world around her. In recent years, DeGirolamo has become more aware of how that impulse is shaped by her own position—particularly as an Italian American artist navigating a sense of in-betweenness. “In Italy, I’m not fully Italian. In the U.S., “ I often feel detached when I witness how isolated this country is becoming,” she says. “Travel helps me stay open. It reminds me how much we can learn when we step outside our own frame of reference.”
That openness carries into her approach to painting. Each piece begins with a direction but remains flexible—like setting out on a hike knowing the general route but staying ready for reroutes and discoveries. De Girolamo brings that same balance of structure and spontaneity to both wild and urban landscapes, whether she’s capturing the massive weight of a mountain or the quiet tension of a suburban street.
In a moment when national borders feel more fraught and cultural divides more stark, At Home and Abroad offers a quiet but pointed reflection: we are all shaped by where we come from and where we go—and by how closely we pay attention, both at home and away.
Gallery Address 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Rd, Newtown, PA 18940
Gallery Hours 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
About Pennswood Art Gallery Pennswood Art Gallery specializes in the creations of contemporary artists working in a wide variety of styles and mediums. The gallery brings high quality artwork to residents of Newtown and its surroundings. For more than forty years, it has exhibited the work of nationally famous and regionally prominent artists, such as; Harry Leith Ross, Danial Garber, Robert Beck, and Csilla Sadloch. Located in Pennswood Village, Newtown, PA, the non-profit gallery is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Pictured: Rheas, Patagonia, acrylic on canvas, 40" x 60" x 1.5"
