Colleen Sabo: Exploring the Wildlife

May 26, 2014 Touchstone Gallery

If one is open to the unexpected, life may take astonishing twists and turns. Colleen Sabo knows about this first hand. She grew up in nearby Arlington, Virginia, and planned to attend James Madison University after finishing a post high school summer job with NATO at the Pentagon. However, Colleen loved the job so much that she shelved her college plans and stayed at NATO for three more years. At age 21, she headed off to Brussels and Paris with the whole NATO staff. During her five years in Europe, travel was the name of the game--sandwiched in between writing and editing on the job, studying French and English at the University of Maryland overseas program, and absorbing art ideas everywhere she went.

Shelley Lowenstein: Painter of Crowds and Spaces

April 16, 2014 Touchstone Gallery

Shelley at the opening of Quotidian: The Art of Interaction

As a 7-year-old living in Connecticut, Shelley Lowenstein rode the bus downtown with her best friend to explore the stores on Main Street, and to spend their allowances in Woolworth's five-and-dime. The shopping was fun but Shelley loved watching people and making up stories about them in her mind. What did they do? Where were they from? Where were they going? Around the same time, Shelley discovered movies. Once a week she settled down into the dark recesses of the local theater and escaped into other worlds which sparked her imagination even more. Ever since these youthful experiences, Shelley has been fascinated by how people are in public spaces.