Judy Taylor: Representations of Working People in the Visual Arts In-Person / Online

Repin, Caravaggio, Velasquez to McKnight, Manet to the Wyeths, Rockwell to Hockney, Fischl and many more past and present figurative and narrative artists have used their neighbors and contemporaries as their models. They have also hired professional models.

MDI-based painter and educator Judy Taylor will discuss some of these works and talk about what she looks for in a model and how she uses many of our Mount Desert Island neighbors and other subjects from her travels in her work. She will also show works from some of the women of the WPA and those who painted in the hospitals during the two world wars.

Judy’s work consists of figurative and narrative paintings, labor-focused work, landscapes and portraiture. Her scenes of workers and nature found on the Island often incorporate island residents as models. Prior to coming to Maine she lived in New York City, transferring there from Chicago to study figurative art. She was accepted into New York Academy of Art on full scholarship and received her Masters certificate in their pilot program. She went on to study painting at the National Academy of Design with Harvey Dinnerstein and Ron Sherr. In 1996 she relocated to Maine and was an Artist-in- Residence at Acadia National Park. Since 2002 she has resided full time in Maine where she maintains her studio and teaches there and at workshops in Austin, New York, Italy and France. In 2007 she was awarded the commission to paint the History of Labor in Maine which took a full year to complete.

Registration is requested but not required.