Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery to host new art exhibit
“In the beginning G-D created the heavens and the earth” will be on exhibit in the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery, 505 Gypsy Lane, from March 4 through April 16. A reception with artist Moema Furtado will be from 1:30 to 3 p.m. March 12.
These paintings explore resilience in the face of old and new plagues, using art to fight a battle between the unknown, the ugly, and the will to survive, Furtado said.
“In the beginning of Spring 2020 the pandemic led us to isolate ourselves at home,” Furtado said. “I questioned how a malevolent virus could be threatening us all while at the same time I saw the landscape changing, the first signs of spring appearing, the birds busy looking for food to feed their young. Looking down from my window I imagined that the COVID-19 virus was everywhere, in the flower beds, on the trees, and in the Cuyahoga River. I didn’t yet know that this situation would fundamentally transform the way we behave, interact, and work, leaving a mark on all of us.”
Who is Moema Furtado?
Born in Brazil, Furtado came to the United States in 1973 to study design and environmental analysis at Cornell University. She later earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Furtado has exhibited nationally and internationally with solo exhibits in Brazil, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Ohio. Her artwork has been part of many national group exhibitions such as the Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art; American Annual at Newport; Wisconsin-Today - Milwaukee Art Museum; National Exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum in Austin. Her work is part of many private and public collections including the Tennessee Governor’s Executive Residence in Nashville, Tenn.; the University of Tennessee Knoxville Trial Gardens; the Waupun Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wis.; the Wausau Hospital Center in Wausau, Wis., and the Wisconsin Resource Center in Winnebago, Wis. .
Furtado is known for her sculpture and installations. She has worked with a variety of manmade and organic materials such as latex, wax, bricks, wood, sand, soap, oil, and marble. She was a recipient of a Percent for the Arts Award given by the Wisconsin Arts Board for two years. Her work has been featured in newspapers nationally and in Sculpture Magazine. Furtado currently lives and has a studio in Kent, Ohio.
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