Working on an intimate scale, Assistant Professor Mary K. Connelly creates paintings of rich, distinctive hues that invoke perception and memory.  The Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka, Calif., brings an average of 2,500 community members each month to enjoy musical performances and art exhibits. Together, Connelly and the museum will present a solo exhibit of her paintings, Topophilia, featuring small views of room interiors conveying a sense of love of place.

“The house is our first universe, a real cosmos in every sense of the word,” Connelly explains. “My paintings are a distillation of perception and memory, where color and light convey a world psychologically and spiritually charged.”

Topophilia will be on display in this prestigious museum to March 8. “Being selected for a solo museum exhibition is a significant milestone,” she notes. “The gallery space selected for my work is a perfect fit: The Mezzaine Gallery is small and intimate enough to complement the scale and subject matter of my paintings."

A faculty development grant to provide framing, shipping and lodging assistance has better enabled Connelly to ensure the every detail of the exhibit is in place.

“A museum show is considered the most sought after exposure and – one might say – of a higher caliber than a commercial gallery in any city – even New York,” she says.