Westport artist Barbara Wilk to exhibit at Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery at Fairfield University | Press Releases

The graceful monoprints of Barbara Wilk, a talented Westport artist/educator who has shown her work throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, will be exhibited at Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery from Sunday, July 23, through Sunday, August 20. An opening reception for "Mostly Landscapes and Birds" will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on July 23 in the gallery, located in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Born in 1923, Wilk is a painter, ceramic sculptor, teacher and printer who works with several techniques, including relief etchings, monoprints, lithographs and chine colle, a process that allows printmakers to work with delicate surfaces, such as rice paper and linen. She also specializes in solarplate relief printing, which uses the heat and light from the sun on photosensitive copper etching plates to create designs.

The upcoming Walsh exhibit will feature several of Wilk's images from Connecticut and New Mexico landscapes as well as from the imaginary realm.

Wilk has been exhibiting her work since 1948 in juried shows that will include a 2006 show in Prague. Her most recent solo shows have been at the Century Association in New York City, Director's Choice at the Silvermine Guild, the Westport Arts Center, the Walsh Gallery and the Easton Library. Her work is represented in museums, schools and private collections and she is also the creator of five prize-winning animated films and two documentaries.

In addition to creating her own art, Wilk has brought her extensive knowledge of the artistic process to galleries, classrooms and art organizations across Connecticut. A former president of the Westport/Weston Arts Council, Wilk has been an art instructor at Fairfield University, Housatonic Community College and Norwalk Community College, as well as an art consultant for the Teachers' Center in Fairfield.

For three years she owned and managed a Westport art gallery, Optimums, Inc., and she has served as a board member of the Westport Arts Center, the Silvermine Guild Arts Center, Cultural Survival and the Helen Keller Child Sight Project. She was also president and exhibitions chair of the Connecticut chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art.

Wilk was an NGO representative at the United Nations from 1998 through 2003 and a director of "Eyes on the Future" for Westport-based Save the Children, which awarded her the President's Volunteer Action Award. She also received a Guggenheim Fellowship for her art. She has been a master teaching artist for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and is a member of several art organizations, including WCA, SAGA, Silvermine Guild, the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, New Mexico Printmakers and the Monotype Guild of New England.

Wilk holds master's degrees from Smith College and the University of Bridgeport and studied at the Fernand Leger and Beaux Arts in Paris. She also studied with the Art Students' League and the Camden Institute in London.

The exhibit will be on display Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (203) 254-4000, ext. 2969.

Media Contact: Media Relations, 203-254-4190, pr@mail.fairfield.edu