ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Arleen Cannata Seed
My Art interprets the world through many different lenses, each reflecting some aspect of our complex domain. I present two-dimensional images which are credible and recognizable but not hyper-realistic or conforming to the realities of the accessible world. I begin each painting and drawing with a concept, and then seek to find pictorial elements with which to represent it in innovative ways. Recent 3-dimensional clay pieces are more recognizably examinations of the psyche of the model, whether a bust or torso. As each piece develops, I combine classical approaches with newer techniques, materials and methods as a springboard for expression of today’s world.
After formal training in painting and sculpture as a university student years ago (BFA from CUNY in 1976), I put the creation of Art aside for a career on the global stage delivering technological solutions for development. I had the unique opportunity to work for the United Nations and the World Bank in over 50 countries and to live in Africa for ten years. I spent thirty years viewing and thinking about Art from all over the globe; now, I draw deep inspiration from the diverse people and places I have visited. My approach has all the freshness and enthusiasm of an earlier age combined with the life experiences which give it multifaceted meanings.
Many of the social, political and economic themes portrayed throughout my work reflect issues such as equality, participation and citizen voice, sustainability and climate change.
ARTIST'S BIO
Arleen Cannata Seed
Arleen Cannata Seed grew up in New York City where she studied painting and sculpture at the City University of New York, earning a BFA in 1976. Aside from teaching, there was little work for young women artists in the 1970s and she instead returned to university to study science and technology, leading to an MS from Columbia University in Information Systems in 1985. She had the intention to return to Art at a later date while she focused her energy on making a career on the international arena.
From her first position as a consultant for UNICEF in 1984, Arleen was instrumental in the establishment and adoption of electronic mail throughout the UN. She poured her heart into ICT for development, and readily hopped on planes to travel to the most remote and uncomfortable places on earth. Her first big move was to Kenya in 1991, to take up the position of UNICEF’s Regional ICT Officer for Eastern and Southern Africa. The subsequent 10 years in Africa cemented her life in development and as a UN career professional. She was stationed in Kenya and Botswana but has traveled to many countries, mostly in Africa and South Asia. In 1994 when Rwanda descended into genocide, she volunteered to go there and help reestablish telecommunications and logistics. Later she said that the period of July through December 1994 was the greatest professional experience of her life. After nearly 15 years at UNICEF, she joined the World Bank in Washington DC to deliver technology and development information to governments in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. This project work focused on using technology to transform developing countries’ ability to govern themselves and deliver services to citizens. In the last four years of her work with the World Bank she devoted her efforts to ICT for Development projects in East Africa.
She retired from the World Bank in 2017, after devoting three decades to the betterment of people in the developing world, visiting over 60 countries and influencing hundreds of people.
Immediately upon retirement, Arleen re-launched her Art career with enthusiasm, drawing inspiration from years working in international development. During this time, she amassed diverse experiences and knowledge on a global arena which now informs her work. Arleen is currently dedicated to creating Art on a full-time basis again, with all the freshness and vigor of an earlier age, but one which is enriched with her life’s complex experiences. Themes such as diversity, equality and voice underpin her work.
Arleen also became a Montgomery County Master Gardener in 2017. Because of her travels, she had the good fortune to tend gardens in diverse locations such as the Bronx, the West Indies, and East Africa. Arleen now very happily cares for 1.5 acres of highly productive land in Maryland, where she cultivates a mixed garden of fruit trees and soft fruits, dozens of vegetables, varied deciduous and conifer borders, and a large selection of natives. She has a working greenhouse where she starts seeds and overwinters tropical plants and orchids.
Art and Nature come together in much of Arleen’s work. She has recently embarked on a series of paintings which reflect the challenges of climate change and racial equality in our society.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
Arleen Cannata Seed
2023
Arts4Resilience 2023 Honors at the Studio Theatre, Washington DC, December 7, 2023. Sponsored by PartnersGlobal. Received award for two works exhibited: “Protest House”, 2020, Oil on canvas, with chicken wire and collage materials (mixed media), 24 h” x 30 w” x 5” d, and “Can They Breathe?”, 2020, Oil on canvas, 20 h” x 20 w”.
Falls Church Arts Gallery. November 18, 2023 – January 7, 2024. Exhibited one painting: “Kai”, 2023, Oil on Canvas, 24”h x 18” w.
Glen Echo 52nd Annual Labor Day Art Show. September 1-4, 2023. Exhibited two works: “Boy in Frame”, 2023, Oil on canvas, 16” h x 20” w; and “Face Me”, 2022, oil on canvas, 20” h x 20” w.
Foundry Gallery Regional Juried Show, 2023. Exhibited one work: “Face Too”, 2023, Oil on canvas, 24”h x 18” w.
Two-woman Exhibition at the Yellow Barn at Glen Echo Park. July 1-2, 2023. Exhibited 35 paintings and drawings.
Friends of the Yellow Barn Studio Show VIII. May 27-29, 2023. Painting entitled “Reclining Shell”, 2023, Oil on canvas, 9” h x 12” w; painting entitled “New York Moment”, 2020, Oil on canvas, 12” h x 12” w.
World Bank’s Creative Stories of Resilience: Enduring, Adapting, Thriving Exhibition, March 20th to March 29th, 2023 at the Main Complex building, World Bank HQ in Washington DC, and from March 31th to June 5th 2023 in the IFC. Painting entitled “Eye Can Too”, 2022, Oil on canvas, 23” h x 23” w. Painting depicts a show of resilience in the face of discrimination against the non-binary individual.
Corporate exhibit at PartnersGlobal continued throughout 2023.
2022
PartnersGlobal and International Human Rights Arts Festival, DC Mini-Fest, December 2022. Two works: Protest House, 2020, Oil on canvas, with chicken wire and collage materials (mixed media), 24 h” x 30 w” x 5” d, and “Can They Breathe?”, 2020, Oil on canvas, 20 h” x 20 w”.
28th Annual Friends of the Yellow Barn Studio Members Show. Dec 2022 and online through 2023. Submitted painting: “Eye Can Too”, oil on canvas, 23” h x 23” w framed.
Montgomery College Community Arts Spring 2023 Catalog (published November 2022). One Sculpture: “Torso”, 2022, unfired clay. 11.5” height x 10” width x 6” depth.
Glen Echo Labor Day Art Show, 51th Anniversary Exhibition, September 2-5, 2022. One Sculpture: “Torso”, 2022, unfired clay. 11.5” height x 10” width x 6” depth.
Yellow Barn Exhibition, Drawings and Watercolors, September 3-5, 2022. Two drawings: “Brown Legs”, conte on brown paper, 18” h x 24” w and “Gazelle”, conte crayon highlighted with white on brown paper, 18” h x 24” w.
Connie Morella Library, Bethesda, MD, solo exhibition of 23 paintings and sculpture, March 2022.
World Bank Retirees Association Art Show, March 2022. Painting entitled ‘Guggenheim at Night II”, 2021, oil on canvas, 24” h x 18” w. Virtual show opened 21 March 2022.
2021
Glen Echo Labor Day Art Show, 50th Anniversary, September 4-6. Two paintings: “Guggenheim at Night, 2021, oil on canvas, 24” h x 18” w; and” White Sands III”, 2020, oil and sand on Fiberboard, 30” h x 24” w
Laurel Art Guild Spring Show, Montpellier Mansion, painting entitled “Guggenheim at Night”, 2021, oil on canvas, 24” h x 18” w
Silver Seed Art Gallery, Maryland. May through September, solo exhibition of 18 paintings, 2 drawings and 7 sculptures.
2020
Maryland Federation of Art, Protest Art Exhibition, painting entitled “Can They Breathe?”, 2020, oil on canvas, 20” w x 16” h.
The Glebe Gallery, Daleville, VA, February and March, solo exhibition of 16 paintings and drawings.
Silver Seed Art Gallery, Maryland. January, solo exhibition of 18 paintings, 2 drawings and 7 sculptures.
Two drawing selected for Montgomery College’s NASAD Review, 2020.
2019
Shade Mural Festival. September 2019, mural sponsored by Montgomery College and Denizens Brewery. Mural dimensions: 8’ x 12’ acrylic on wooden board.
Glen Echo Park 2019 Labor Day Art Show. Painting entitled “Trossachs Drain”, oil on canvas, 30” h x 24” w; painting entitled “SeaCrackSky” oil on Fiberboard, 24”h x 18” w.
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Montgomery College, University of Maryland. Student Show 2019. Painting entitled “Boniface Raponda”, 2019, oil on canvas, 20” h x 20” w.
Montgomery College, Community Arts, University of Maryland, Summer 2019 online Course Schedule Catalog. Painting entitled “Boniface Raponda”, oil on canvas, 20” h x 20” w.
2018
Montgomery College, Community Arts, University of Maryland, Spring 2018 Course Schedule Catalog. Drawing entitled “Chuck”, pencil on paper, 24” h x18” w.
Montgomery College, Community Arts, University of Maryland, Summer 2018 Course Schedule Catalog. Painting entitled “Shell II”; 2018, oil on canvas, 11” h x14” w.
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Montgomery College, University of Maryland. Student Show 2018. Drawing entitled “Study in Three Tones”, conte crayon on black paper, 24” h x 18” w.
World Bank 2018 ITS Art Show. Painting entitled “African Drummers I”, 2018, oil on Canvas, 30” h x24” w.
Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) Stormy Weather Exhibition Summer 2018. Painting entitled “Rainy Day Shell”, 2018, oil on canvas, 9 w”x 12” h.
Glen Echo Park 2018 Labor Day Art Show. Painting entitled “Boniface Raponda”, oil on canvas, 20” h x 20” w.
Silver Seed Art Gallery, Maryland. September 2018. Solo exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures.
Education
BFA in Painting, CUNY, 1976
MS in Information Systems, Columbia University, 1985
Executive MBA, Kennedy School of Government, 2007
Art courses at Montgomery College, Glen Echo, Compass Atelier: 2017-2023