As part of Wheeler’s Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, the Chazan Gallery at Wheeler is delighted to present Past Tense / Present Visions: A Wheeler Alumni Exhibition—a celebration of creativity across generations of the Wheeler School alumni community. This special exhibition showcases works by alumni artists spanning a wide range of class years and artistic practices. Alongside contemporary pieces, the exhibition also includes a rare selection of works created by students of Mary C. Wheeler in the early years of the School’s history. Together, these works highlight the long-lasting influence of Wheeler’s founder and honor the artistic practices of our alumni.

 

Casey Blanchard '71 is a primarily self-taught artist, that explores her experiences through the engaging and often unpredictable print medium of monoprinting. She is most interested in the spiritual aspects that emerge in the image, particularly relating to how we live in the world and how the world lives in us. In the beginning, the work may be a search for answers, but in the end, it's more about being here without them. Casey specializes in monoprints, which is a process using moistened paper with oil paint and/or etching inks. Casey may work on a theme that becomes a 10 to 15-piece collection. Each work is one of a kind, printed on archival 100% rag paper. Alternatively, digital images of each piece allow Casey to reproduce her pieces in larger sizes on different materials. Her artwork is in private, corporate, healthcare, and hospitality collections, as well as on web designs.

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Nellie Congdon '15 is a figurative painter from the Providence, Rhode Island area, whose work explores the desire for leisure and comfort in contemporary life. She earned her BFA from Cornell University in 2019, where she formally developed her practice. After teaching for several years in Memphis, Congdon returned to painting and completed the post-baccalaureate studio art program at Brandeis University in 2024. Her current work consists of large-scale paintings on paper and canvas, depicting figures immersed in complex emotional states. On reflecting upon the dualities of comfort and vulnerability, containment and exposure, she is painting the saturnine mood of contemporary humanity. Congdon will begin her MFA in Painting at the Rhode Island School of Design in fall 2025.

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Ruby Goldstein '22 is a representational painter from Providence, RI. Her recent work balances the beauty of human-caused destruction and the desolation of the modern American landscape. She is working on a mural at Smith College, where she is currently studying art and history, and is putting together work for a show at Eli Marsh Gallery at Amherst College, opening this November.

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Sam Allerton Green '06 is a landscape painter based in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally from Beverly, Massachusetts, Sam’s work explores the layered and often overlooked elements of New England’s varied terrain. He holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Working primarily in oil, Sam combines vibrant abstraction with a raw, observational edge, often painting en plein air in diverse conditions—from midday sun to moonlit snow. His paintings focus on the in-between spaces of the landscape, challenging viewers to engage with what’s usually passed by.

Sam has exhibited nationally and completed residencies across the U.S., including in Vermont, Maryland, New York, and Seattle. His work has been featured in New American Paintings, and he was awarded both the first-place award and the artist's choice award at the 2024 Cape Ann Plein Air Festival.

 

Shoshana Lowe '20 is a sculptor working primarily in metal, with occasional work in ceramics and plaster. As a current Master’s student at NYU in Media, Culture, and Communication, her artistic practice is highly influenced by her scholarly research, notably Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto. Her work explores the evolving relationship between humanity, technology, and nature, challenging traditional boundaries through the juxtaposition of industrial and organic materials. She aims to invite viewers to reconsider their connection to technology as an integral part of the human experience and advocate for a more integrated understanding of our place in a technologically intertwined world. Her research focuses on digital media and culture, examining how internet technologies are reshaping the way culture is produced, consumed, and understood. She is committed to advancing both her artistic and academic careers, with plans to pursue a PhD.

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Judith Salomon '71 is Professor Emeritus from the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she taught Ceramics from 1977 to 2016. She received her B.F.A. from The School for American Craftsman, Rochester Institute of Technology, where she had the opportunity to spend her Junior year at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina. She was awarded her M.F.A form The New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University. Judith has exhibited in museums and galleries all over the world. She is represented in the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Manchester City Art Galleries in England, the National Museum of History in Taiwan, Mint Museum of Art, the Racine Art Museum, and numerous private collections. Her work is included in many books, such as Post Modern Ceramics, History of American Ceramics, and The Artful Teapot. She has received two Ohio Arts Council Artist Fellowship, a national Endowment for the Arts, and has been awarded the Victor Scheckengost Teaching Award at the Cleveland Institute of Art.