Mary Large

6500 Woodlea Drive

 

Kalamazoo, MI  49048-6041

 

269-381-4275

 

Email:  miafirenze@sbcglobal.net

 

 

 

For Additional Information / Event Planning / Contact Person:

 

Kevin M. Large

 

6500 Woodlea Drive

 

Kalamazoo, MI  49048-6041

 

269-330-6981

 

Email:  klarge@alumni.kzoo.edu

I work with a mark, a line, a shape to express the essence of an image or an experience – taking what exists in reality and placing it on a two dimensional surface.

 

 

 

The media may be ink, graphite, or charcoal, pastel, oil or watercolor.  The image may be from a pasture in Vermont or a view of Italian piazza.  They are images based on reality, a place, a person, an experience, or an impression.

 

 

 

I begin with a concept, with sketches, with studies of shape and form, and the impact of color against color.  The abstract forms and the vibrant color become an expression of a poignant experience.

 

 

 

Mary B. Large, a native of Port Huron, Michigan, is a graduate of St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, and received an MA in painting from Pius XII Institute, Florence, Italy.  She also studied at the Vermont Studio Center and the Chicago Art Institute.  Her work has been exhibited at the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo and numerous other art shows, and she received awards in exhibits at the Battle Creek Art Center and the Carnegie Center for the Art.  She was an art instructor at Marymount School in Rome, Italy and St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana.  Mary retired from teaching art at the Comstock Public Schools after 22 years of service, and she is retired from teaching at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art after 16 years of service.  She is an active member with the Signature Artists Co-operative, and has been a member of Art Etc. and the Southwest Michigan Watercolor Society.

Mary Barnet Large

 

 

 

Education:

 

Master of Arts, 1955, Pius XII Institute, Rosary College Graduate School of Fine Arts, Villa

 

Schifanoia, Florence, Italy; with instruction by Pietro Anagoni

 

Bachelor of Arts, 1952, St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, Art Major, Education Minor

 

 

 

Advanced Studies:

 

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Oxbow Program, Saugatuck, Michigan, 1992-1994, 1996

 

Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, 1991-1994, 1996

 

New York University, Summer Program, Venice, 1990

 

School of Visual Arts, New York, New York, International Program, “Advanced Painting in Urbino,”

 

Urbino, Italy Program, Summer 1986-1987

 

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Additional studies in Siena, Vernazza, and Venice, Italy

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Print Workshop, 1968-1969

 

 

 

Teaching Career:

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Instructor, Painting Department, 1992-2008,

 

retired 2008

 

Comstock Public Schools, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Teacher of Art and Photography, 1970-1992;

 

retired 1992

 

St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, Art Lecturer, Introduction to the Arts, 1962-1964

 

St. Mary's-of-the-Woods, Terre Haute, Indiana, Art Instructor, Introduction to the Arts, art education

 

workshop and lecture, Art Methods in the Elementary School, Painting, and Art Appreciation,

 

1960-1962

 

Marymount International School, Rome, Italy, Art Teacher, 1955-1956

 

 

 

Professional Experience:

 

Women’s Editor, The Port Huron Times Herald, Port Huron, Michigan, 1957, 1964-1966

 

 

 

 

 

Publications:

 

History of St. Stephen Church, Port Huron, Michigan [St. Stephen Centennial – 1865-1965],

 

Mary Barnet Large, Author & Historian of the Centennial Book, Centennial Committee, St. Stephen Church, Port Huron, Michigan, 1965.  Five hundred copies reprinted for the alumni attending the St. Stephen’s High School All School Reunion, Port Huron, Michigan, July 2009, 79 pages.

 

 

 

 

 

Shows and Exhibits:  {arranged by location alphabetically; then in reverse chronological order}

 

 

 

Arie's Café, Plainwell, Michigan, one person exhibition, 1997

 

Arie's Café, Plainwell, Michigan, “Landscapes,” August 1991

 

Aries Café, Plainwell, Michigan, “Art Educators Exhibit, November 1990

 

Aries Café, Plainwell, Michigan, Retrospective, December 1990-January 1991

 

Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan, 18th Michigan Artist Competition, Juror Award,

 

1997

 

Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan, “Places of the Heart Exhibit,” February 1993

 

Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan, 1992

 

Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan, one person exhibition, 1997

 

Blue Water Art Association, Port Huron, Michigan, 1959, 1961

 

Blue Water Art Club, Port Huron, Michigan, annual exhibits

 

Borgess Woodbridge Surgical Unit at 7901 Angling Road, Exhibit “Drawings of Northern Italy,”

 

arrangements by Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, Inc., May 17-June 30, 1996

 

Chaps-on-Main, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Watercolors by Mary Barnet Large, one person exhibition,

 

May 1-May 31, 1989

 

Carnegie Center for the Arts, Three Rivers, Michigan, Juried competition, 1996

 

Carnegie Center for the Arts, Three Rivers, Michigan, two person exhibition, Juried competition,1995

 

Carnegie Center for the Arts, Three Rivers, Michigan, Juried competition, 1994

 

Carnegie Center for the Arts, Three Rivers, Michigan, one person exhibition, Juried competition, 1993

 

Carnegie Center for the Arts, Three Rivers, Michigan, Juried competition, 1992

 

Comstock Community Auditorium, Kalamazoo, Michigan, one person exhibition, November-

 

December 1992

 

Civic Theater, Kalamazoo, Michigan, one person exhibition, December 1990

 

Dietrich, Smith, Howard & VanderRoest, Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 18-23, 2001

 

Gilmore's-on-the-Mall Downtown Store, Farmer's Alley Café, Kalamazoo, Michigan, two person

 

exhibition, August-September 1993

 

First Presbyterian Church, Kalamazoo, Michigan, one person exhibition, October 1990

 

Friendship Village, Ann Harrison Gallery, Kalamazoo, Michigan, September-October 2008

 

Holland Area Arts Council, 9th Annual Michigan Art Competition Exhibit, “Oxbow Lagoon,” October

 

4, 1996 – November 12, 1996

 

Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche, Urbino, Italy, 1986-1987

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Annual Art Fair

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Area Show, 1994, 1995, 1997

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Corporate Benefactor Program, 1993

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Main Gallery, Retirement Reception & Exhibition, October 2008

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Member Art Sale

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Merit Scholarship Award Winners Special Exhibit, Back Gallery, June 28-

 

July, 1990

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Stairwell Gallery, one person exhibition, 1989

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Student Exhibit, 1969

 

Kingscott Associates, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

KRASL All Michigan/All Media, St. Joseph, Michigan, 1994-1995

 

MEA/MAEA Exhibition, East Lansing, Michigan, “Oxbow Gathering,” Purchase Award, Spring 1993

 

Michigan Watercolor Society 43rd Annual Exhibition, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann

 

Arbor, Michigan, 1989

 

Nazareth College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1969

 

New York University, Venice Student Show, Casa Italiana, New York, NY, 1998

 

Pasghetti’s, Lovell Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan, “Italian Summers,” one person exhibition, 1988

 

Plymouth County Art Exhibit, LeMars, Iowa, 1967

 

Port Huron Junior College, Port Huron, Michigan, permanent collection, 1958

 

Port Huron Junior College, Port Huron, Michigan, one person exhibition, 1957

 

Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, Juried Alumnae Exhibit

 

Saint Mary’s-of-the-Woods College, Terre Haute, Indiana

 

Sarnia Art Exhibit, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

 

South Haven Community Art Fair, South Haven, Michigan

 

Southwestern Michigan College, Dowagiac, Michigan

 

St. Mary's-of-the-Woods, Terre Haute, Indiana, Faculty Show, 1960

 

TraverRohrback, Kalamazoo, Michigan, one person exhibition, 1996

 

Tromblay, Kalamazoo, Michigan, three person exhibition, 1995

 

Van Sweden Jewelers, Kalamazoo Mall, Exhibit of Drawings & Paintings by Mary Large, June 6-July

 

31, 2003

 

West Michigan Area Show

 

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

 

 

Awards:

 

Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, Michigan, 18th Michigan Artist Competition, Juror Award,

 

1997

 

Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo / The Upjohn Company, Mini-Grant, 1988

 

Community Access Center, Kalamazoo, Special Program Award in Community Television

 

Programming (ANNI Award), “A Walk Through Florence,” 1989

 

Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Art Fair, First Place Award 2002

 

MEA/MAEA Exhibition, East Lansing, Michigan, Purchase Award, 1993

 

Sarnia Art Exhibit, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, two awards

 

Teacher Incentive Grant, Kalamazoo County Excellence in Education Award, 1987

 

Awards received at art shows at the Art Center of Battle Creek and at the Carnegie Center for the Arts.

 

 

 

Sources of Inspiration:

 

 

 

“The paintings of Bonnard and of medieval Sienese tempera panels are a source of inspiration.”  {from an Artist Statement}

 

 

 

“I feel a strong affinity to the works of Giotto, Cezanne, and Turner, and to the sense of ‘presence’ found in the painting of Italian artist, Morandi.  My recent works are from the environment of western Michigan, rural Vermont, and northern Italy.”  {from an Artist Statement}

 

 

 

“The work of Mary Barnet Large reflects her Italian studies, as a graduate student with Pietro Annigoni, and recently with Eliseo Mattaiacci and Jannis Kounsellis.  Her transparent watercolors are inspired by the landscapes of central Italy, by the terraced olive groves of Tuscany and the rugged terrain of the eastern mountain ranges of the Marches.  Her drawings, in pen and ink, Conte Crayon, and water-soluble pencils and crayons, interpret the antiquity of the palaces, portals and piazzas of central Italy, of Florence, Fiesole, San Gimignano and Urbino.”

 

{from a Resume, 1988}

 

 

 

“At Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, she studied with Bernard Chaet; Robert Beauchamp, NYC abstract expressionist; and John Walker, British abstract painter.”  {From a memo to Carnegie Center for the Arts, “Biographical Information and Media to be Exhibited,” 1993}