Ginna Dowling
Contact:
email: [email protected]
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Ginna Dowling is a contemporary printmaker, visual storyteller and installation artist. An Oklahoma City native and the fifth woman artist in three consecutive generations, Dowling received her MFA from the University of Oklahoma and established INK DROP PRESS as her studio and teaching facility for children and adults.Before completing her MFA at the University of Oklahoma, her education also included a B.A. in journalism and postgraduate work in professional writing. Her visual storytelling reflects her writing and arts influence, bound together with her artistic heritage.
The newest evolution of Dowling's community hieroglyphic installation project is The Language of Hope and Courage, which will empower critically ill children as they experience the power of creative expression as part of the healing process. It will culminate in a premier installation that will exhibit at the Children's Hospital of Oklahoma City's Atrium in 2020. It will weave together the stories and unique identities of these precious children, their families and the medical teams. The symbolic identities and creative representations will be merged into a life-sized visual story installation that the amazing and indomitable inherent spirit of these children battling illness and disease.
The power of this project will be the children. There are so many stories to tell. The contemporary hieroglyphic symbols will serve as representations of their identities. Each symbol, otherwise known as an 'identity glyph' will introduce you to a child, their family members or their medical team. It will tell you something about their own personal story, and it will represent a powerful story about the Children's Hospital.
Consider the impact and importance the process of creating visual expressions of hope and a healthy identity will have to the inherent well0being of these children and their ability to combat illness. Will it serve to maintain a sense of strength, worth, and courage? Will it improve the child's outlook in their battle for life? Will it affect their ability to combat disease? Will it reinforce the power of art and creativity? These are questions I hope to answer with this project.
This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, The Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and the Children's Hospital Volunteers.
Funds related to the longevity of the project, including a documentary, supplies and materials, support team, and other necessary funding may be donated to at https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-language-of-hope-and-courage/share
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCIES
2019-2020
Children's Hospital at OU Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK
2017
Cultural Connections: Norman in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Les Arts En Balade
2015
Cill Rialaig Arts Centre, Ballinskelligs, County Kerry, Ireland
Exhibitions and Showings Include:
2019-2020
The Language of Hope and Courage at the Children's Hospital - implementing, facilitating, installing and studying hope and the creative process in a year-long project at the Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma City
108 Contemporary year-long Gift Shop Artist for The Inherent Language of Life Project, Tulsa, OK
2018
Ginna Dowling at JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
Please Touch the Art 2018, – an exhibition to engage all the senses, C4C, Tulsa OK
2018 Steamroller Woodblock Exhibition, [Artspace] at Untitled, Oklahoma City, OK
The One Event, MainSite Contemporary Art, Norman Arts Council, Norman OK
Vox-Femina II curated invitational, Art Center of the Ozarks, Springdale, AR
2017
Ginna Dowling: Spirit of the People, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, OK
Cultural Connections: Clermont-Ferrand in Norman, MainSite Contemporary, Norman OK
Ginna Dowling: A Tale of Two Sisters – Jumalage, Cultural Connections: Norman in Clermont-Ferrand, France
Solo Exhibition Inherent Language of Life, MainSite Contemporary Art, Norman, OK
Please Touch the Art – an exhibition to engage all the senses, C4C, Tulsa OK
Norman Arts Council ONE: A Fool’s Ball, MainSite Contemporary Art, Norman, OK
Oklahoma Printmaking Network Exhibition, ArtSpace at Untitled, Oklahoma City,
2016
Concept Survey, Hardesty Arts Center, Tulsa, OK
12x12 Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition, Oklahoma City, OK
ONE: Noche Cubana, Invitational Exhibit: works by some of Oklahoma’s most respected visual artists, MainSite
Contemporary Art, Norman, OK
2015
Two-Person Exhibition, IAO (Individual Artists of Oklahoma) Exhibition, Oklahoma City, OK
Cill Rialaig, Arts Centre, Ballenskelligs, County Kerry, Ireland Cil
Beat One, Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery, Norman, OK
Print Austin PrintExpo, Print Exchange Exhibition, Austin, TX
2014
Christmas At The Elms, JRB Art Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK
Norman Open Studios Exhibition, Artist Talk and Studio Tour, MainSite Contemporary Art
Solo Exhibition Ginna Dowling Art, Let’s Work It Out, Norman, Ok
"Selfie: An Exhibition on Identity" MainSite Art Gallery, Norman, OK
2013
“Reconciling Memories”, Ginna Dowling, JRB Art at the Elms
"Project X" JRB Art at the Elms Tenth Anniversary Celebration Portfolio Exhibition
Oklahoma State Capitol East Gallery Solo Exhibition, “A Printmakers Perspective: A Life Told in Layers”
2012
MFA Thesis Exhibition, MainSite Contemporary Art Gallery, Norman Oklahoma
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 98th Annual University of Oklahoma Art & Art History Juried Exhibition,
Juror’s Choice Exhibition, JRB Art, Oklahoma City, OK
Calendar Art Show, JRB Art, Oklahoma City, OK
2011
“The Norman Invasion” Kansas State University, Manhattan Kansas
“Monothon III” Juried selection, Artspace at Untitled Gallery, OKC, OK
97th Annual University of Oklahoma Art & Art History Juried Exhibition, National Weather Center, University of Oklahoma
Co-Director, 2011 V-Day “The Vaginia Monologues” Production, University of Oklahoma
“Mixed Tape” Mixed Media Exhibiition, Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma
2010
“Peep into our Doll House” In Your Eye Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK
“Monothon II” Invitational Exhibition, Artspace at Untitled Gallery, OKC, OK
96th Annual University of Oklahoma Art & Art History Juried Exhibition, Lightwell Gallery
2009
“Homage to a Matriarch, three-generations of women artists,” Invitational Exhibition Carl Jung Art Center, Houston Texas
MFA Student Exhibition, Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma
“It Sounded Good on Paper” Printmaking Exhibition, Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma
2008
“Fresh Meat Exhibition,” Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma
2007
“My Neighborhood” Solo Exhibition at the Firehouse Art Center in Norman, Oklahoma
2006
Oklahoma Art Guild 2006 National Juried Exhibition
Encompass Exhibit, Norman Art Walk, Norman Oklahoma
Art Universe Show, Albuquerque, NM
On-going works currently exhibited:
JRB Art Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK
Firehouse Art Center, Norman, Oklahoma,
Grants, Fellowships and Residencies
2019-2020 Mid-American Arts Alliance (M-AAA) Artistic Innovations Grant from the National Endowment from
the Arts
2018 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship (Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition)
2017 Cultural Connections Exchange/Residency, Norman Arts Council, in Clermont-Ferrand, France
2015 Artist-in-Residency at Cill Rialaig Arts Center in Ballinskelligs, County Kerry, Ireland
2015 Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Project Grant
Honors and Awards:
Cultural Connections Artist Talk, University of Oklahoma, Norman OK
Please Touch the Art – Artist Discussion, C4C, Tulsa OK
Selected for Cultural Connections Cultural Exchange in Clermont-Ferrend France
OVAC Community Supported Art Program Commission
Merit Award, Concept Survey, Hardesty Arts Center, Tulsa OK
Artist-in-Residency at Cill Rialaig Arts Center in Ballinskelligs, County Kerry, Ireland
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Project Grant Recipient
Oklahoma City Museum of Art Permanent Collection
Invitational inclusion for JRB Art Tenth Anniversary Celebration Portfolio
January Calendar Page, JRB Art Calendar, JRB Art Calendar Show 2012
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Association Award, 97th Annual Art & Art History Juried Exhibition
Excellence In Printmaking Award, 97th Annual Art & Art History Juried Exhibition
Visual Art Student Association Award of Excellence, 96th Annual Art & Art History Juried Exhibition
Equal Merit Award, Oklahoma Art Guild 2006 National Show.
Education:
MFA Printmaking, University of Oklahoma
M.A. Studies, Professional Writing, University of Oklahoma
M.A. - Public Relations, University of Oklahoma
B.A. Journalism & Mass Communications, University of Houston
Installation Descriptions:
Hieroglyphics 2017: The Spirit of our People, at Oklahoma Contemporary, is based on Dowling’s current project of inviting members from different communities to tear shapes and symbols that specifically relate to them and their own personal stories and experiences. Through this practice, a universal language is created – much in an ancient, pictograph, or hieroglyphic style. She combines these symbols into site specific installations that merge identities and creative voices to become a unique and powerful visual story of individuals. With today’s volatile social issues, this work highlights individual identities, personalities, and characteristics, with all their similarities and differences, and brings them together into a collective context of an accepting universal community.
Participants in this project have included people from all demographics, ranging from homeless children to senior citizens, ages 2 to 90. They consist of all races, ethnicities, religions, education, socioeconomic levels, sexual identities and nationalities, able-bodied and disabled. By sharing identity glyphs and individual stories in this context, she is able to present a visual story-line that represents community, and tells the unique story about the spirit of our people.