Education

1978 BFA • Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, cum laude
1990-92    • Photography, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL 

Residencies, Teaching, and Grants
2018       Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, Virginia
2016       Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, Virginia
2011-12  Visiting Artist, Environmental Art Class, The Pingry School,         Martinsville, NJ
2010-11  Artist-in-Residence, Newforest Institute, Firehouse, Jersey City, NY
2008       Waterfall Arts, Belfast, ME
2006       Topaz Arts, Inc., Queens, NY
2000       Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, Wyoming
1995       Artists in Community, Transformational Energetic Arts, Inc., NYC
1978-79 Ford Foundation Grant, Carnegie-Mellon University -to develop Interdisciplinary Program
 

Solo Exhibitions

2024     Co-Curating: Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME

2023      Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME

2022      Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME

2021      Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME

2020      Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME

2018       Frank Brockman Gallery • Brunswick, ME
2014       gWatson Gallery • Stonington, ME
2013       Gallery 525 • Ojai, CA
2012       June Fitzpatrick Gallery • Portland, ME
               The Hostetter Art Center Gallery,  The Pingry School • Martensville, NJ
2009       Topaz Arts • Queens, NY
2008        Waterfall Arts • Belfast, ME 
2006       Topaz Arts • Queens, NY
2005        Kellerher Fine Art • San Francisco, CA
2003        Elan Fine Art • Rockland, ME
2002        Pentimenti Gallery • Philadelphia, PA
                Leighton Gallery • Blue Hill, ME
2000        Barton/Ryan • Boston, MA
2001        gWatson Gallery • Stonington, ME
1999        Leighton Gallery • Blue Hill, ME
                Clark House Gallery • Bangor, ME
1993       Wingspread Gallery • Northeast Harbor, ME
1992       Gallery House • Nobleboro, ME
1991       Leighton Gallery • Blue Hill, ME
1990       Concept Art Gallery • Pittsburgh, PA
                Leighton Gallery • Blue Hill, ME
1989        Wingspread Gallery • Northeast Harbor, ME
1987       The Knitting Factory •  NYC
                MoMing Gallery • Chicago, IL
 
Group Exhibitions
2017    Wise Blood, Paradice Palase, Brooklyn, NY
2016    Abstract Artistry, Artemis Gallery, Northeast Harbor, ME
            Plenty, Cynthia Winings Gallery, Blue Hill, ME
2015    Messages, The Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill, ME
2014    Yearning Upwards, The Painting Center, New York, NY
             Beneath the Surface, PhoPa Gallery, Portland, ME
             Dreaming Gardens, Suffolk University Gallery, Boston, MA
             Making a New Whole, Univ. of New England Gallery, Portland, ME
2013     Twenty Who Know the Difference, Center for Maine Contemporary Art
              Rockport, Maine
             Maine Environment Art & Design, Maine Farmland Trust, Belfast, ME
2012     Tidal, Shaw Gallery, Northeast Harbor, ME
             Scratching the Surface, 3- person, Rome, Italy and London, England
             Naturally, 3-person show, Marymount Manhattan College, NYC
             Hidden Gems of Contemporary Art, London, England
2011     Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Portland, ME
2010     Shifting Terrain, Woodstock Byrdcliff Guild, Woodstock, NY
             Arboreal: 4 Artists, Arsenal Gallery, Central Park, NYC 
2009     H2O Film on Water Redux,  Cynthia Reeves Gallery, NYC
             H2O Film on Water,  Great River Arts, The Newport Mill, Newport, NH
             First Traces, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME   
             Natural Routes, Aucosisco Gallery, Portland, ME
 2006    Landscapes Reassembled, Omni Gallery, Uniondale, NY
 2006     Expanse, Studio 12N, NYC
 2002     Plugged In, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
 2001     Introductions, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
              Matrix, Clark University, Worcester, MA
1998      Seasons of Change: Maine Women Artists and Nature, Westbrook  
              College, Portland, ME
 1995     Maine Abstract Art, 1995, Danforth Gallery, Portland, ME
 1993     Sacred Spaces, Icon Gallery, Brunswick, ME
              Paint!,  Jewitt Gallery, The University of Maine, Augusta, ME
              On The Edge: 40 Years of Painting in Maine, Portland Museum of
               Art,  Portland, ME
1992      The Belly Project,  Frick Gallery • Belfast, ME
              Celebrating Our Earth,  Wingspread Gallery • Northeast Harbor, ME
1991      Seascapes,  Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, ME
              17 Maine Women Artists,  Gallery House, Nobleboro, ME
              Spruce Point III, Spruce Point, Boothbay Harbor, ME
              Endangered Spaces, Cry of the Loon Gallery, Sebago, ME
1990      Invitational Exhibition, Central Maine Power, Augusta, ME
1987      Carnegie-Mellon Alumni Show,  Forbes Street Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1986      Old and New Photographs, Stooker Stikker Gallery, NYC
 
 
 
Bibliography
Lincoln, Nan, Review, The Bar Harbor Times,  July 27, 1989
Lincoln, Nan, Review, The Bar Harbor Times, June 21, 1990
Fox, Nicols, Review, Wingspread Gallery, The New Art Examiner, November, 1992.
 
Strauss, R.B., “Avy Claire Paintings Floating Above the Endless Sea”, The Kennett Paper,      December 11, 2002.
 
Anstead, Alicia, “Eat Your Art Out”, Bangor Daily News, July 25, 2006.
 
Reynolds, Jane, “H2O Probes Water’s Beauty, Turbulence”, The Dartmouth, August 4, 2010.
 
McAvoy, Suzette, “Garden of Earthly Delight”, Maine Home and Design, May 2009, p. 71-72.
 
Jakimides, Annaliese, “Moving and Shaping”, Bangor Metro, Winter 2011, pp. 32-34.
 
Beem, Edgar Allen, Review PMA Biennial, Maine Yankee Magazine, May, 2011
 
Kany, Daniel, Review PMA Biennial, Maine Sunday Telegram, April 17, 2011
 
Kany, Daniel, Review: Drawing the Line at June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland Press Herald, October 16, 2011
 
Kany, Daniel,  “Marking Time: Drawings by Avy Claire, exercise in process – and subtlety” Maine Sunday Telegram, February 26, 2012
 
“For The Trees”, Hawk & Handsaw: The Journal of Creative Sustainability, vol.5, 2012, pp. 67-68.
 
E. Ashley Rooney, Green Art: Trees, Roots, and Leaves, published by Schiffer Books, 2013
 
Bush, William, Artists Renew our Perception, LA Weekly, Huffington Post, March 4, 2013.
 
Schroeder, Nick, Upsetting the Natural Order, The Portland Phoenix, May 15, 2014.


Little, Carl, The World is a Messy Place, Maine Arts Journal, Winter, 2020