The Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center at Saint Anselm College will present The Glimmer of Light: Landscape Paintings by Lauren Sansaricq from September 28 to December 6, 2012. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Thursday, September 27 from 6:00 to 8:00pm, and will offer visitors an opportunity to meet and talk with the artist.

The Glimmer of Light continues the Chapel Art Center’s important tradition of featuring American landscape paintings and local or emerging artists. A native of Columbia County, New York, Lauren Sansaricq (b.1990) trained with Thomas Locker (1937–2012), a celebrated landscape painter and children’s book author/illustrator, in the traditional manner of the Hudson River School. “Her deft handling of the medium embraces all the challenges of being immersed in the scene, with a true devotion and purity of intent,” says Chapel Art Center Director, Fr. Iain MacLellan, O.S.B.

Sansaricq’s work captures a similar sense of wonder experienced by the nineteenth century landscape painters working primarily in New York’s Catskill Mountain region. “It is a great honor for me to exhibit my paintings at Saint Anselm College,” says Ms. Sansaricq. “I believe that great art possesses a higher spiritual message that aligns well with the moral and philosophical mission of this prestigious institution. In my work, I strive to share with my viewer a true and moral notion of Beauty, and hope that this sentiment will find a listening audience here.” Like the first generation of Hudson River School painters, Sansaricq has also proven herself to be a true artist-explorer. She has broadened the scope of her work to include locations outside the Hudson Valley, including the White Mountains of New Hampshire and locations in France and Italy.

In addition to her early studies with Locker, Sansaricq received academic training from the Grand Central Academy of Art in New York City. She also was awarded the prestigious Hudson River Fellowship three years in a row, as well as the Henrietta Reiss Award in 2008. Sansaricq is represented by New York gallery Hawthorne Fine Art, and was the subject of the gallery’s recent exhibition Nature’s Poetry: The Landscapes of Lauren Sansaricq.

In conjunction with this special exhibition, numerous special events have been planned. David Dearinger, Ph.D., Susan Morse Hilles Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at The Boston Athenaeum,
will present “The Hudson River School: An Introduction” on Thursday, November 8 at 4:00pm. This lecture will provide a scholar’s insight into the significance of America’s first indigenous art movement, offering an important supplement to Ms. Sansaricq’s meditative and technically rigorous paintings.
Additionally, Fr. MacLellan will be leading a director’s tour of the exhibition at 1:00pm on Saturday, October 20. On Thursday, October 25 at 4:00pm, Ms. Sansaricq will discuss the subject matter and technical practice that ties her work to historic American landscape painting, yet offers a fresh look at our landscape today. Lastly, a special music performance will feature American Romantic compositions performed by acclaimed pianist Alpin Hong on Friday, November 30 at 7:30pm.

The Glimmer of Light marks the first exhibition of a series of “suites” held by the Chapel Art Center in celebration of its 45th anniversary, and will coincide with another special exhibition, Décor and the Antique, Selections from the Permanent Collection. An annotated folio illustrating Sansaricq’s paintings will accompany the exhibition.

For further information, please visit www.anselm.edu/chapelart.