CONTACT:
figuringpeople@gmail.com
Noël Ash is an artist, veteran, and mother of three. Her paintings, sculptures, performance and poetry unflinchingly examine her own experience of motherhood, and her work makes space for a more honest conversation about being a mother. She was the recipient of the 2020 Madison Arts Council grant for her project, Painted Mess, which gave space and voice to mothers isolated by the pandemic. She was the winner of the 2020 Arts + Literature Lab’s ALL Prize for her MFA exhibition, Things Pile Up. She was the progenitor and co-curator of WHY MOM, a periodic exhibition centered around the idea of mothers, and the moderator of the Artists/Mothers Forum at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, WI. Ash earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her MFA from UW-Madison. In 2020 Ash began an extended Residency in Motherhood through the ARiM, in which she performs as a living art piece the snippets of life that appear between the chaos of feeding, clothing and housing her brood, and occasionally manages to document the same. Ash performs this piece, Good Mom, from her home in Milwaukee, WI.
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EDUCATION:
Master of Fine Arts – Studio Art – University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI, 2020
Master of Arts – Studio Art – University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI, 2019
US Army Certification – Signals Intelligence and Analysis, US Army, 2008-2010
US Army Certification – Combat Lifesaver, US Army, 2009
US Army Certification – Master Armorer, US Army, 2009
Certificate in Modern Standard Arabic from the Defense Language Institute – Monterey, CA, 2008
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Painting and Drawing – The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, 2003
EXHIBITIONS:
2025 – BEYOND THE WALLS: The Artists Behind the Oak Park Mini Murals, Cheney Mansion, Oak Park, IL
2024 – WHEREVER HOME IS, James Watrous Gallery, Madison, WI
– 30x30x30 EXHIBITION, Var Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2021 – 2022 – EVERYTHING COVID – Overture Center, Madison, WI
2021 – REUNION – Art Lofts Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2020 – THINGS PILE UP – Arts + Literature Laboratory, Madison, WI
2019 – TWO ALONE – Gallery I – Overture Center, Madison, WI
– PERSONAL HISTORY IN NARRATIVE FIGURATIVE PAINTINGS
– Agitator Gallery, Chicago, IL
– DOWNTOWN DOORS PROJECT – Public Art, Madison, WI
– CRYING KIOSKS – Renegade Public Art Installation, Madison, WI
– AQUAPHOBIC – Art Lofts Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2018 – 2019 – FORWARD – Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
2019 – A CHILD BASED LIFE – UW Health Nursing School Gallery, Madison, WI
2019 – UNSTILL LIFE – Christ Presbyterian Church, Madison, WI
2018 – PRECIPICE – Art Lofts Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2018 – PAINTERS ALL– Art Lofts Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2018 – WOMEN’S WORK – Cyrus M. Running Gallery, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
2018 – PAINT CEDARBURG 2018 – Cedarburg Cultural Center, Cedarburg, WI
2018 – SISYPHEAN ACTIVITIES – Courtside Gallery, Madison Squash Workshop, Madison, WI
2018 – THIS IS WHO WE ARE – Art Lofts Atrium, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2018 – THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD – Chazen Museum Lobby, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2018 – ALL THESE LITTLE SISYPHEAN TORTURES – Ahrnsbrak Gallery, UW-Marathon County, Wausau, WI
2018 – FIRST YEAR REVIEW – Art Lofts Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2017 – 2018 – GLORY– Christ Presbyterian Church, Madison, WI
2017 – INSTIGATORS – Capitol Lakes Retirement Community, Madison, WI
2017 – SWAP | MEET – Quarter Gallery, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
2017 – GROUP SHOW – Art Lofts Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2017 – IN THE WAY – Wally Douma Gallery, Madison, WI
2017 – ORDINARY TIME – Christ Presbyterian Church, Madison, WI
2017 – SMALL WORLDS – Oak Park Township, Oak Park, IL
2017 – DOOR COUNTY QUICK PAINT EXHIBITION – PenArt, Fish Creek, WI
2017 – PAINT THE POINT 2017 – Township Gallery, Mineral Point, WI
2017 – PAINT CEDARBURG 2017 – Cedarburg Cultural Center, Cedarburg, WI
2017 – LANDSCAPES AND WATERS – Cross Plains Public Library, Cross Plains, WI
2016 – PLEIN AIR AT THE EXPO– Exposition Center, Wisconsin State Fair Park, West Allis, WI
2016 – OPEN AIR PLEIN AIR 2016 – Waterfront Art Fair, Pewaukee, WI
2015 – HOUSE AND HOME | STRANGERS, FRIENDS Latham Street Gallery, Brigstock, Northamptonshire, England
2014 – EVERYDAY – Ballweg Gallery, Madison, WI
2014 – WATER BABIES – Gallery 1308, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2014 – FAMILY TIES – Gelsy Verna Gallery, Madison, WI
2014 – COLOR – Arterie Fine Arts – Naperville, IL
2014 – AT HOME: EXPLORING THE FAMILY IN SITU – Warehouse Gallery – Madison, WI
2013 – SLEEPLESS – Cabinet Gallery, UW-Madison, Madison, WI
2002 – G2 – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2001 – ALL THE TOWERS BROUGHT DOWN – Narrow Space Gallery – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
PUBLIC ART
2024 – Oak Park, IL – A Bouquet of Wooden Spoons in the Sunshine
2023 – Oak Park, IL – Countertop Still Life 1/24/20
– Milwaukee, IL – Gordon Park Friends Logo
2022 – Oak Park, IL – Countertop Still Life 2/25/20 – Mural
2019 – Madison, WI – Downtown Doors Project – City of Madison
2019 – Madison, WI – Crying Kiosks – Renegade Public Art Installation – State Street, Madison, WI
2018 – 2019 – Deerfield, IL – Deerfield Public Library
2018 – Oak Park, IL – Boy in Basket – Mural on Green Line train embankment
2017 – Oak Park, IL – Escape in the Water and Isotonics Aisle – Mural
Noël Joy Ash 