Joan relies on furniture and spaces to explore psychological themes, using either pastel or oil paint as the medium. She constructs interactions between the furniture pieces to implicate human relationships. This theme of interacting furniture in surreal settings has been running throughout Joan’s compositions for several years, whether it’s looking to the outside environment or peering inward, into a room. Her interest in drawing and painting furniture is a natural consequence of illustrating furniture for many years for the industry and for publications while living in North Carolina.

Bio

Since 2002 Joan has had four solo exhibits at Kingston Gallery in Boston and has been a participant in a variety of invitational and juried shows, such as Claiming the Sprit at Brandeis University. In 2005 she was a participant in Close to Home, a juried exhibition at the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, Connecticut. She has received many awards, including the exclusive finalist award in works of paper from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Artist Grant Program in 1999 and has been reviewed extensively in the local press including a review in Art New England in February, 2010, The Boston Globe in December, 2003 and the cover story of Middlesex Beat in April, 2004.

Joan has spent most of her adult life in Charlotte, N.C. but was originally from Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She lived for four years in London and Milan, but since 1995 has lived and worked in the Boston area. She graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. in art education and has supplemented her education in Charlotte and Boston, including courses at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Mass College of Art. Her studio is at River Street Artists, part of Waltham Mills Artists Association in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Selected Solo/Invitational Exhibitions

KINGSTON GALLERY
One person show – Pleasant Bay – Boston 2010

KINGSTON GALLERY
One person show – The Furniture Outside – Boston 2007

KINGSTON GALLERY
One person show – Room Scenes – Boston 2005

KINGSTON GALLERY
One person show - A Look Inside - Boston - 2003

NEWTON FREE LIBRARY 
Solo - Furniture Interactions  - Newton Centre, MA, 2001.

ARLINGTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS 
Two person show - Females You Can Only Imagine - Arlington, MA, 2000

BRICKBOTTOM GALLERY 
Six person show - Persistent Inspirations, -  Somerville, MA, 1998

UNIVERSITY PLACE GALLERY 
Five person show - Dreamstuff, sponsored by Cambridge Art Association - Cambridge, MA. 1997

Selected Group Exhibitions

ARSENAL CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Outside Inside, Art in Nature – Watertown, MA, 2007

CREATIVE ARTS WORKSHOP
Close to Home – A National Exhibition - New Haven, CT 2005

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY 
Claiming the Spirit: A Juried Show at the Women’s Studies Research Center 2002

THE ART COMPLEX MUSEUM 
More Unique Seats - Duxbury, MA, 2000

NATIONAL PRIZE SHOW 
Sponsored by Cambridge Art Association - Federal Reserve Bank Gallery, Boston, MA, 1999 

HERA GALLERY 
Seeing Red  - Wakefield, RI, 1998, Gridworks  - Wakefield, RI, 1999

OANNES GALLERY 
Uncommon Furniture  - Tiverton, RI, 1999

BEACON HILL ART WALK 
Boston, MA, 1997

Selected Awards/Grants

RED, an open juried competition sponsored by Cambridge
Art Association JUROR'S AWARD, 2005

Mass.Cultural Council’s Artist Grant Program  FINALIST AWARD IN WORKS ON PAPER, 1999

Cahners Publishing -  GRAPHICS MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE , 1993  EDITORIAL MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE, 1997

Beacon Hill Art Walk -  FIRST PRIZE, 1997

Reviews

ART NEW ENGLAND - February/March 2010
Joan Baldwin: Pleasant Bay - Furniture at Cape Cod

ARTSCOPE - March/April, 2010
Thayer Street - A Destination or an Attitude? Maybe Both
Writer James Foritano investigates the various galleries on Thayer Street in the South End:

"On the other hand, Joan Baldwin’s technique, in the adjacent Kingston Gallery, is to strew furniture and plumbing fixtures in plain view amidst her picture-perfect oils of Cape Cod scenes. This would be a joke if Baldwin’s scenes weren’t so compelling, so redolent of sand, sea and air that they make you want to call public works and have “that furniture removed!” But there it sets right in the current of your favorite meandering creek, or hidden bayberry copse, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it – short of vandalism."

Purchasing Information

Some paintings and pastels in the gallery section of this website are for sale. For further information, send an email to Joan.

Joan's Work on Exhibit at the Kingston Gallery 2010