The Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts is honored to welcome its first two artists-in-residence, Gwyneth Scally and Michaela Worosz, who are visiting for the next five weeks. They will be working on their own projects at our facility as well as sharing their talents with the public through a series of public workshops. Sign up for one of them for an exclusive sneak peek at the arts center before its September grand opening. Scally will present a three-week Portrait Painting in Oil workshop from 6 – 8PM on the following dates: 7/27/15, 7/29/15, 8/3/15, 8/5/15, 8/10/15 and 8/12/15. Worosz will teach two Fold and Cut Paper Art workshops. The first, a condensed two-week workshop, will go from 6 – 9PM on 7/14/15, 7/16/15, 7/21/15 and 7/23/15. The second, a three-week workshop, will be taught from 6 – 8PM on 7/28/15, 7/30/15, 8/4/15, 8/6/15, 8/11/15 and 8/13/15. All classes take place at the Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts, all materials will be provided, and the cost for each workshop is $100.

Scally is known and acclaimed internationally for her art, which includes large-scale paintings, installation and fiberglass sculpture. Born in Washington, D.C., Scally taught and created art in Arizona for about a decade before relocating to Brooklyn in 2012. She has worked as an instructor, assistant professor and adjunct professor of visual arts, career development, art appreciation, art history and more at six institutes of higher learning, including the University of Arizona, Southwest University of the Visual Arts and Bronx Community College.

Scally’s work has been featured in 20 solo exhibitions, 13 two- and three-person exhibitions and more than 60 group exhibitions throughout the United States, Europe and Mexico. The quality of her work has earned her 18 special awards, grants, scholarships and fellowships since 2000, and she has participated in nine other residencies, research trips, lectures and other such projects in the United States, Europe, Canada and East Asia. 33 reviews, articles and interviews about her work have been published in more than two dozen publications and television stations nationally.

Worosz, a native of Dunkirk, NY, will finish her degree in Visual Arts and New Media, with a minor in Art History, at SUNY Fredonia this coming winter. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in Curatorial Studies afterward in preparation for a career in cataloging and preserving old works of art.

Worosz works in installation, pen-and-ink illustration and book arts. She has participated in three exhibitions – all installation work – in the past year and worked as a gallery assistant in the spring. This fall, she will work at the Burchfield Penney, a Buffalo, NY, gallery, as an archival processing intern.

Both artists are also teaching classes at Transitions, a supportive apprenticeship program for young adults with autism spectrum disorders including Asperger’s syndrome, nonverbal learning differences, ADHD, dyslexia and other learning differences. The program prepares its students for life after high school in college, at a career and/or living independently. Scally and Worosz’s classes are part of the arts enrichment section of the curriculum, which allows students to express themselves and be introduced to a wide variety of arts disciplines during their time at Transitions.

Visit http://www.pncreativeartscenter.org/summer-2015-workshops/ for more information about and to register for these workshops, as well as updates on other events the Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts is offering. For more information about Scally and to see examples of her work, visit her website at www.gwynethscallyart.com. For more information about Worosz and to see examples of her work, visit mworosz.weebly.com. For more information about Transitions, visit http://www.transitionsusa.org.