Check Out Meredith Connelly’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meredith Connelly.

Hi Meredith, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I have always been enthralled with nature, the outdoors, and making space. My earliest memory of this intersection was tromping along the edge of the pond in the backyard of my childhood home to create mounds using sticks and dirt in the nearby woods.

Even at this young age, I recall being interested in the small and intricate specimens I discovered outside, the wonder associated with sunlight filtering through the green leaves of a tree canopy, and the feeling of the crumbling earth in my hands. This was and is my foundation and the spirit-centric drive that guides my process.

As I grew up, this never left me and I began to expand my exploration and reflection of the world through art. By age 16 I had made my first metal sculpture and by age 17 I had left American school and moved to Paris, France. My main reason for going to France was to be with the art, and living there was formative and further kindled my calling to create. I spent most days in museums sketching and exploring the work of the masters.

In a way, I look at that period in my life as a pilgrimage and a deeply moving time in my heart. I lived in Paris for a year before returning to the United States where I had my daughter at age 19. I decided to begin college when she was 8 months old and took one class at a time on my lunch breaks to start the process. A particular class happened to be art appreciation, and after seeing an image of Eva Hesse’s work on one of the textbook pages, I created my first site-specific installation.

As I continued down my academic path, I declared my major in art at the University of Wilmington, NC where I first began using light as a material and exploring non-traditional, translucent materials. I worked three jobs to put myself through art school as a single parent and it took me seven years to get my degree. During that time I interned in galleries, was the creative director of the university magazine, and received a faculty-nominated scholarship.

These experiences were also critical points in my creative journey. I have now been working with light, industrial materials, and technology for over a decade and have been operating as a full-time artist and creative contractor for the last four years.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I believe that life is never perfect or smooth and that obstacles are a precursor to growth. Each day is a lesson and the difficult periods in my journey have shaped and prepared me for the next phase of my path. These challenges also come in tandem with learning, sweet moments, and growing pains.

Being a single and working mom in college was a challenge, working a full-time job and creating my work during the wee hours and on my vacation days was a challenge, taking the leap to run my own business and create as a full-time artist is a daily challenge. Yet, each of these challenges in my life has molded me and contributed to introspection, compassion, and transformation.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a visual artist, designer, and creative contractor. I illuminate my site-specific installations and encase lighting in manufactured materials to reveal their organic qualities and incorporate interactive elements into my works to further connect and submerge viewers into my glowing site-specific environments. I also create complex hand-cut paper works reflective of the microscopic world and press them in transparent materials that parallel microscope slides.

Whether creating large-scale experiential works or hand-cutting patterns into sheets of paper, I remain intrigued by the endless possibilities of my materials. My works of art have been on view at art museums throughout the southeast, and are housed in various private and corporate collections nationally. I have also activated numerous public spaces to create accessible public art experiences for communities.

My inaugural outdoor installation series welcomed over 250k visitors during its run, which I still find incredibly humbling. I have recently been the recipient of awards such as a Cultural Vision Grant and a significant technology research grant to further expand the use of tech in my work and process.

I am deeply committed to expanding community and culture through the arts, enjoy advocating for equality and women in the arts, and place great emphasis on supporting emerging and underrepresented femme, BIPOC, and LQBTQIA+ artists in all stages of their careers. More recently, I have also begun curating art exhibitions that address complex social issues I am passionate about. However, my list of accomplishments is not what makes me proudest.

What I am most excited by are the seemingly little moments: laughter with my team of working artists, the perfect cup of tea, lazy Sundays with my family, the conversations with strangers surrounded by glowing mushrooms, and the opportunity to continue doing what I love every single day.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lessons I have learned along the way are: there is power in saying no and establishing boundaries, contracts preserve relationships, we are in control of our day and schedule, rest is a necessity, health is a priority, and treating people with care, integrity, and intention is the legacy we leave behind.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.meredithconnelly.com
• Instagram: @meredith.connelly
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Artbymeredithconnelly
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-connelly-47335b51/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MeredithConnellyArt