Ellen Colcord (painting, drawing, mixed media)M.A in Fine Arts, New York University
Master of Art and Religion in Painting and Religion, Yale University
Accademia di Belle Arti, Urbino Italy, Masters Program, Painting
B.F.A. Stony Brook University
Ellen Colcord's formal art studies began at The Art Students League in New York City and Stony Brook University on Long Island where she received a BA in Painting, Philosophy and Writing and a BFA in Fine Arts. Awarded a URECA research grant in 1989, she researched Sienese Religious icons (12th and 13th century) at the Pinacoteca Museum in Siena Italy. The following year she was accepted and studied in a Master's Program at the Academia di Belle Arte in Urbino, Italy.
While in Italy, Colcord began an intense study of icons, particularly those of the proto-Renaissance period, (12th to 14th century). Impassioned by ancient sacred images, she began a series of paintings and assemblages. The images reconstructed again and again became a theme and fire for her work. Fifteen years later, Colcord continues to focus on the mystical, theological and spiritual in her paintings. From 1997-2000 she attended Yale University's Graduate School focusing on Painting and Religion. Colcord says, "The intrinsic spiritual values of all religions is what interests me. I hope to reveal divine presence in my own painting."
Colcord has had numerous solo exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Currently, she is a Resident Artist at the Greenwich Arts Council in Greenwich, Connecticut and on the Gallery Committee. She curated numerous exhibitions for the gallery including the "Millennium Exhibition," which displayed a series of seventy boxes by artists from around the world. Colcord also created the program "ARTISTS TALK ON ART" for the Greenwich Arts Society, (a gathering of artists, presentations and discussions), acting as Program Director from 1999 to 2000.
In 2001, Colcord was commissioned to create a series of gold leaf paintings for the Stuart Weitzman Corporation in Beverly Hills, CA. She also designed a traveling exhibit of art shoes for Weitzman, displayed throughout the United States. From 1999-2001, she was commissioned to create the artwork for thirteen CDs covers for Laurel Tree Records.
Colcord has taught painting at The Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in New York, The Aldrich Museum Workshops in Ridgefield, Connecticut and has lectured at Sacred Heart University and Yale University on religious icons and spirituality. She has curated numerous exhibitions at the Ward-Nasse Gallery in Soho, New York, and for the Greenwich Arts Council.