Quincy University’s Gray Gallery, located in Brenner Library (1800 College), will host the art exhibition Botanical Illustrations, featuring works by Maureen Brodsky of St. Louis, Mo. The exhibition will take place from October 12 – November 8 and is free and open to the public. An artist reception will be held on November 8, from 4-5 p.m. in the gallery. 

Brodsky earned her degree in fine art from Carnegie-Mellon University School of Fine Art. Originally pursuing a graphics career, she served as the art director at Irene Pasinski and Associates and worked at the Pittsburgh Animators. After moving to Chicago, she began teaching at the College of Lake County and the Suburban Fine Arts Center. She served on the Illinois Citizens’ Commission for Arts Education. She later returned to her hometown, St. Louis, Mo. and taught for the Saint Louis Art Museum and Saint Louis Community College.

Drawn by the landscape of her childhood, she has focused her studio work on painting and drawing flowers and other botanical subjects. Her work is inspired by the Missouri Ozark foothills, where she enjoys painting and exploring the fallow fields and rivers. 

“I wouldn’t be an artist if I hadn’t spent my childhood summers at my grandparents’ farm,” said Brodsky. “I grew up roaming the fields and avoiding the open mine shafts that dotted the woods down the steep hill from my grandparents’ mining office home. As a child, I painted wildflowers at my grandparents’ farm with little watercolor pans.”

Brodsky has illustrated 20 children’s books and has had her work added to the Children’s Illustrated Art Museum, in Chesterfield, Mo. In 2005, Carnegie-Mellon University’s College of Fine Art selected one of Maureen’s paintings for the Centennial Exhibition honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the college and featuring distinguished alumni. In addition, her work has been shown at the Logan Center at the University of Chicago, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pa., and the Harlin Museum in West Plains, Mo.  She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists. 

A watercolor workshop, co-sponsored by QU and the Great River Watercolor Society (GRWS), will run from 9 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 8 in Room 436 in QU’s Francis Hall (1800 College). The cost of the workshop is $40.00 for GRWS members and $50.00 for non-members. For additional information and registration, please contact Sue Ann Winking, at 217-223-4362 or rummesue@quincy.edu. 

For more information, contact Gray Gallery curator, Robert Mejer at mejerbob@quincy.edu. The Gray Gallery 53rd Season of Exhibitions can be viewed online at https://www.quincy.edu/gray-gallery/.

Founded in 1860 by Franciscan friars, Quincy University (www.quincy.edu) is celebrating 160 years as a Catholic, co-educational, liberal arts, residential university. Quincy University offers undergraduate, graduate, and adult education programs that integrate liberal arts, active learning, practical experience, and Franciscan values. Faculty and advisors work with each student to design a customized success plan to help them graduate on time, find their passion and prepare them for life. Quincy University’s intercollegiate sports are members of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference for men and women. For more information, please contact the Quincy University Office of Community Relations by calling (217) 228-5275. Quincy University. Success by Design.