STATEMENT
My medium began early on as pencil on roofing tar paper and evolved from black to white paper, prismacolor color tones are rich, adding vibrancy to the skies and desert land. My color palette is vast with over one hundred and fifty shades, allowing for many multiple layers and blending the pencil’s pigments. Accompanying my technique is subject matter: Industrial Iconic Route 66 remnants. This is an important look at “Americana” as we know it. Graffitied gas stations and saddened relics of Ghost towns are scattered along American highways and small towns. These passages have reached the same demise as the steel mills, remaining silent. My documentation of a once vibrant landscape are now fragile displays from an era with rich and deep, dark stories. These unique dottings along Historic Route 66 make this series very relevant, as we are faced with a dramatically different landscape. The real Mother Road once commercialized now leaves only heroic symbols of steel and neon silhouetted against skies. The title of each artwork is acknowledged by the highway exit.
_________________________________
BORN 1961- New Castle, Pennsylvania
EDUCATION
B.A. in Studio Arts, University of Pittsburgh, PA 1984
Advanced Study, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1981 Lucca, ItalySELECTED EXHIBITIONS
“Exit Series” The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio 2023
“Exit Series” Ellsworth Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2023
The Municipal Museum of Art International Biennial, Gyor, Hungary, 2005
Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 2002
The Factory Drawings, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH 2000
American Picturesque, Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. 1992
O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI. Recent Works, 1992
The Butler Institute Of American Art, Youngstown, OH 1991
Pittsburgh Biennial, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA 1990
#6 Carson Street Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA 1990COLLECTIONS
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown ,OH
The Municipal Museum of Art, Gyor, Hungary
Howard Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh, PA
Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh History Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, Pittsburgh, PA
Buchanan Ingersoll, Pittsburgh, PA
Matthews International, Pittsburgh PA
Corporate Jets, Allegheny County Airport, Pittsburgh, PA
Individual Collections
Terry L. Weiner, Palm Desert, CAHONORS AND AWARDS
Mary Shaw Horn Memorial Award, Associated Artists 1996
City of Pittsburgh Council Commendation Times Project, 1991
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Specific Project Grants, 1989,1992,1993, 1995RELATED ACTIVITIES
Gallery Director, Tadu 2005-2018
Gallery Director, The Edge Gallery, Janine Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Founder Times Project, 1990 Pittsburgh PASELECTED ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
Cline, Lynn, “Industrial Resolution”, Pasatiempo, The New Mexican, 29 September 2000
Addison, Laura, “Janine Stern”, THE Magazine, November 2000
Homisak, Bill, “Stern far from the madding Crowd” Tribune-Review, 21 January 1990
Clark, Vicky, Pittsburgh Biennial Catalogue, Pittsburgh Center for the Art, 1990