Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Cusack.
Hi Nancy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
From early childhood, I made pictures and created miniature environments. My father whitewashed a former coal bin so I could draw all over the walls. When they were full of drawings, he repainted. My formal education is in both psychology and art. Since high school, I wanted a career that involved travel but was art-based.
I managed to blend the elements over time, combining studio art with travel programs that I designed. Getting here included a position as a corporate public relations director, and becoming a registered psychotherapist. I was in the first graduating class in expressive therapies at Lesley University in Cambridge MA, one of only 2 or 3 in the US. It seemed a practical way to combine studio practice with flexible day job alternative to teaching.
There weren’t many of us around and interest was high when I was offered a part-time position at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. I was surprised by how much I loved teaching. Ultimately, I won a full-time position there and taught until I moved here as Professor Emerita, just as the pandemic shut down the world. Over the years at MassArt, I developed various community-based programs, including international ones, chiefly in Latin America/Caribbean – both at the College and for other groups, often as fundraisers.
My studio practice enabled me to travel, often with grants and for prolonged periods, in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This offered an opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from artists in other parts of the world. Community involvement and service have always been significant and I have volunteered consulted and served on various boards across the arts, education, and community development. Jurying, curating and organizing exhibits has been a natural offspring of my work at MassArt.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Many challenges. Part of life. So far, fortunately, not insurmountable and I’m grateful for that. I’ve always been positive and inventive and that helps. One challenging situation that surely influenced my decision to pursue expressive therapy was growing up with a chronically ill parent. With my dad’s serious cardiac disease, we spent many holidays in intensive care or waiting for ambulances in the middle of the night. Lots of worrying.
Over those nearly two decades, I have a clear image of my dad, late at night, painting at an easel he would set up in our kitchen while his shortwave radio broadcast from different parts of the world. Painting absorbed him. Gave him a needed break. It couldn’t cure him but it helped ease anxiety and fear, softened the edges. Supportive therapies remain important accompaniments to traditional medical therapies.
Another major challenge was not being able to have my own children. I already had a list of potential names. It was a massive adjustment. Three mantras: It’s an imperfect world. You don’t get everything. You’re not here for 300 years.
As a balance, I spent weekends on ski patrol in Vermont and later learned to pilot small planes. The latter helped balance the beige and grey of the art world. Flying is essentially black and white. I rely heavily on aerial and atmospheric perspective in my work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In my downtown Sarasota studio, I work at an intersection of drawing and printmaking. A storyteller by nature, I create visual responses to the environment. Sarasota is lush and influences my images directly. I live on a beautiful wetlands pond and I continue to work on an expanding series of small pieces that I see as haiku.
Another current series of prints involves somewhat abstract stingray shapes, within a challenging sea. Some are printed on both sides to create a unique visual depth and texture. (This is part of a series I began while working in October on an international project with a group of prominent Cuban printmakers at the Taller Experimental de Grafica in Havana, one of the oldest printmaking studios in the Americas). Over the years I’ve been fortunate to continue to show my work in outstanding gallery and museum shows, here and abroad.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I can’t even pretend to define success. It’s fluid, develops over time, is whole, and more dynamic than static.
Pricing:
- $100 – $3.500.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nancycusack.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ncusackstudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancycusackstudio
Image Credits
Virginia Hoffman
