Adair Peck is an expressive painter of people, landscapes, and animals. Sketchbook in hand, Adair has drawn the majestic mountains of Colorado and Montana, the rocky seashores of Massachusetts, and the glamorous and gritty streets of Chicago and the East Village. Her abstract work is as alive with personality as her flowers and animals, reflecting her singular world-view through a vibrant and colorful lens.
Raised in the suburbs of Chicago and encouraged by her mother, renowned artist Fay Peck, Adair studied painting at Boston University and earned her MFA from Brooklyn College in New York. Her art education has really never ended because she draws wherever she goes!
Inspired by German Expressionism and Mexican Folk Art, Adair embraces bold color in her paintings and papier-mâché sculptures. She works in multiple printmaking techniques including encaustic painting, woodcut, and Chine-Colle. Her recent encaustic (beeswax) collages are painted, torched, and scraped and often include an assortment of found and recycled materials, including coffee grounds.
Adair currently lives with her husband and three daughters in Bozeman, Montana.
EDUCATION
MFA 1990 Brooklyn College, New York, NY; Painting major, Printmaking minor
BFA 1987 Boston University, Boston, MA; Painting
Queens College 1986, New York, NY; Painting workshop w/ landscape focus
Anderson Ranch 1985, 1991, 1994, 1995, Snow Village, CO
University of Wisconsin 1983, Madison, WI
S.U.N.Y. Purchase 1982, New York, NY; Theater Set Design Workshop
RECENT FEATURED ARTICLES:
mvmagazine.com/news/2020/03/20/piece-work-adair-peck
www.classicchicagomagazine.com/down-to-a-fine-art/
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Ecce Fine Art Gallery - Bozeman, MT
2018 Bozeman Library
2017 Ecce Fine Art Gallery - Bozeman, MT
2015 Bozeman Library
2014 Tart Gallery
2008 Tart Gallery - Bozeman, MT
2007 Coop - Bozeman, MT
1995 Deerpath Art Gallery - Lake Forest, IL
1992 Gruen Galleries - Chicago, IL
1991 Evelyn Siegel Gallery - Fort Worth, TX
1990 West Beth Gallery - New York, NY
1988 Gilman Gruen Galleries - Chicago, IL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 4 Ravens Gallery - Missoula, MT
2007-2013 Tart Gallery - Bozeman, MT
2008 Danforth Gallery - Livingston, MT
2007 Danforth Gallery - Livingston, MT
1997 Bob Blackburn Printmakers Workshop - New York, NY
1996 Jewels of Aspen - Aspen, CO
1996 Tenri Biennale - Nara, Japan
1995 Don Malton Gallery - Cincinnati, OH
1995 Gruen Galleries - Chicago, IL
1995 Aspen Art Museum - Aspen, CO
1994 Around the Coyote - Chicago, IL
1992 Stricoff Gallery - New York, NY
1991 Aspen Art Museum - Aspen, CO
1990 Deerpath Art Gallery - Lake Forest, IL
1988 Allan Stone Gallery - New York, NY
1987 Martin Luther King Gallery, Boston University - Boston, MA
Adair in her Bozeman, Montana studio
TEACHING
2009-2018 Artist in residence in Bozeman, MT schools.
1991–93 Instructor of mural projects at the Marwen Foundation. Executed large murals for sites in the Chicago area including The Museum of Contemporary Art and The First National Bank of Chicago
1991–92 Instructor of perspective drawing classes at the Marwen Foundation in Chicago, working with inner-city high school students drawing cityscapes
1990 Instructor of intermediate painting at Brooklyn College in New York City, teaching undergraduates the fundamentals of painting from life and from one's imagination
Adair as artist in residence at Longfellow Elementary
AWARDS
1994 Martin Sudar's Award, Best of Show, Deerpath Art League - Lake Forest, IL
1989 & 1991 Excellence in Painting Award, Deerpath Art League - Lake Forest, IL
1990 Scholarship, Brooklyn College - New York, NY
1987 Martin Luther King Award for Painting, Boston University - Boston, MA
EXPERIENCE
1994 Muralist, off-Broadway production “Fallen Angel," Circle in the Square Theater, New York, NY
1993 Set Designer and muralist, “Angel from Montgomery,” La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York, NY
1993–96 Designer and muralist, retail space and restaurants throughout U.S.
1992 Muralist, “Fallen Angel,” La MaMa ETC., New York, NY, and the Halsted Theater, Chicago, IL