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Arts & Entertainment

Questions with Artist Nancy D'Agostino

The library's featured artist shares her advice for child artists, what inspires her and why we should go see her work this month.

This November, the has been featuring the beautiful artwork of Nancy D'Agostino. We got the chance to ask her a few questions this week.

Don't forget to stop by the library's lobby during regular hours to admire her work for free.

Patch: What inspires you? 

D'Agostino: I am inspired by everything and everyone around me, by what I read, by what is happening in my life, by family and friends, and I never stop thinking in what way I can express these feelings in my art or writing.  

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Patch: I see you've studied at Parsons School of Design in New York, The Academy of Art (which is now the Academy of Art University) in San Francisco, Pima College in Tucson, College of Marin in Kentfield, College of Dupage and Morton Arboretum. What was the best class you've ever taken? 

D'Agostino: I studied at all those schools, but never had the time or means to get a degree, something I really wanted to complete one day.  I was fortunate to have chosen some of the greatest art schools available here in the US. I am currently at Benedictine University getting my BA in Graphic Design with a minor in Fine Art, having just completed a AAS in Graphic Design from the College of DuPage. I love studying and learning and will continue for as long as I am able to do so.  

Patch: Can you tell me a little bit about the pieces featured this month?

D'Agostino: Moving On is a collection of artwork from the past two years of study and experimentation. I have had the privilege of studying with some great artists and professors and have been inspired by all of them. I have introduced some intaglio prints that I experimented with and hope to continue creating more of these in the future. The three landscapes in this show were part of a series of five created for Small Wonders, an exhibit at Fermi-Lab in 2008.

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The Madonna and Child is an homage to a prominent Italian Architect and Sculptor, Agostino di Giovanni, father of Giovanni D'Agostino. This sculpture was was attributed to his son, and in one source and to him in another source. He died in Sienna in 1348 from the Black Plague. I was intrigued by him, not because of his name, but because of his contribution to the art in Sienna at that time. So, I dedicated that piece to him. 

The large painting, Moving On, is symbolic of learning, searching on this journey through the sometimes complicated but always exciting and wonderful world in which we live. The painting on clayboard series, "Can't Get that Nest Out of My Head" is a narrative piece for a children's book I am writing. I had some childrenwho attended the opening reception of the exhibit write their version of a story to go along with the pictures. It appears with this piece. You have to read the creativity of these children, everyone of them, to see that creativity is there, waiting for a chance to come out of them. Some of those children are my students. 

Patch: Why do you think it's important that people expose themselves to art?

D'Agostino: For me art is literature, photography, painting, music, writing, dancing and all forms of expression. Each one of these forms of art help us understand joy, sadness, beauty, ugliness, good and evil, and I cannot imagine my life without seeing art expressing these emotions. When people view art, they have an opportunity to see into the soul of another person, and view the world in a different way, if just for a brief moment in time. Art is transforming and takes us to another place we seldom get to visit. 

Patch: What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

D'Agostino: Having worked with many children, the first thing we study are the foundational skills of drawing. I advise them to put their eraser away as there are no mistakes. Giving children the freedom to choose their materials to work with and allowing them to simply create, for the pure joy of creating art, is the best advice one can give a child.  

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