Manhattanville Art Exhibit Shows Life and Career of Professor/Alumna

Do you have any artwork from when you were 11? Manhattanville alumna and professor Dolores R. Santoliquido ’77, M.A.T. ’08, does, and it’s on display in the College’s Arthur M. Berger Gallery, along with many other pieces from throughout her career for “That was Then, This is Now: A Retrospective 60 Years in the Making.”

“Currently there are more than 50 pieces of art included in this show that exemplify important periods of my artistic life,” Santoliquido said. “There are drawings, paintings, prints, sculpture, and mixed media pieces in this show. I never believed in the philosophy of tracking, doing only one thing exceptionally well, as a result, there are many ways I am able to express myself in whatever medium that is appropriate.”

The work dates back to when Santoliquido was 11 with her painting titled “Dolores’ Happy World,” to current work that she finished just prior to the opening of the show on August 30. The pieces show her interest in natural science and figurative imagery as well as abstract work, and work that represents her longstanding career as a commercial illustrator.

“During my lifetime, I have reinvented myself and my artwork numerous times to fit the particular period of life,” she said. “Some of the reinventions were by choice others were by necessity as the world around me has changed.”

Santoliquido earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with departmental honors and her Master of Arts in Teaching in art education summa cum laude from Manhattanville, and has been an adjunct professor of fine art and illustration at the College since 1982. She was also awarded the Manhattanville School of Education’s 2016 Innovative Teacher Award.

Her freelance illustration career has spanned 39 years, and has had artwork published by Knopf Publishers, Random House, Reader’s Digest, Taunton Press, Weight Watchers International, and William Morrow. She has also had several solo shows, and had work appear in group shows at New York Botanical Garden, the Smithsonian Institution, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. She also received honorable mention for her painting of Anguloa virginalis at “Orchids in Contemporary Botanical Art” at Longwood Gardens in 2006.

Santoliquido is an instructor in the Illustration Certificate program at the New York Botanical Garden and has taught at the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois; and the Humboldt Institute in Steuben, Maine. She is an active member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Guild of Natural Science illustrators (vice president from 2004 to 2006) and the American Society of Illustrators Partnership (recording secretary 2006 to present).

The exhibit will be on display until October 14, with receptions with the artist in attendance will be held Saturday, September 10 from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, September 24 from noon to 4 p.m.

The gallery is open to the public, free of charge, and the exhibit may be viewed Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m., and Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sunday and Monday.