Leslie Adams

As part of her development as an artist, Leslie Adams writes, “As a child, the Toledo Museum of Art was my playground. Within its walls, amongst its impressive collection and exceptional treasures, I was given the rare and extraordinary privilege of beginning my formal art education. It was the Museum that opened my eyes to a world of appreciation for fine art. Like many children before and since, I spent countless hours in the galleries creating memories that continue to influence my life and work. I was introduced to and challenged, at an early age, to study great masterpieces. I was taught to be curious. I was encouraged to dream.”

 

A graduate of the prestigious New York Academy of Art and Signature Status Member of the Portrait Society of America, Adams has achieved her dream and has become an internationally recognized artist specializing in narrative art and portraiture. Her patrons and subjects include many distinguished members of private society as well as the corporate, academic, religious, cultural, judicial and civic leaders of our day.

 

This year’s entry into the ARC Salon is Debra Calabrese with Bouquet. In the work, the subject seeks repose in the Toledo Museum of Art with Renoir quietly in view over her shoulder. After a day of celebration at her daughter’s wedding and an evening of dance, she rests her bare feet upon the cold marble with flowers pulled from the bouquets of three generations of women placed near.

 

Adams has received numerous awards for her paintings and drawings from institutions including the American Society of Portrait Artists Foundation, the New York Academy of Art, and the Portrait Society of America, which bestowed upon her their highest honor – the William F. Draper Grand Prize - for Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl. Also, of note, her work, Connessione: A Portrait of Michael Shane Neal was awarded First Place in the Drawing Category in the International 2010/2011 ARC Salon. The artist’s works have been exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, the Butler Institute of American Art, Salmagundi Club, and European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona.

 

She is represented in the permanent collections of the Toledo Museum of Art, the Ella Sharp Museum of Art, the Academy of Achievement, the National Cathedral School and numerous institutions throughout the world. Following the success of her major solo exhibition, Leslie Adams, Drawn from Life, part of the Toledo Museum of Art’s 2013 Fall Season of Portraiture, she began her passionate work on The Handwritten Dreams Project which was first exhibited during ArtPrize Nine at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and later the Center for the Visual Arts at the Toledo Museum of Art. While concentrating on commissioned works, she continues work on her next solo exhibition, Leslie Adams, The Measure of a Life. 

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.