by Catherine CELLA Neapolitan

“Everyone’s Homeland” Cella Neapolitan 2008  

Mixed Media Collage on Canvas 9x12 in. framed to 14x17 in.  

Vintage map + star button, with thumb piano keys, Botswana agates + African sand beads  

My love for Africa was sparked by reading “Cry, the Beloved Country” in high school, fueled in my rock-tumbling days by my favorite stone, Botswana agates, and deepened in recent years by awareness of how special the continent is. Poverty, disease, war and famine are destroying this most beautiful of places.  

In creating this piece, I pondered why I feel so drawn to Africa, a place I’ve never visited and which holds no familial ancestry. I think the tug comes from knowing ~ not just intellectually but on some deep genetic level ~ that humanity was born in Africa. Hence the compass lines laid over the map, which double as lines of human emigration outward and lines of global attention inward. It is my hope that consciousness of our commonality can begin to reverse the plagues on Africa, which after all is everyone’s homeland.

ORIGINAL IS SOLD, SIGNED ARCHIVAL PRINTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR $80

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RÉSUMÉ

Representation

Chicago : Woman Made Gallery
Pittsburgh : BoxHeart Gallery
Georgia : Gallery 111
Tennessee : Nashville ~ Tennessee State Museum
Chattanooga ~ Gallery 1401
Cookeville ~ Market on the Square + Intrepid Traveler


Awards ~ dozens, including …

Tennessee Arts Commission selected for Southern Arts Federation registry
Canon USA National Photo Contest
Cookeville Arts Council: Artist of the Year
Creative Arts Guild ( Dalton, GA) Festival of the Arts: Best of Photography
Kodak International Newspaper Snapshot Awards
Manhattan Arts International Healing Power of Art: Award of Excellence
Petersen’s Photographic
Reflections Artist Journal: 2nd place in “Love” national contest
Shutterbug Magazine
USA Today Travel Photo Contest

Exhibits ~ 125 since 1996, with over 50 by jury, including ...

2007 Chicago, IL Woman Made Gallery ~ several annually
2008 Pittsburgh, PA BoxHeart Gallery ~ several annually
2008 International Art4Development ~ Treasure Postcards
2008 Nashville, TN Nashville CARES Artrageous ~ annually
2008 Dalton, GA Creative Arts Guild Festival ~ annually
2007 Chattanooga, TN Art for Healing Gala ~ annually
2006 Washington, D.C. International Visions Gallery ~ Eco*Arts
2006 Nashville, TN University School of Nashville’s artclectic ~ annually
2005 Zebulon, GA Slow Exposures Photography
2004 New York, NY Manhattan Arts International “Healing Power of Art”
2004 Eugene, OR Alder Gallery La Petite
2002 Bay Area, CA Artisans Gallery National Exhibit
2002 New York, NY Atrium Gallery Mnemonics


Professional Memberships

Art ‘Round Tennessee (Middle Tennessee)
Association for Visual Artists (Chattanooga, TN)
Woman Made Gallery (Chicago, IL)

Cookeville, TN - United States