Florida Artists Group

Artists Bio:

Sharon E. Morgan is an artist residing on Florida's Treasure Coast.  Born in 1946 in Michigan, she is a baby boomer who entered college in the turbulent 1960s - an atmosphere that continues to influence her artwork.  In that time period she attended Broward College in Fort Lauderdale and Long Beach City College in Long Beach California majoring in Fine Art.  She is primarily a painter but also creates collages in her handmade books.
She has worked as a full time artist in varied fields:   designing and building theatre sets and props as well as decor for themed corporate parties (1979-1985);  creating signage for large developments in south and central Florida (1985-1999)  and since 2000, website design & maintenance. While operating these businesses, she continued to pursue her art and exhibit her paintings.  She taught art classes in her studio as well as at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
While living in Broward County, Sharon exhibited in juried group shows including the Hortt Competition at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, and the All Florida Competition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art as well as several shows at the Broward Art Guild.  After moving to Indian River County in 1998, she exhibited in a juried show at the A.E. Backus Museum in Fort Pierce then shifted her focus to gallery exhibits and solo or two-person shows. 
A five year project to complete a series of mandalas describing events in each decade of the 20th Century resulted in her receiving the Millennium Cultural Recognition Award from the State of Florida in 2000 and having an exhibit at the Capitol Complex in Tallahassee and the Ormond Museum & Gardens in Ormond Beach. 
A 16-month collaboration with a dozen artists resulted in a book arts exhibit, ”Take Cover, Art at Risk,”  that was displayed in the Brevard Art Museum (now Foosaner) in Melbourne, FL, the A.E. Backus Gallery in Fort Pierce and the Daytona Art League.  Since 2000, she has been an active member of the Cultural Council of Indian River County and received the Artist’s Leadership “Laurel Award” from the Cultural Council for her support and promotion of the arts and artists in May, 2011.
Her paintings are in private collections throughout the United States.

Artist Statement:

Tropical Surreal Series

Do shells float in the air?  Do flowers rise from the sea?  Do alligator skulls snack on wooden maquettes?  In my “Tropical Surreal” series, they do.  Altering the scale of images creates a surreal environment for me to tell a story, call attention to an issue or visit a topical matter.  The challenge becomes the degree of subtlety in the message, leaving the viewer to their own interpretation.
I paint from objects set up as a still life in my studio and let my imagination place it in a new setting.  I also create paintings on small canvasses before expanding on the content in a larger work.  I am most comfortable with and attracted to transparent, saturated pigments and I like to work quickly with a large brush and smooth strokes.

Exhibitions:


March & April, 2019 – Creatures Featured at the Foyer Gallery of Art, Vero Beach (Group show)  Juried.

Selected Exhibitions (Solo**)

2018                Vero Beach Art Club Art Trail @ Cabin Fever Art Studio, Vero Beach (Two person studio show)
2017                 **Five Mandalas: 1950s-1990s Emerson Center, Vero Beach, FL August & September 2017
2016                Out of our Minds, Art on 18th Gallery, Vero Beach, FL February 2016 (two person show)
2015                **Main Street Studios, Vero Beach, FL, June 2015
2014                 Exhibit of 2014 Artists, Center for Spiritual Care, Vero Beach
                          **A Kaleidoscopic View of the 20th Century – Center for Spiritual Care, Vero Beach
                          **A Kaleidoscopic View of the 20th Century, Foyer Gallery of Art, Emerson Center.
2011                  Time Capsules - Cabin Fever Art Studio, Vero Beach, FL
2010                 Calendart 2011 - Art Mundo, A Center for Creative Expression, Fort Pierce, FL (Fundraiser)
2007                Take Cover-Art At Risk. Daytona Art League (Daytona Beach, FL)
2006                 Take Cover-Art At Risk. Brevard Art Museum, Eau Gallie, FL March 15 - May 21,
                           Take Cover-Art At Risk. AE Backus Gallery & Museum, Ft. Pierce February 1-18, 2006
                           Turtle Trax. Public Art & Mental Health Assn., Vero Beach (Dec 2005-April 2006)
2004                 Award Winning Florida Artists. Ormond Memorial Art Museum (Mar/Apr)
2003                 Expressionism: The Cutting Edge,  J. Rose Gallery, Ft. Pierce, FL
                          War & Terrorism.  J. Rose Gallery, Ft. Pierce, FL
2002                American Reflections. AE Bean Backus Gallery & Museum, Fort Pierce, FL Juried.
                          Goddesses, Mystery, Politics and History. Indian River County Courthouse,
                          Vero Beach, FL   (Public Art)
                         Annual Faculty Exhibition. Vero Beach Museum of Art
2001                **A Kaleidoscopic View of the 20th Century. Capitol Complex,  Tallahassee, FL.
2000               Annual Faculty Exhibition. Vero Beach Museum of Art
1998                **Adams Art Gallery and Studio, Ft. Pierce, FL.
                         Galerie Macabre, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1997                Hortt 39. Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. Juried.
1995                44th Annual All Florida Competition, Boca Raton Museum of Art. Juried.

Selected Awards:

2011                  Laurel Award for Artist Leadership from the Cultural Council of Indian River County
2000                 Millennium Cultural Recognition Award - State of Florida for the Historical Mandala Series
1997                 First Place (Photography) - Broward Art Guild Members Juried Exhibition
1996                 Third Place - The Human Image, Broward Art Guild Members Juried Exhibition
1994                Second Place - The Artist as Activist, Broward Art Guild Members Juried Exhibition