Artist Statement

“Boredom is foreign to Halbert’s paintings-variation, not repetition, is her rule in dealing with the figure. Several of her finest subjects achieve an independent complexity in their rugged, hearty dignity.”  Victoria Donohoe The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA

I was a modern dancer and choreographer for many years. I received a Master of Fine Arts in Dance in 1984 and went on to a successful dance and arts administration career in Philadelphia, PA. By my late 30’s, I had two young children and decided to stop the dance. But, I needed to do something with all of my creative energy. I went back to school for another Master of Fine Arts, but this time, in teaching art. I didn’t even know how to draw, but I was determined and devoted myself to learning “how to see”. I am a kinectic learner and my developing art style reflected a moving experience. I danced with my hand across a canvas as I approached my subject with line and gestural motion. Figurative art became my passion. I knew kinesiology very well and it carried over into my paintings. I have had several spine surgeries in my lifetime to correct damage to my back from years of activity.  

I have been painting and exhibiting my artwork for over twenty years. I experiment with mixing materials, such as, pencil with thinner, or soft pastels with oil paint, layering media to create painted collages with varying surfaces. Fabrics may be integrated to provide a sense of place. I enjoy working in dry and wet media. I develop a painting as I would when choreographing a dance, one element moving into the next. A line begins, takes shape into mass, which will deepen with color, and then culminates into an expressionistic, impressionistic experience. I know sorrow, debilitating pain, fear and every emotion that is positive and in between. I develop paintings of motion to evoke emotion.

I have had an extensive career teaching art to students of all levels and ages in the Philadelphia area.  My teaching is an integral part of my art making process.  I empower my students to create in their own personal style.  I never stop growing as an artist by listening to others, studying art history and staying informed about today’s art world. I am available for workshops, lectures and private lessons in a variety of media and art topics.  Also, I paint commissions in landscape or the figure that meet the needs of a specific site and a client’s taste for a residence or a commercial space.

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Artist Biography

Nancy E. F. Halbert, a former dancer and choreographer, has a Masters in Art Education from the University of the Arts with a prior MFA in Dance from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. She learned to draw in paint after retiring from dancing. After studying with premier teachers in the Philadelphia, she started to show her abstract expressionistic work in exhibitions and galleries. In 2013, she was a fellowship participant of Vermont Studio Center and was also juried in as a featured artist in Studio Visit Magazine www.studiovisitmagazine.com.  

She has won awards in prestigious shows including, at The Philadelphia Sketch Club. Nancy served as the volunteer director for five years at the artist cooperative MUSE Gallery in Philadelphia. Following MUSE Gallery; she was a member of 3^rd Street Gallery and is currently exhibiting with Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA. Her contemporary figurative and landscape paintings have been juried to exhibit in such prominent shows as Winged Woman: The Art of Arlene Love and Contemporary Parallels, The Painted Bride Art Center, 2018; The Woodmere Art Museum's Contemporary Art Show, 2009, 2012, Philadelphia, PA; the Betsy Meyer Memorial Show at the Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA; The Hospital of University of Pennsylvania’s Celebration of Life Show in 2013 and 2015; James Oliver Gallery, Art/nude Philly, 2013, a benefit for the Abramson Cancer Center, and other shows in Pennsylvania, including Goggleworks in Reading PA. She recently has shown in Key West, Florida.

Nancy has been a devoted and supportive art teacher in continuing education programs in the area for nearly twenty years. She has taught painting and drawing in pastels, watercolor, oils, acrylics and art history to adults and children of all levels. She is devoted to empowering others to create art in their own unique style while gaining the necessary skills to develop unifying compositions. Nancy teaches lessons in her home studio in Philadelphia and is available for commissions. Her paintings are in collections in Australia, United States, and New York Presbyterian Hospital and Jefferson Hospital.

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Education

2002
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Master in Teaching in the Visual Arts

1984
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Master of Fine Arts in Choreography and Dance Performance

1979
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Arts Administration

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Awards & Honors

2016
2nd Place Prize, The 2016 Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial-Works on Paper Show, The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

2014
Award in Best in Abstraction, Small Oil Show, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA

2013
Featured Artist, Studio Visit Magazine, A Juried, National Publication

Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

1989
City of Philadelphia Citation Award as the Executive Director of the CEC Philadelphia, PA

1987
Choreography Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

1985
Residency Grant Recipient, Interdisciplinary Performance, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA

1980
Outstanding Student Achievement Award, Expanded Arts Department, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

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Bibliography

2013
Studio Visit Magazine, January 2013

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Collections

Paintings and Drawings are in private collections in United States and Australia

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Affiliation

Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Maureen’s Gallery, Exton, PA
Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
FigurativeArtists.org

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Memberships

InLiquid
SaatchiArt.com
Philadelphia Sketch Club

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Professional Experience

2002 - 2022
Exploration in Drawing, Pastels, watercolor
Sketchbook drawing
Art history courses - Take the Mystery Out of Art History
Vincent Van Gogh, Monet, Impressionism, Contemporary Painting
Creutzberg Campus, Main Line School Night Lover Merion, PA

2012 - present
Private lessons in home studio

2009 - 2011
Volunteer Director, MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2005 - present
Instructor, Lower Merion Township Main Line School Night, Creutzberg Campus, Radnor, PA

2004 - 2007
Instructor, District of Haverford Township, Haverford Night School, Haverford, PA

2003 - 2018
Instructor, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

2003 - 2005
Instructor, Continuing Education Department, Delaware County Community College, Media, PA

2002 - 2003
Art Teacher, Lynnewood Elementary School
Art Teacher, Haverford High School School District of Haverford Township, Havertown, PA

1995 - 2000
Decorative Painter, murals, furniture, faux finishes

1989 - 1992
Consultant - to non-profit arts organizations and artists in grant writing and program development in Philadelphia

1985 - 1989
Executive Director, Community Education Center (THE CEC), a non-profit educational and cultural arts center serving diverse populations and citywide independent visual and performing artists

1979 - 1991
Choreographer, modern dancer and teacher

Other

2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
POST, Philadelphia, PA

Exhibitions

Solo‍

2019 - 2023
Cerulean Arts Gallery

2016 - 2018
3rd Street Gallery

2017
Pennswood Art Gallery, Newtown, PA

2009 - 2013
MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2011 - 2019
POST Philadelphia, PA

2010
Knapp Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2012, 2007
Merion Art and Repro, Ardmore, PA

Group

2019 - 2022
Cerulean Arts Gallery

2016 - 2018
3rd Street Gallery

2017
Works on Paper Show (Second Place Prize,) The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Baker Industries, Berwyn, PA

2015
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST) at Community Education Center (CEC)
Lucky Street Gallery, Key West, FL

2014
Small Oil Show (Best Abstraction Prize) The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Google Works, Reading, PA
Professional Artist Member Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

2013
Body of Work, Juried Exhibition The FAF Coalition, Woodbury, NJ
4 Artists: Halbert, Burrus, O'Halloran, Zimmerman, MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
A Celebration of Art and Life Exhibition, The Perelman Center, Philadelphia, PA
Vermont Studio Center, Residency Program, Johnson, VT

2012
71st Contemporary Juried Art Show, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Alex Kanevsky, Juror
Professional Membership Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

2011
PROCESS, Aktion Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Immaculata University Art Show - Personal Invitation to Show, Berwyn, PA
In Person, Juried Show, Community Arts Center, Wallingford, PA
Score!, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
34th Annual Show, MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Inner Essence, Tyme Gallery, Havertown, PA

2010
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST), Philadelphia, PA
MUSE 33rd Anniversary Show, MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Contemporary Visions, Woodmere Art Museum, Chestnut Hill, PA
Sam Gilliam, Juror
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

2009
The Rythmic Figure, ICO Gallery, New York NY
32nd Anniversary Show, MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
6th Annual Betsy Meyer Memorial, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Julien Robson, Juror
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Members Exhibit Together, Knapp Gallery, Philadelphia PA
Members Show, Twenty-Two Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2008
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST) Philadelphia, PA
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Sherman Mills, Carano Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
New Members Show, MUSE Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Blending Forms: Paintings and Pottery, Tyme Gallery, Havertown, PA
Six of One, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2007
IDENTITY, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Works on Paper, The Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
‍Artsisters, Gyphon Cafe, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA

2006
Painting the Unclothed Figure, Fine Arts Gallery, Exton, PA
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
The Art League, American College, Bryn Mawr, PA
Artists Guild of Delaware County, Darlington Arts Center, PA

2005
Faculty Show, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Member Exhibit, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

2004
Member Exhibit, Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA

2002
Juried Graduate Show, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA