ABOUT THE ARTIST

 

"The union of visual expressivity and formal composition, the atomization of individual components into a cohesive whole, and the synthesis of art and design inspire my work." 

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Laurel Porcari was born and raised in Yonkers, NY, a smallish city just north of the Bronx. She moved to New York City to attend Pratt Institute, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and, later, a Master of Science in Architecture & Urban Design from Columbia University.  After a long stint in Australia, she returned to the United States, making New Orleans her home and earning an MFA from Tulane’s Newcomb Art Department. In 2020, Laurel moved her home and studio to Bend, OR, where she continues her art making practice.

Laurel’s practice is multi-focused, with large-scale commissions being heavily influenced by smaller speculative works. Her works are featured in the permanent collections of New York’s Montefiore Medical Center; Baylor University Medical Center and the University Hospital System in Texas; Xavier University in New Orleans; Louisiana State University. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the High Desert Museum in Oregon, and has been shown in exhibitions at the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, and at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. She is represented by Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans.

Porcari’s arts advocacy can be seen in her founding of New Orleans Creative Glass Institute during post-Katrina recovery, and in her legacy glass studio located at YaYa Arts Center, where she was on the Board. She has been on faculty at Tulane University, The University of Texas, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and Pilchuck Glass School. Porcari is the recipient of multiple awards, grants, and residencies including from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, New Orleans Arts Council, Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation, Curry Stone Foundation, American Institute of Architects, Tulane University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Bullseye Glass, Highlands Glass, and Pilchuck Glass School.