Artist Judith Olson Gregory Receives Fairchild Award

Mixed media artist Judith Olson Gregory has been named the recipient of the Lillian Fairchild Award. The annual award, which is administered by the Department of English at the University of Rochester, is presented to a Rochester area resident who has produced during the past year the best visual, literary, or musical work of art.

Gregory was honored for her installation in the “1st Rochester Biennial,” an invitational exhibition held at the Memorial Art Gallery in summer 2004. Titled “The Season Series,” the mixed media installation consists of both clothing and found objects, such as used teabags, raffle coupons, and clothespins. Together the items conjure up associations with the human condition and, like the four seasons themselves, become metaphors for individual lives and the passage of time.

A former president of the Chautauqua Center for the Visual Arts, Gregory has taught and worked as an artist for more than two decades. Her work can be found in a number of public and private collections and has been selected for exhibition throughout New York state, as well as in Pittsburgh and Ottawa, Canada.

Gregory holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Alfred University, where she also served as a trustee.

The Fairchild Award was established by Herman L. Fairchild of the University’s Department of Geology in memory of his daughter, an accomplished designer who died of tuberculosis at age 32. The first award was given in 1924. Previous winners have included Garth Fagan, director of Garth Fagan Dance, architect Frank S. Grosso, and novelist Andrea Barrett.