Phyllis Furdell has been a pastel artist for over twenty years, combining careers as an artist and as a professional policy analyst, researcher, and published author in the fields of economic development and urban poverty. Currently a resident of Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, DC, and primarily a self-taught pastel artist, she has studied with Rhoda Fried and George Palmer of Buffalo, NY; Danni Dawson and Diane Tessler of the Art League School of Fine Art in Alexandria, VA; and taken workshops from renowned pastel artists Daniel Green and Albert Handel.

 

"Metroscapes," Ms. Furdell’s series of paintings depicting scenes on Washington, DC’s subway system, has been compared to the social realism of artist Edward Hopper and reflects her love of cities and her background in urban issues. These paintings depict commuters on the Washington, DC subway system where the employed and unemployed, the young and the old, the homeless and the professional, travel together. The Metrorail system becomes a metaphor of life’s journey itself -- strangers traveling together but preoccupied with their individual destinies and destinations.

 

Ms. Furdell has received numerous awards and recognition for her "Metroscapes," series. (See list, below.)

 

Ms. Furdell has had one-person shows at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, VA; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD; and at the Fairfax County Judicial Center in Fairfax, VA. Her portraits and urban scenes hang in many states across the country from California and New Mexico to New York and Pennsylvania. Her work is also in collections in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom and is part of many permanent corporate collections, including the American Banker’s Association, the National League of Cities, Trados Corporation, DC Commission on the Arts "Art in Public Places" collection and the DC City Hall permanent collection.

 

Awards

 

Awards for paintings from the "MetroScapes" series include the following (click on the title of the work to see award winners, then the "Back" button in your browser to return to this page):

 

· Arts Council of Fairfax County, Fairfax, VA: "Open Exhibition 2002" 2nd Place (two works, including "Blue Line Reader")

 

· Arts Council of Fairfax County, Fairfax, VA: "Open Exhibition 2001" 1st Place and selected as one of "Neiman Marcus Top Ten ("Metro "Post" Impressionism")

 

· Arts Council of Fairfax County, Fairfax, VA: "Open Exhibition 2000" — Honorable Mention ("Metro Peeper")

 

· Fairfax Council of the Arts, Fairfax, VA: "Area ’86 Exhibition of Paintings and Graphics" — 1st Place ("Red Line Scene")

 

· Pastel Society of America, New York, NY: "15th Annual Open Exhibition" — National Arts Club Award for Exceptional Merit ("End of the Line")

 

· Strathmore Hall Arts Center, Rockville, MD: "Urban Landscapes" ("End of the Line") — 2nd Place

 

· Vienna Arts Society, Vienna, VA: "Spring Gallery Art Show and Sale" — 3rd Place

 

· Rock Creek Gallery, The Art Barn, Washington, DC: "Figuration" — Juror’s Award for Best in Show ("Last Train Home")

 

· Numerous Honorable Mentions and Awards of Excellence from the Art League of Alexandria, VA (including "Underground Haven", "Red Line Blues")

 

Additional Recognition

 

In addition to her award winning work, other juried shows accepting her works include the following (click on the title of the work to see the paintings listed, then the "Back" button in your browser to return to this page):

 

· Pastel Society of America, New York, NY: "29th and 30th Annual Open Exhibitions" (Selected for two consecutive years) — ("Metro 'Post' Impressionism" [29th Exhibition]); ("Underground Haven" [30th Exhibition])

 

· University of Delaware, Newark, DE: "23rd University of Delaware Biennial Exhibition — National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper" ("Red Line Scene")

 

· Batavia Society of Artists, Batavia, NY: "Batavia National Exhibition" ("Subterranean Blues")

 

· The Millennium Arts Center, Washington, DC: "Inaugural Exhibition 2000" ("Underground Haven")

 

· Heritage Foundation Museum, Norfolk, VA: Selected from the Pastel Society of American Exhibit (above) 2001 ("Metro 'Post' Impressionism")

 

· Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA: "Journeys"

 

· Washington Women’s Art Center, Washington, DC: "Reflections of Washington"

 

· Women’s Resource Center, Philadelphia, PA: " Woman Works: A Celebration of Women in the Arts"

 

· Oakland Community College, Farmington Hills, MI: "17th Annual Helen DeRoy Art Competition"

 

· Fraser Gallery, Washington, D.C.: "Georgetown Annual International Art Exhibition"

 

· Maryland Federation of Art, Inc., Annapolis, MD: "Art on Paper"

 

· Open Exhibition Competition Winner for one-person show, October 20-November 28, 2004, at the Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, in Alexandria, Virginia