Education
1977 Master of Divinity, Yale University Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut.
Christianity and the Visual Arts: Interdisciplinary Program in Collaboration with Yale University School of Art
1972 B.A. Lawrence University, Wisconsin
Solo Exhibitions
2020 On Being American/Jazz: Ryan Cohan’s ‘The River’, Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, Delaware.
2019 On Being American/Jazz: Ryan Cohan’s ‘The River’, Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, New York, New York.
2015 Jazz Cubano: Color and Paper Constructions, Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, New York, New York. March 21 - May 3.
2013 Ellen Priest, Delaware Division of the Arts Gallery, Wilmington, Delaware.
2012 Jazz: Thinking Out Loud, Reaching for Song, Joint painting/jazz project with Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts. Residency: November 2010.
Improvising on Jazz: Ellen Priest’s Paintings on Collaged Paper, Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut.
2010 Jazz: Improvisations on the ‘Venezuelan Suite,’ Delaware Division of the Arts Gallery, Wilmington, Delaware.
2009 The Art and the Jazz, Gail Pierson Gallery, Cape May, New Jersey.
2007 Jazz Paintings on Paper: Improvisations on the ‘Venezuelan Suite,’ The Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, Pennsylvania.
2006 The Jazz Series: Paintings on Paper, The Dupont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in conjunction with Carspecken Scott Gallery Wilmington, Delaware.
2004 Jazz: Paintings on Paper, The Alva Gallery, New London, Connecticut.
Jazz: The Brubeck Series, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. In conjunction with performance by Dave Brubeck and Singing City Choir.
2001 The Jazz Series: Paintings on Paper, Mellon Arts Center, The Choate School, Wallingford, Connecticut.
2000 The Jazz Series: Paintings on Paper, Gallery 10 Ltd. Washington D.C.
1983 Soul Devils: Works on paper, J. Hoffman Gallery, Kent, Connecticut.
1982 Soul Devils: Oils and Works on Paper, Berkeley Center, Yale Divinity School. Sponsored by Department of Religion and the Arts, Yale Divinity School.
1979 Works on Paper, Mellon Arts Center, The Choate School, Wallingford, Connecticut.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 Transforming Jazz: A Visual Journey, City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, PA.
2017-18 On Another Note: The Intersection of Art and Music, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, Connecticut. Curated by Alva Greenberg.
2016 On Another Note: The Intersection of Art, Green Hall Gallery, Yale School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut. Curated by Alva Greenberg.
2014 35th Anniversary Exhibition, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, Delaware.
2010 SPECTRUM: Contemporary Color Abstraction, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE. Curated by Carina Evangelista.
2001 Form and Color, The Alva Gallery, New London, Connecticut.
Artist's Choice 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Awards
2012 Delaware Division of the Arts Established Artist Fellowship
2010 Delaware Division of the Arts Opportunity Grant
2007 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
2001 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
Publications
“Chapter 7: Ellen Priest: Seeing the World” Camille Colatosti, To Be an Artist: Musicians, Visual Artists, Writers and Dancers Speak. © 2012 E. L. Kurdyla Publishing, LLC, Baltimore, Maryland. (Dr. Colatosti is Dean of Graduate Studies at Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts.)
Publication Covers
2014 The Kenyon Review, 75th Anniversary Year edition. Literary magazine, full year of cover art.
Edward Simon, The Venezuelan Suite. Sunnyside Records. Music CD.
2013 Thomas Troeger, Music As Prayer. Oxford University Press. Print book, e-book.
Projects Listed By Their Jazz Subject Matter
Each project includes one or more series of preparatory brush studies, finished paintings on layered, collaged paper, and in recent projects, drawings. Each series is based on a single jazz composition. Prior to 2005, work was done from publicly available recorded music and score (where possible).
2012 - Ongoing Afro-Cuban Jazz. Part 1 using the music of Arturo Stable and Elio Villafranca, Part 2 using the music of Stefon Harris and the Ninety Miles Project. Worked in dialog with the composers.
2010 - 2012 Experimental project with Berklee College of Music’s Global Jazz Institute, Boston, Massachusetts. Based on student compositions in progress, recorded during two residency periods at Berklee. Worked in dialog with four student composers and BGJI faculty.
2005 - 2010 Four-movement jazz suite by Venezuelan-born pianist/composer Edward Simon titled, The Venezuelan Suite. Based on Venezuelan song forms, rhythms, and instrumentation. Worked in dialog with the composer.
2003 - 2004 Chick Corea composition titled, Chelsea Shuffle.
2002 - 2006 Herbie Hancock compositions titled, Maiden Voyage and Dolphin Dance.
1994 - 2004 Gonzaguinha composition, Tanacara. Brazilian folk-jazz musician/songwriter.
1994 - 2001 Dave Brubeck composition titled, Take 5.
1999 - 2002 Miles Davis version of Someday My Prince Will Come, arranged by Gil Evans. Composed by Frank Churchill.
1997 - 1998 Luiz Gonzaga composition titled, Asa Branca. Classic Brazilian song, often described as Brazil’s ‘folk’ national anthem.
1990 - 1993 Michel Camilo composition titled, Island Stomp.
Art Education / Teaching
2013-Present and 1992-1999 Created Eyeball It! TM studio art education program for children. Online free to users beginning June 2014 funded by Ellen Priest Projects at Fractured Atlas. Originally written/developed 1992 - 1999. A series of discreet art projects for elementary-age children to do at home with a parent. Adaptable for groups (e.g., after-school programs, public libraries). Currently in pilot phase by Delaware Division of Libraries, Teach for America Delaware. [www.eyeballitart4kids.org](http://www.eyeballitart4kids.org)
2009 New York University, New York, New York, Department of Music Colloquium with Edward Simon, “Composing the Venezuelan Suite – the Music and the Paintings,” February.
2007 - 2010 Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Education Committee.
2002 - 2008 University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Professional Institute for Educators.
2002 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Adjunct Faculty, Fall.
1979-1999 Taught studio art in schools (primary and secondary) and community arts centers including:
Ocean City Arts Center, Ocean City, New Jersey. 1996-99.
Choate-Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut. 1979, 1995-96.
Saint Thomas’s Day School, New Haven, Connecticut. 1992-93.
Educational Center for the Arts, New Haven, Connecticut. 1982-83. (All-arts public high school.)
Concord Academy, Concord, Massachusetts. Art Department Chairperson, 1979-80.
Writing
1980-84 Art in America. “Reggie Bradford,” December 1983. “Robert Taplin,” May 1983.
American Ceramics. “Arnold Zimmerman,” Fall 1983. “Jane Gustin,” Summer 1984.
New Haven Advocate. Series of profiles of local artists and their work. 1980 - 82.
Selected Collections
Agnes Gund, New York, New York.
Yale Institute of Sacred Music, New Haven, Connecticut.
Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Christine L. Delucchi, Washington D.C.
Alva Greenberg, Connecticut.
Cil and Gary Knutsen, Cleveland, Ohio.
Lisetta Menardi Orlandi, Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy.
Jane Lyons and Mark Sucher, Washington D.C.
Astra Zeneca Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware.
Pfizer Corporation, New London, Connecticut.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BTG, Incorporated, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
