2026 EXHIBITIONS
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HISTORY WOVEN THROUGH TIME
Kimball Jenkins Estate 266 North Main Street,Concord, NH June 19-August 1, 2026 Opening Reception: June 19 from 5:30-7:30 My collaboration partner Gail Smuda and I am honored to have our SAWMILL series be included in "History Woven Through Time", Concord’s tricentennial and our Nation’s Semiquicentennial exhibit at Kimball Jenkins Estate. The exhibit is honoring its donor, Carolyn Jenkins, her extraordinary life, and the legacy she left to the people of Concord, by presenting three exhibitions exploring various aspects of women’s lives through history. SAWMILL: Women Man the Mill, by Gail Smuda and Laura Morrison is an artistic response through fiber, mixed media, and book arts to the history of the women who ran a sawmill on Turkey Pond in Concord during WWII Author Visit with Sarah Shea Smith: June 24, 5:30 pm in the Carriage House. Sarah’s book “They Sawed Up a Storm” tells the story of a group of New Hampshire women who operated a sawmill on the shores of Turkey Pond, Concord, in 1942. Click here to learn more about Sarah’s book and story. Handmade in America – Exploring 250 Years of Decorative Needlework, created by NH based textile artist Sienna Larson tells the story of how American needleworkers have preserved cultural traditions and identity, adapted to change, created beauty, and expressed their creativity and personal style with needle and thread over the last 250 years. Artist talk with Sienna Larson: July 25, 11:00 am Join Sienna Larson as she speaks about the themes, techniques, materials, and the historical and cultural background of her project, Handmade in America – Exploring 250 Years of Decorative Needlework Carolyn Jenkins: A Legacy for Concord presents objects and drawings from Carolyn's life in New York theater, as well as from her time in the Community Players of Concord. |
SAWMILL | Limited Edition Artist Book by Laura Morrison & Gail Smuda
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As we mark the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, The Women’s Caucus for Art posed the challenging question: Independence for whom?
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INDEPENDENCE FOR WHOM?
Workhouse Art Center 9518 Workhouse Way, Lorton, VA June 5-August 8, 2026 Opening Reception: July 11 from 6-8 pm I am honored to have work included in Independence for Whom?, a national juried exhibition presented by the Women's Caucus for Art at the historic Workhouse Arts Center. Created in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of American independence, the exhibition invited artists to examine who has benefited from the promise of freedom and who continues to struggle for representation, recognition, and equity. The exhibition explores themes of justice, inclusion, history, and social change through a wide range of artistic perspectives. |
Don't Touch
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MOTHERSHIP/MOTHER SHIP
The Writing Gallery 146 North Main Street,Concord, NH May 2026 My work “She’s Coming Undone” is an early mixed-media embroidered piece that incorporates a poem I wrote long ago. It emerged during an intense period in my life, while I was in the throes of mothering my young children and trying to maintain a sense of sanity and self. The exhibit included 14 artists working in a wide array of eclectic works, from paper sculptures, fiber art, and collage to 3-D printing, photography, paintings, and a mixed-media installation. |
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"She's Coming Undone"
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PAST EXHIBITIONS 2024-2025
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INFLECTION POINT: THIRTY YEARS OF WCA/NH
The Art Center | Dover, NH Thru October 31, 2025 To celebrate the New Hampshire Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art's (WCA/NH) 30th anniversary, WCA/NH is mounted an exhibition featuring multiple works from each of our founders, along with works from current WCA/NH members and other chapter WCA members residing in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Pictured in the front under the bell jars are "Specimen's E, F & G" from my Nature Regeneration Series. In the background is the "Coronavirus Memorial". |
The Nature Regeneration Series, ponders the future of Nature with or without the presence of humanity. In my vision, nature will survive to regenerate a fantastic new world. My sculptures are a small vision of that landscape.
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“Coronavirus Memorial” was created in response to the pandemic lockdown. Initially, I intended to record the U.S. COVID death toll by creating small books by hand from copier paper, with each of the 100 pages representing one life lost. The death count, however, quickly outpaced my ability to keep up. I shifted the focus to creating 100 books, each placed in a jar to both preserve their delicate form and reflect the isolation experienced during those dark times. As of April 13, 2024, the Worldometer Coronavirus Tracker stopped updating at 7,010,681 deaths, as many countries ceased reporting. Each jar in the memorial holds a 100-page book, now representing 701 deaths per page—symbolically preserving 70,106 lives lost in each jar… and counting..
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DANFORTH ART MUSEUM Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition June 28-August 24, 2025 Danforth Art Museum at Framingham University 14 Vernon Street, Framingham, MA Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 12-5 | Closed Monday danforth.framingham.edu JURORS • Jessica Roscio, Director & Curator, Danforth Art Museum • Yumi Park Huntington , Professor of Art History, Framingham State University • Lauren Szumita, Director, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross  Danforth Art Museum, 2025
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ARTIST STATEMENT: Keeping it Together
This series of 24 weavings were created in the depths of the pandemic while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Inspired by Sheila Hick's small weavings, I had, by chance, begun a weaving experiment on a cardboard loom a few days before my cancer diagnosis in August of 2020. I decided to continue working on these abstract weavings throughout the course of my treatment which included 16 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and 4 weeks of radiation. My treatment encompassed nine months. I finished the last weaving on my last day of radiation.
I worked on these weavings in the evenings at the very end of each day. Each piece began with no preconceived notion of an outcome. I choose the colors that appealed to me that day from small balls of yarn in my stash. Each warp has a different color. The weavings are loose and somewhat crude, not perfectly square or finely finished. The work was slow, soothing and methodical.
All along I felt that the weavings were a visual representation of my inner psyche during my treatment. Having a healing project to sink into each evening was a lifeline during the long, dark months of the pandemic, made even darker with my diagnosis.
My prognosis going forward is very positive. I look at this work knowing I did my best to fight the good fight.
This series of 24 weavings were created in the depths of the pandemic while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Inspired by Sheila Hick's small weavings, I had, by chance, begun a weaving experiment on a cardboard loom a few days before my cancer diagnosis in August of 2020. I decided to continue working on these abstract weavings throughout the course of my treatment which included 16 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and 4 weeks of radiation. My treatment encompassed nine months. I finished the last weaving on my last day of radiation.
I worked on these weavings in the evenings at the very end of each day. Each piece began with no preconceived notion of an outcome. I choose the colors that appealed to me that day from small balls of yarn in my stash. Each warp has a different color. The weavings are loose and somewhat crude, not perfectly square or finely finished. The work was slow, soothing and methodical.
All along I felt that the weavings were a visual representation of my inner psyche during my treatment. Having a healing project to sink into each evening was a lifeline during the long, dark months of the pandemic, made even darker with my diagnosis.
My prognosis going forward is very positive. I look at this work knowing I did my best to fight the good fight.
TWO WOMEN EXHIBITIONS
Laura Morrison & Maureen Redmond-Scura
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The Loosely Knit Alliance; the collaborative works of Laura Morrison and Gail SmudaLibrary Arts Center | Newport, NH
August 10-October 4, 2024 Gail Smuda and I have worked together as The Loosely Knit Alliance for over 16 years creating mixed media works with a feminist perspective and a focus on artist made books and fiber works. Touching on a variety of subjects such as women’s work, healthcare, family, time and local history, this exhibit interweaves their joint efforts with individual artworks. This collaborative experience has fostered new conversations between the artists and their work. |
