Ginny O'Brien

Born in Chicago and raised in Kansas City, Ginny O’Brien is a painter and mixed media artist currently living in Lancaster, New York She is an arts educator with expertise in the field of arts in health and has practiced as a teaching artist in cultural arts venues and educational institutions. She exhibits her art in solo and group exhibitions locally and nationally, and for over a decade was an education curator for the University at Buffalo Art Galleries. She developed and facilitated art-making programs for diverse audiences focused on permanent collections and temporary exhibitions including workshops linking creativity and wellness for teachers, artists, and healthcare professionals. As an education curator, the artist developed and taught creative arts programs for medical students and those receiving services from various healthcare organizations. Ginny has taught courses in Fiber Arts and Design at Buffalo State College and Daemen College, and for UB developed and led an undergraduate course Clinical Humanities: The Intersection of Healthcare and the Visual Arts. She worked as a visual arts consultant and workshop instructor for UB medical students enrolled in the medical school’s Center for Medical Humanities. In 2018 Ginny initiated and developed the Kathleen and Joseph Curatolo Pediatric Visual Arts Program, serving for several years as Resident Artist providing art activities for patients receiving treatment in the Katherine, Anne & Donna Gioia Pediatric Hematology Oncology Center at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She maintains an active studio practice at the Tri-Main Center in Buffalo, NY and is a teaching artist specializing in the visual arts, education, and healthcare. 

Ginny holds a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Fibers from Syracuse University, and from Buffalo State College a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textile Design, and a Master of Arts with concentrations in Textile Design and Art Therapy. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Wichita State University and attended the Kansas City Art Institute studying painting, illustration, and graphic design. Her authored publications and creative works are found in art, education, and health-related journals, including SURFACE DESIGN JOURNAL, Western Humanities Review Literary Magazine, and Family Medicine: Journal for the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine. 

Ginny’s work has been shown in juried group exhibitions in Irvea, Italy; Sophia, Bulgaria; Kherson, Ukraine; Alexandria, Egypt; Berlin, Germany; and Venice, Italy. Her art can be found in public permanent collections including Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York; Lessedra Art Gallery, Sophia, Bulgaria; the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Kirsten Vincent Respite & Recovery Center’s permanent collection in Buffalo, NY. The artist’s work can be viewed in online exhibitions organized and curated by artist, curator, and gallery owner Ellen Hackl Fagan of ODETTA Gallery and ODETTA Digital, in collaboration with host SHIM Art Network. Ginny's art has been included in several on-site group exhibitions aligned with www.artsy.net and curated by Ms. Fagan with host SHIM Art Network that includes Aqua Art Miami Art Fair; Exquisite Codes Berlin Group Art Installation; ODETTA Digital's Entry Point: Art-Teenth exhibition, Bridgeport, CT; and Post Cards to Venice on view at the Palazzo Pisani Revedin in 2024. Her authored publications and creative works are found in art, education, and health-related journals and books, including SURFACE DESIGN JOURNAL; Western Humanities Review Literary Magazine; Journal for the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine; Wild Roof Journal of Poetry and Art; Inhale Possibility, Exhale Creativity-A Collection of  Quotes About Art & the Creative Flow by Laura Jaworski, a book illustrated by a Collective of 64 artists, copyright 2023; and Colors, A Selection of   

For more information on the work of Ginny O’Brien, visit her website at https://www.ginnyobrienart.com/