Karen Schifano
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Swarthmore College 50th Reunion Exhibition at List Gallery
7/27/2026
Four paintings were included in a pop-up exhibition at the Swarthmore College 50th Reunion Celebration weekend at List Gallery, May 28-31, 2026. These four paintings date from 2016-18, and are each acrylic on canvas.
American Abstract Artists 90th Anniversary Exhibition
7/27/2026
American Abstract Artists celebrated its 90th Anniversary with an exhibition and catalog at Art Cake, entitled, "Abstract by Definition: an Index", curated by Saul Ostrow. A hardcover catalog design by Patricia Fabricant was produced for the exhibition and is available upon request. My painting, "Happening (My Foolish Heart)", 2024, was included among 88 other artists in this excitingly installed group show. Two panel discussions at Art Cake were both recorded and are on the American Abstract Artists website, see under Video in the link above.
Poem included in The Perch, Vol 8 Winter '26 issue, "Social"
7/27/2026
My poem, "What Matters", was included in the latest issue of The Perch, a Yale School of Medicine, Arts and Literature Journal. Link above contains entire issue, and my poem is on pg. 64.
I was asked to read at the launch of The Perch in Feb. 2026, Yale University, New Haven.
"The Semi-Finalist is: Karen Schifano"
7/27/2025
Interview with Karen Schifano by David Schell, published on Feb. 3, 2025
https://www.thesemi-finalist.com/artist-interviews/the-semi-finalist-is-karen-schifano
for full interview and images.
A Legacy of Making: 26 Contemporary Artists Inspired by their Italian Heritage
12/30/2024
https://joannematteraartblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-legacy-of-making-at-connecticut.html
A Legacy of Making:
26 Contemporary Artists Inspired by Their Italian Heritage,
curated by Joanne Mattera
September 3 through October 19, 2024
Cummings Arts Center
Connecticut College
270 Mohegan Avenue, New London
The great wave of Italian immigration took place in the closing years of the 19th century and early into the 20th. Most of the arrivals were Southern Italians who set foot on Ellis Island with few belongings but with the ingenuity, creativity, and will to make a new life. Using their skills in carpentry, stonework, farming, mechanics, tailoring, needlework, and cooking, they created homes and communities that flourished and grew. Most remained in the Northeast within a day’s drive of where they landed. The tradition of creativity and handwork continues in the studios of their children and grandchildren. Painters and sculptors, printmakers and textile artists, they draw from the richness of Italian and Italian American culture, some producing work that speaks to tradition, others working more abstractly but personally informed by the language and customs that were, and are, so much a part of their lives. A few of the artists are immigrants themselves. All of them
synthesize Italian or immigrant culture with their experience as trained artists working in a contemporary art world.
The 26 participating artists are B. Amore, John Avelluto, Nancy Azara, Angelica Bergamini,
Gianluca Bianchino, Jennifer Cecere, Chris Costan, Elisa D’Arrigo, Claudia DeMonte,
Paul Fabozzi, Milisa Galazzi, Diana González Gandolfi, D. Dominick Lombardi,
Lloyd (Maccarone) Martin, Joanne Mattera, Timothy (Macellari) McDowell, Patricia Miranda,
John Monti, Laura (Policella/Roccio) Moriarty, Carolanna Parlato, Anna Patalano, Don Porcaro,
Mary Schiliro, Karen Schifano, Denise Sfraga, and Lisa Zukowski.
September 3-October 19, 2024
Cummings Art Center, Connecticut College
270 Mohegan Avenue, New London
Receptions: Saturday, September 14, 2:00-5:30, and Saturday, October 19, 4:00-5:30
The gallery is open Monday-Friday, 9:00-5:00; Saturday and Sunday, 1:00-4:00
American Abstract Artists celebrated its 90th Anniversary with an exhibition and catalog at Art Cake, entitled, "Abstract by Definition: an Index", curated by Saul Ostrow. A hardcover catalog design by Patricia Fabricant was produced for the exhibition and is available upon request. My painting, "Happening (My Foolish Heart)", 2024, was included among 88 other artists in this excitingly installed group show. Two panel discussions at Art Cake were both recorded and are on the American Abstract Artists website, see under Video in the link above.
