Jean Tansey is interested in individual and group experiences within a context of larger global concerns as content for her acrylic on canvas/panel and watercolor paintings. This passion overlaps with her day job as a social worker which includes a decade of working with women in addiction and domestic violence services and deep dives into listening to stories of the human condition. In 2016 Tansey purchased 344 2nd Street in South Central Troy and this storefront has become a venue for original music and art, providing a space for political art and music to be seen and heard.
Jean Tansey shows at regional exhibits, outdoor arts festivals, and non-traditional spaces, these include installations, both site-specific and viewer interactive. Though Tansey has returned to her roots, painting on 2-dimensional surfaces, Jean has worked in various media. Examples of the variety of mediums include; large fabric flags on a pedestrian bridge, painted fabric circles used by dancers, hanging installations along rail trails, aluminum cut-outs in municipal parks, multi-unit installations in public parks and at non-profits, window installations and large wood panel paintings installed outdoors for public viewing.
As described by Indiana Nash of the Daily Gazette out of Schenectady, NY “Two haunting paintings by Jean Tansey, “Refugees Walking” and “Hiding from Soldiers,” are at the forefront of the Article 13 exhibit, reflecting the terrifying experience of fleeing a country. Within the works, Tansey references South Sudan, though the sense of fear is no doubt shared by those fleeing other countries as well.” True stories, often found down screen, in which most of the people of the world live in conditions which are uncomfortable, dangerous and tenuous can increase compassion, this motivates Tansey.
BFA: School of Visual Arts, NYC jeantansey@gmail.com
2026 MOTHER , Liberty Museum & Arts Center, Liberty, NY
SILVER-PLATA, Martinez Gallery, Troy, NY
2025 POLITICS, The Lace Mill, Kingston, NY
Social Justice Artists Collective, The Fish Market Project, Troy, NY
2024 Turmoil and Grace, Martinez Gallery, Troy, NY
What We Hold: Stories and Objects, CREATE Gallery, Catskill, NY
2023 Live Art Painting: Nipperfest, Schenectady, NY
Woman, The Lace Mill, Kingston, NY
2022 Mural: Roses for Rosendale, NY
Art on Main, Rosendale, NY
Tiny ROOST: Installation off the Rail Trail, Gardiner, NY
2021 Global Garden, CA Gallery, Danbury, CT
2020 Tell Me a Story, Emerge Gallery, Saugerties, NY
2019 Woman, The Lace Mill, Kingston, NY
Resisterhood, One Epic Place, New Paltz, NY
2018 Article 13, Collar Works, Troy, NY
2017 Artists Stand Up, Roxbury Arts Center, Roxbury, NY
2016 Nasty Women, The Institute, New Haven, CT and Collar Works, Troy, NY
It’s All Politics, Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill, NY
Change Agents: Personal Art as Political Tactic, Lamont Gallery, Exeter, NH
Loving the Earth, Mid-Hudson Heritage Center of Poughkeepsie, NY
Why Can’t We Serve, Woodstock Community Center, Woodstock, NY
2015 The Stories We Tell, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz, NY
Peace and Justice, Muroff-Kotler Gallery, Ulster County Community College, NY
2014 Truth Out: Personal, Political, and Social, Unframed Artists Gallery, New Paltz, NY
2013 In the News, Woodstock Artist Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY
Hungry for Music, Opus 40, Saugerties, NY
Skyfest, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2012 Point of View, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY
2010 Arts for Ulster, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY
2008 We’re Only in it for the Money, Donskoj and Co. Gallery, Kingston, NY
2006 Effigy, A.S.K. Art Society of Kingston, Kingston, NY
2005 This is Not an Archive, CCS Bard College, Annandale on Hudson, NY
2004 The Good the Bad and the Ugly, In the Mood Gallery, Kingston, NY
2003 Ornament, Donskoj and Co., Kingston, NY
2001 Kingston Sculpture Biennial, Block Park, Kingston, NY
2000 Sculpture & Installation, Peace Park, New Paltz, NY
Selected exhibits 1984-2000 and other art related experiences, available upon request