Semester at Sea Fall 2011 - Ambassador's Ball
Shelley Galloway is a photographer and floral artist. She has received a Certificate in Fine Art Photography from the Chicago Botanic Garden and is in the Photography Judging Program for the Garden Club of America. An award-winning floral designer, she has won the Sandra Baylor Novice award, Best in Show and the Fenwick Medal from the Garden Club of America. She has also received the Photography Creativity and Best in Show awards from GCA. She is a Fourth Level Teacher and member of the STA for the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.
Shelley is also a member of Ikebana International and has served as President of the Chicago Chapter. She has been involved with the Semester at Sea program since 2004 and has been active with the Alumni Association Board of Directors and has sailed Spring 2010, Fall 2011 and Spring 2015. Her current artistic themes are pilgrimage, self-examination, transformation and exploring communitas and liminal spaces. She also practices sound journaling and poetry as ways of creating a personal mythology.
▼ Artist Statement
There is a pause
There is looking, then seeing
There is an opening
There is connection
There is a sense of possibility
There is a feeling of the infinite
Ma is “emptiness” in the Japanese design aesthetic. It is prepared and fertile ground. It is space that is psychically and spiritually available. In Shinto architecture, a space is left open to be filled by the divine spirit of the kami, manifestations of Musubi, the interconnecting energy of the universe.
Biophilia refers to man’s need to connect with nature and other forms of life for his essential being to feel fulfilled.
The moments when I feel the most connected with the creative forces in my life are when I allow a fertile space to be open and receptive in my psyche. When I look through my camera lens and “get” a sense of the infinite, I have a sense of connection, peace and creative excitement. I am charged to uncover that connection and make it real through my images. I am experiencing an “ah ha” or Naruhodo moment through my viewfinder. I am in relationship with what I am viewing and I am in that “face to face” realization that is similar to the filling of the ma with a manifestation of the interconnecting energy of the universe. To utilize our creative potential we must guard that fertile emptiness within ourselves and wait expectantly for new creative life to be formed there.
▼ Curriculum Vitae
Educational Background
- Bachelor of Arts in English, Oklahoma State University, 1974
- Masters of Arts in Art History, Northwestern University, 1979
- Education for Ministry, University of the South, Sewanee, 1983
- Semester at Sea, Colorado State University, sailed as Life Long Learner, Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2015
- Certificate in Fine Art Photography – Chicago Botanic Garden, Fall 2015
- European Masters Certification – in progress; graduation expected October 2016
- Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Fourth Level Teaching Certificate, 2013
Experience
- Freelance Floral Designer – 1981 to present
- Teacher at Evanston Art Center – 2016
- Lecturer in floral design and Ikebana – 2010 to present
Involvement
Kenilworth Garden Club - member since 1983
- Floral Design Chairman, many terms, most recent 2016
- President – 2012-2014
- Award winning floral designer: numerous 1st place awards in both floral design and photography within the club
- Certificate in Excellence in Floral Design - Garden Club of America – 2002
- Club Appreciation Award – 2008
- Staging Chairman for Show of Summer, Chicago Botanic Garden, 2000
- Show of Summer Photography Committee - 2013
- Zone XI Photography Chairman and Staging Chairman - 2015
- Show of Summer Photography Chairman – 2016
Garden Club of America
- Sandra Baylor Novice Award
- Fenwick Medal in Floral Design
- Best in Show and Creativity Awards in Photography, Zone XI 2009
- Best in Show in Floral Design, Show Of Summer, 2014
- Best in Show, Photography, Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 2016
- First Place in Photography, GCA Annual Meeting Show, 2016
- Candidate in the Photography Judging Program, 2013 to present
Sogetsu School of Ikebana
- Studied since 2001
- Fourth level Teacher – 2013
- Lecturer in Ikebana since 2013
- Yearly Exhibitions at the Chicago Botanic Garden
Ikebana International – member since 2003
- Offices held: Programs, Tokyo Liaison, President – 2014-2016
- Yearly exhibitions at Chicago Botanic Garden
- Participant and Exhibitor in Japan Days
Semester at Sea, Colorado State University
- Life Long Learner, Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2015
- Member of the Parents Council – 2008 until present, Co-Chair of Council 2012-2014
- Vice President of the Alumni Board – 2016
Exhibitions
- Yearly Sogetsu Exhibition at Chicago Botanic Garden, 2003 to present
- Yearly Ikebana International at the Chicago Botanic Garden
- Japan Days Exhibition – Ikebana International display, yearly
- Morton Arboretum annual Japan Days Exhibition – yearly since 2005
- Show of Summer, Floral Design Exhibition for Garden Club of America – participant for each show, held every three years at the Chicago Botanic Garden
- Show of Summer, photography exhibition for Garden Club of America –
- Zone XI Show – photography entries since 2008
- Chicago Botanic Garden Student Photography Show - 2013 to present
- North Shore Art League – floral design exhibition yearly since 2010