biography
Originally from New York, Stafford earned her BFA at Swain School of Design in Massachusetts, one of the oldest art schools in the United States, est. 1881, where she studied drawing and painting with Severin (Sig) Haines (Yale University) and David Loeffler Smith, (Cranbrook Acadamy of Art), a student of Hans Hofmann and Stefan A. Hirsch. At Swain she explored a multidisciplinary approach to art and design which included discipline in the mediums of clay, fiber, and wood. In 1991 she graduated and in 1992 moved to Saugatuck, Michigan, home of Ox-bow School of Art (an affiliate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) a beautiful art and resort community built upon the sand dunes of Lake Michigan. In 2000 Dawn started painting full-time and in 2003, supported by her painting sales, purchased and renovated the historic Peachbelt Schoolhouse for her new studio. She is a dedicated and prolific artist whose signature style has captured the attention of collectors, both regionally and nationally.
EDUCATION:
1986-91 BFA Swain School of Design, New Bedford, MA
1989 Penland School of Arts and Crafts, Penland, NC
2019, 2015, 09, 03 Ox-bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2022, 05 Est. The Peachbelt Studio and Gallery, Fennville, MI
2019-00 Workshop Instructor, Ox-bow Summer School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2005 Course Instructor, Oxbow Summer School of Art, Saugatuck, MI (affiliate of the SAIC), “Painting with Color"
2004, 03, 02, 01, 00 Artist in Residence/Manager, Timmel Collection Gallery, Saugatuck, MI
2004, 03, 02, 01, 00 Instructor, Winter Community Classes, Saugatuck, MI
2003, 01, 00 Teaching Assistant, Ox-bow Summer School of Art
EXHIBITIONS:
2022-05 Peachbelt Studio and Gallery, Fennville, MI
2006 Muskegon Museum of Art “78th Juried Exhibition” Muskegon, MI
2006 The Peachbelt Studio and Gallery “Grand Opening Exhibition” Fennville, MI
2004, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98 One Person Show(s), The Timmel Collection Gallery, Saugatuck, MI
2001, 02 Timmel-Grove Gallery, Naples, FL
2003, 01 The Ward Gallery, Harbor Springs, MI
1999 Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI
1991 Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
AWARDS:
2001 West Michigan Scholarship, Ox-bow Summer School of Art (affiliate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Saugatuck, MI
1991 Honors in Painting, Swain School of Design, New Bedford, MA
1990, 89 Certificate of Scholastic Achievement, Swain School of Design, New Bedford, MA
1986 Scholarship, Swain School of Design