Atmospheric and meditative, One Foot in Two Places showcases landscapes and details from natural environments, creating parallels between the artist’s mother country in Ireland and chosen homeland in the United States. Originally an immigrant from Dublin, Olwen O’Herlihy Dowling (b. 1946) pays homage to time spent in Connemara, County Galway and North Chester, Massachusetts, evoking the experience of being caught between two worlds and finding refuge in both. The exhibition displays monotype drypoint prints and intricate etchings in the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum’s newly renovated Collins Print Gallery.
About the Artist
Olwen O’Herlihy Dowling (b. 1946) was born in Dublin, Ireland and emigrated with her family to the United States. A printmaker in intaglio and drypoint as well as a painter, Dowling is a member of the Zea Mays Printmaking Studio, the National Association of Women Artists, the California Society of Printmakers, the Boston Printmakers, and the Hilltown Arts Alliance. She has exhibited at The Oxbow Gallery (Easthampton, MA) and her prints have been represented in group shows at the APE Gallery (Northampton, MA), the Ferrin Gallery (Pittsfield, MA), and the Lenox Gallery (Lenox, MA), where she received Honorable Mention. Previously, Dowling worked as producer, managing director, and stage manager in professional theater, including at The Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Smith College and studied at the L’Ecole d’Art (Vallauris, France) and the Sun Valley Arts Program (Hailey, Idaho).
Image: Cashel, 2025, Olwen Dowling, monotype drypoint. Courtesy of the artist.