Kelly Sullivan (painter)

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Kelly Sullivan (born April 30, 1964) is an American painter known for her collaborative paintings called "FingerSmears". [1] [2] Sullivan combines finger smears and signatures of hundreds of people on one canvas to commemorate events around the country. [3]

Sullivan estimates over 100,000 people across the United States have made FingerSmears, including The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen [1] [2] and many others. Sullivan's work with FingerSmears has raised over $150,000 for charities. [4] Her FingerSmear entitled "The Hands for Hope" was auctioned off to benefit the September 11th Fund. [5]

Sullivan has developed two spin-off projects from her FingerSmears called Mighty Fingers Facing Change (MFFC) and Paint.Team. [6] [7] MFFC is a two-part experiential art project designed to engage and inspire girls around the world through a guided self-portrait that expresses their individual goals and the changes they would like to see in the world, as well as allowing them to participate in a collaborative FingerSmear called "Abundance". [6] Sullivan has taken MFFC to Guatemala, Uganda, Haiti, India, China, as well as various parts of the US. [6] Paint.Team was launched as a web-based tool, a "digital FingerSmear" app, that allows thousands to participate in one piece of art from anywhere in the world using their own computers or smartphones. Sullivan enlisted a team of software and web designers to make this app available. [7]

Sullivan was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was taught to paint at an early age by her maternal grandmother, Alice Foster. Her studio was in Driggs, Idaho, [3] [4] but currently is in Lambertville, NJ. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 DeMasters, Karen (23 December 2001). "Coming Around Again in Asbury Park". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 Carabeo, Jan (May 31, 2018), "New Jersey Artist Is Transforming Finger-Friendly Art Into Collaborative Digital Creations", 3 CBS Philly, retrieved May 29, 2019
  3. 1 2 Strong, Hope (May 20, 2009). "A canvas that lets everyone leave their mark". ValleyCitizen. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Kelly Sullivan", Saatchi Art, retrieved May 29, 2019
  5. Roberts, Christine (24 October 2012). "New Jersey artist Kelly Sullivan to host finger-painting fundraiser for 'Mighty Fingers Facing Change Project' in SoHo Thursday". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  6. 1 2 3 Coulibaly, Kathryn (April 2018). "Empowering students through art". NJEA Review.
  7. 1 2 "Lambertville Artist Kelly Sullivan Offers a New Way to Access the Power of Art". NewJerseyStage.com. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  8. "Kelly Sullivan - Page - Artist Biography". thebabblingbrush.com. Retrieved 2020-04-15.