Flora
A sculpture exhibit at the
United States Botanic Garden
Jurors: Virginia Mecklenburg, Senior Curator
Smithsonian American Art Museum and
Lillian Fitzgerald, Director Fitzgerald Fine Art

NIH Clinical Center Gallery One
Edward Cooper

Traditions in Elegance

www.washingtonpost.com
"The exhibition of teapots now at the U.S. Botanic Garden can be appreciated on many levels. The pots themselves, 101 fragile antiques from Britain, make a dazzling display of ceramic prowess...." www.usbg.gov

Gallery One: Sean Callahan
Artist' Statement
I have been walking the halls of NIH in the past six years as a patient and have always been in awe of the incredible artwork that hangs here. I have secretly had a goal to hang my own work here some day but never thought it would be a reality. I started painting seriously six years ago when I first started coming to NIH. I had studied art in college but pursued business soon after graduation, putting the paintbrushes down. Many years later, after I found out I was not well, it made me take a step back and slow down and take stock. I needed to find something to help me relax. I started painting watercolors because I could travel with them easily and could use them in while I was in the hospital. This diversion I started has become a serious form of therapy for me, and has helped me deal with the everyday struggle of having a serious illness.
I have also found some success as a watercolor artist while living in Vermont. I am presently in three galleries and do shows throughout the state. I truly believe that this illness has helped me rediscover my art and put my life in the direction I needed to go. This show is a realization of a dream for me.

A Few Words
I have spent the last 21 years working as a nurse, and 14 of those years were here at the National Institutes of Health. During my time at NIH, I have had the opportunity to view many wonderful works of art displayed in the galleries which line these hallways. I would always make an effort to enter and leave the building via the hallways with these exhibits, because it would help me begin and end my workday with such beautiful, sometimes thought-provoking images. It so inspired me, that I decided to go back to school to study art.

I have now been studying in the evenings after work for two years, at Montgomery College in Rockville. I have concentrated mostly on watercolor, working under the wonderful guidance of Professor Andrea Burchette. It has been an adventure I never dreamed could happen, and it is a joy to have my work hanging in the very art-filled halls that inspired me to pick up a paintbrush. I hope that you will find something in these halls that touches your soul also.

--by Leslie Stephens

Traditions in Elegance

www.washingtonpost.com "The exhibition of teapots now at the U.S. Botanic Garden can be appreciated on many levels. The pots themselves, 101 fragile antiques from Britain, make a dazzling display of ceramic prowess...." www.usbg.gov

www.washingtonpost.com
"The exhibition of teapots now at the U.S. Botanic Garden can be appreciated on many levels. The pots themselves, 101 fragile antiques from Britain, make a dazzling display of ceramic prowess...." www.usbg.gov