We try to exert control over our environment by mapping, and think we’re not lost if we can pinpoint our location on a map. But mapping is subjective: how do we know where we are in the world, when what we’re looking for determines what we see? Culture transforms not only the sites we inhabit, but the ways in which we see those sites. We change the land by the ways we occupy it, but the land in turn changes us, so we no longer know which way is past and which future, or how to get from here to where we think we want to be. - Leila Daw

Leila Daw’s work employs processes of mapping as a metaphor for attempting to locate ourselves in space and time. Her mixed media drawings, paintings, and sculpture reflect upon the changing cultural context of living sites, from prehistory to the present. Daw maps the fragile relationship of human endeavors to the underlying earth, as a means of exploring the trajectory of our own civilization. The images can be read as charted ruins, diagrams of disasters, or directional instructions, sometimes mediated by an ironic postcard kitsch. Attempting to impose order on disintegration, she collects metallic and iridescent detritus from everyday life and transforms it in her work to suggest precious materials of inherent worth.

Leila Daw has long been involved with concepts of mapping sites, and creating images of navigation through times and places. She is best known for her public commissions, which include permanent installations at Hartford’s new Bradley International Airport terminal, Northwestern Connecticut State College’s new library, the St. Louis light rail system, the Massachusetts Turnpike, and others. Additional mapping projects include drawings over ancient Native American sites in skywriting smoke, diaphanous installations of layered diagrams, intricate artists’ books and folded maps, environmental interventions, and mixed media two and three dimensional pieces. Articles about Daw’s work have appeared in Art in America, Art News, The New York Times, Art New England, The Village Voice, The New Art Examiner, and many other publications.

Daw is currently completing a percent-for-arts commission for the New Haven Free Public Library, an installation which maps the history of immigration to the area.

EDUCATION

M.F.A. Washington University School of Fine Arts, St. Louis, Missouri B.A. Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts Additional Study: Maryland Institute, Baltimore, MD; School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

SOLO PUBLIC PROJECTS AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006 Passages, New Haven Free Public Library, New Haven, CT 2005: Trail Stones, East Coast Greenway Alliance National Meetings Migrating Maps: sea chart bench sculptures, New Haven, CT
2004 Planetary Conditions, Bradley International Airport, Hartford, CT
2003 Winsted On The Move, Winsted, CT 2001: An Architectural Haunting, site specific installation, Sasaki Associates Architects, Boston, MA 2000: Sites and Circles, Brickbottom Gallery, Sommerville, MA 1999: Stone Circle for Union Square, Boston, MA Mythic Site #1, Sommerville, MA Mythic Site #2, Tufts University, Boston, MA
1998 Shadow of Safety (Installation), Sunrise Art Museum, Charleston, WV
1996 Conditions, solo exhibition, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO Shadow of Sanctuary, site-specific installation, with sound and light, Chapel Gallery, Boston, MA
1994 Natural Phenomena, site-specific installation, Chapel Gallery, Boston, MA New Surveying of Old Terrain, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
1993 Leila Daw, solo exhibition, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN
1991 Red River, environmental installation, Centenary College, Shreveport, LA Leila Daw, recent work, Atrium Gallery, Saint Louis, MO
Group Exhibitions
2006: There's the Rub, Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY The Artist Resource Trust Grant Recipients, Trustman Gallery, Simmons College, Boston, MA.
2005 Mapping: Map As Metaphor, Clark University, Wooster, MA ?Mapping, Arts and Literature Laboratory, New Haven, CT, Art in the Garden, outdoor sculpture, Gilford, CT 2004 Condition Environ, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY Mirror, Mood and Magic, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA.,
2003 Territories, Galerie Fur Landschaftkunst, Hamburg, Germany. Territories, Art Space Gallery, New Haven, CT., On the Trail, outdoor sculpture exhibition, Farminton Canal Trail, CT., Unbuilt Visions, artists maquettes and proposal boards, Brickbottom Gallery, Boston, MA., The Lily Loosely Seen, outdoor sculpture, Byrdcliffe Colony, Woodstock, NY.,
2002 New Space New Work, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., Where Earth Meets Sky, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT., Scale It, Atrium Gallery, Saint Louis, MO.,
2001 Tributaries, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY National Members Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., New Works On Paper, Atrium Gallery, Saint Louis, MO
2000 Site Specifics
2000 Site-specific installation of Passage (Alignment) , Islip Art Museum, Long Island, NY Unbound Reshaping Artist's Books, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY ., The Maecenas and the Bauhaus In St. Louis, The Sheldon Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO.,
1999 Installation of four Map Structures in De Cordova Museum’s Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA ., National Affiliates Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., Selection '99, Bakalar, Massachusettes College of Art, Boston, MA .,
1998 Recent Acquisitions from the Permanent Collection, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA About Time, The Gallery at Hastings, Hudson, NY .,
1997 National Affiliates Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., Shapes of Time and Tide, Mystic Art Center, Mystic, CT.,
1996 Working With Nature: Women Artists and Landscape Architects at Work With Natural Systems, Forces, and Energies, exhibition, Brickbottom Gallery, Boston, MA., National Affiliates Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., 1995-96 Artist member of design team (with three landscape architects), Kiel Triangle Park, urban park, St.Louis, MO.,
1995: Public Projects by Sculptors, exhibition, Boston Sculptors at Chapel Gallery, Boston, MA., Map Readings, a multimedia event, Brickbottom Gallery, Boston, MA., National Affiliates Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., Design Team Artist for Commuter Rail system, St. Louis, MO., Member of Handicap Access Design Team, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA., 1994: Natural Phenomena, solo exhibition, Boston Sculptors at Chapel Gallery, Boston, MA., New Surveying of Old Terrain, solo exhibition, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY., Material Matters, exhibition, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT., Four woman exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., Sculptors' Edition and Small Works, exhibition, Boston Sculptors at Chapel Gallery, Boston, MA???New Works: four artists, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO ??Dealer’s Choice, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO ??1992: Site Seeing, exhibition of maps in contemporary art, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY ??Juxtapositions, exhibition, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA ??Exploring Maps, exhibition, University of Indiana Art Museum, Terre Haute, IN ??Boston Sculptors, inaugural exhibition, Chapel Gallery, Boston, MA ??Artist member of four person design team, Master Plan for Right of Way Landscaping and Arts Projects, MetroLink Light Rail System, St. Louis, MO., Artist consultant to Central Artery/Tunnel ("Big Dig") Project, Boston, MA .,
1991 Leila Daw: Recent Work, solo exhibition, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO., Land, Sea, and Sky: Maps in Contemporary Art, exhibition, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA., The Mid-America Biennial, Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, Kansas City, MO ., Earth Elements, exhibition, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO ., Selections 99, two installations, Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA.,
1998 Shadow of Safety, site-specific installation, with light and sound, Sunrise Art Museum, Charleston, WV., Placement of Stones, installation, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., Recent Acquisitions from the Permanent Collection, exhibition, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA., About Time, exhibition, The Gallery at Hastings-on-Hudson, NY., Light Installation , for Massachusetts College of Art Gala, Boston, MA., December Circle, exhibition, Brickbottom Gallery, Boston, MA., Design Consultant, Gateway Multi-Modal Transportation Center, St. Louis. MO.,
1997-98 Member of Design Team (2 public artists and 2 architects) to develop Master Plan for public spaces at Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA.,
1997 Shapes of Time and Tide, exhibition of environmental works, Mystic Art Center, CT ??National Affiliates Exhibition, installation, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY., 25th Anniversary Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2001 DeCordova Sculpture Park Guide, Lincoln, MA., "Look of the New", St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 26., Leila Daw, Site Specific Installations,
2000 - 1996, limited edition catalog, Boston, MA .,
2000 "Leila Daw’s From This Point at A.G. Edwards", St. Louis Post Dispatch, August 27???Shaw, Karen, Site Specifics 2000, Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY (catalog).,
1999 Catalog of DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park., Temin, Christine, "Pike stalls on public art project", The Boston Globe, May 26., Dorothy Pomerantz, "Leila Daw: ‘A common history of all human beings’", The Somerville (MA) Journal, July 1., Wild, Patricia, "Yeah, but is it art?", Somerville (MA) Journal, October 21., Temin, Christine, "Art al fresco: outdoor sculpture in Lincoln", The Boston Globe, August 15 ???Sherman, Mary, "Pike Pique", The Boston Herald, August 5.,
1998 Le Roy, Dan, "State native’s roots still running through her art", The Charleston Daily Mail, March 19., Schwartz, Bob, "West Virginia native’s installation reinvents Sunrise", The Charleston Gazette, April 2.,
1997 Zimmer, William, "Making the Leap from Science to Art...", The New York Times, June 29., The Shapes of Time and Tide, Projects for a New Millenium and The Mystic Art Association, Mystic, CT (catalog).,
1996 Temin, Christine, "A Former Chapel Houses a Strange ‘Sanctuary’", The Boston Globe, April 10.,Shepley, Carol, "Invigorating the Imagination", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 25???1995: Art in Transit ... Making it Happen, U.S.Department of Transportation illustrated catalog 9400.1A., Art in Transit,, U.S.Department of Transportation illustrated catalog 9400.1A., Grooms, Thomas B., Senior Editor, Design for Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.., "Urban Planning," The Boston Globe, May 14., 1994: MetroLink: Different by Design, Arts in Transit, St. Louis, MO (catalog)., Birke, Judy, "Seven Sculpt Our Perceptions at Creative Arts Workshop", The New Haven Register, March 13., Frueh, Joanna, "Visible Difference", in New Feminist Criticism, Ed. By Joanna Frueh, Cassandra Langer, and Arlene Raven, Icon Editions (Harper Collins), New York, NY., Kinsey, Joni. Leila Daw, New Surveying of Old Terrain, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (catalog)., Temin, Christine, "Inside the Chapel, Leila Daw’s Great Outdoors", The Boston Globe, February 9., Yatzeck, Tanya, "MetroLink Rail, St. Louis: A Design Team Collaboration", Maquette, Journal of the International Sculpture Center, December., 1993: Seigel, Judy, editor, Mutiny and the Mainstream: Talk That Changed Art, 1975-1990, Midmarch Arts Press, NY., 1992: Harrison, Helen A., "For 12 Artists, Maps Fill a Role ...", The New York Times, October 18???Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel, Exploring Maps, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN (catalog)???1991: Bertelson, Christine, "Link With the Future?" (Metro Link bridge design), St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 15., Bellos, Alexandra, "Art on the Map (review)", The Riverfront Times, St. Louis, MO, May 22., Frueh, Joanna, The Louisiana Sculpture Tour, Centenary College, Shreveport, LA (catalog)., Harris, Paul, "Daw's Abstract Maps of Metaphors (review)", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10., Winners: Mid-America Biennial 1991, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (catalog)., Television interview: Leila Daw, St. Louis Skyline, KETC, Channel 9 (videotape available)
1990 "Recent Work of Leila Daw", St. Louis Journal, April 29 - May 5
1989 Enstice, Wayne, and Melody Peters, Drawing: Space, Form, Expression, Prentice Hall, NY., Tufts, Eleanor, American Women Artists Past and Present, Volume II, Garland Publishing, NY., Eckstrom, Kevin, "Daw's Works Reflect Topography of Life", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 8., Raven, Arlene, "Gifted" (review), The Village Voice, January 3., Degener, Patricia, "Artists' Visions of the Future of Mass Transit ...", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 29
1988 La Rose, Elise, "Outside New York", Women Artists News, Fall/Winter
1987 Frueh, Joanna, "Leila Daw at Atrium" (review), Art in America, July???Eyerman, Linda, "Leila Daw" (review), New Art Examiner, May., King, Mary, "Leila Daw" (review), Art News, April ., Frueh, Joanna, "Daw Finds Life An Adventure" (review), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 3
1986 Kimpel, Harald (Hg.), Himmelsschreiber, Dimensionen eines fluchtigen Mediums, Jonas Verlag, Germany, pages 80-81 and color plates., Harris, Jim, "9 Artists Propose Public Sculptures" (review), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1., Sontag, Heidi, editor
1985 Interview about sky work broadcast on All Things Considered,, National Public Radio, August., Poleskie, Steve, "Art and Flight: Historical Origins to Contemporary Works", Leonardo, Vol. 17, No. 3 (July)., Poleskie, Steve, "Dell'Arte e del Volo", D'Ars, May., Degener, Patricia, "Strength, Individuality, Optimism in Show..." (review), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29., Drawing in St. Louis, The Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (catalog)., Mottaz,Judi, "Painting a Living Landscape", Alton Telegraph, May 25
1984 Richardson, John Adkins, Michael Smith, and Floyd Coleman, Basic Design: Systems, Elements, Applications, Prentice-Hall, New York, (sky work) pages 245-246., Tufts, Eleanor, American Women Artists, Garland Publishers, New York
1983 Sky Art '83, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Fadem, Susan, "Artist's Canvas is the Sky and Earth", The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 5., Broderick, Jan, A Great Brown God: the Mississippi in St. Louis, First Street Forum, St. Louis, MO (catalog)
1982 Delacoma, Wynne, review in The Milwaukee Journal, April l8
1981 Newmark, Judy J., "Metro Theater Circus in Engaging 'Set Up'" (review) St. Louis Post Dispatch, December 7 .,Bretz, Mark, "Troupe Provides Enchanting Hour of Diversion" (review), The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 8 .,"Metro Theater Circus 'Set Up' Work, The Arts, St. Louis, December.,
1980 Melcher, Victoria Kirsch, "Kansas City: Dizzying Directionals" (review), Art News, October.,Duffy, Robert W., "St. Louis Artists", St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine, March l6, l980., Television documentary, Leila Daw’s Sky Projects, broadcast on KSDK-TV, St. Louis MO, July 21.,King, Mary, "Up in the Air: It's A Bird, It's A Plane... No, It's Art", St. Louis Post-Dispatch,, July 2l
1979 McFadden, Sarah, "Art in the Midwest: St. Louis", Art in America, July-August

COLLECTIONS/ OTHER PUBLIC ART EXPERIENCE

2000 International Sculpture Conference, Houston, TX, Co-moderated panel, "The Living Site", and presented my site-specific work., Urban Arts Symposium: Traveling Without a Map, Boston, MA. Participant.,
1999 American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting, Tour leader, "AWalking Tour of Boston’s Public Art., International Terminal, Logan Airport, Boston, MA, juror for public commission., Member of Advisory Committee, Urban Arts Resource Center , Boston, MA
1998 Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Panelist/Juror for four public sculpture commissions
1997 Boston University, Boston, MA; guest artist, Public Art Program.,
1995 Harvard University Graduate School of Design, guest critic, Cambridge, MA, ?Boston University, Boston, MA; slide lecture for Public Art Program ., "Environmental Art: Addressing the Real World" symposium, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA,co-organizer, chair of panel, and speaker
1991 University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota; artist in residence
1990 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Arttransition '90" conference on art and technology, speaker
1988 University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, visiting artist
1987 College Art Association Annual Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, organized and chaired panel, "Art and the Earth: the New Landscape Artists"., National Sculpture Conference: Works by Women, Cincinnati, Ohio; panelist, "Spiritual Presences: Sources of Contemporary Sculpture"

SELECTED AWARDS AND GRANTS

2000 Residency, Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY; Awarded James & Stephiana McClennen Fellowship; 1999 Massachusetts Cultural Council / Somerville (MA) Arts Council Artists Fellowshi; 1996 National Endowment for the Arts / Department of Transportation: Design in Transportation Award; 1995 National Endowment for the Arts Federal Design Achievement Award; 1990 National Endowment for the Arts/Mid-America Arts Alliance Fellowship; National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Grant; Missouri Highway Medians Design Competition, Clayton, MO: First Place, Single Median Design; Second Place, Design for Three Consecutive Medians (In collaboration with Rick Kacenski, Landscape Architect);1989 Missouri Arts Council Grant for collaboration with Mid America Dance Compan1981 Illinois Arts Council Project Completion Grant; Missouri Arts Council Grant for collaboration with Metro Theater Circus, l98l-?
1980 St. Louis Art Museum support for public skywriting events
1979 Ford Foundation Grant