Artist Statement

I was a choreographer and modern dancer for most of my life. I first learned to draw, paint and teach art after I could not longer keep up with the regimen of dancing. I bring to my art a balance of energy and stillness that reflects discord as I draw into paint. Traditionally, I begin as I would when choreographing a dance, with one element moving into the next. I love to investigate mixing media on the canvas and studying the effects of light and color in creating shapes and forms as they dance upon the canvas.

I am an honest painter. I paint what I know and with that confidence comes the freedom to mix materials, defy the rules of color, and allow the marks of my brush to compose a complexity of layers inviting the viewer to dance with me.

nefh@mac.com

cerulean arts gallery

inliquid.org

I am available to teach art in a variety of media and Lecture in modern art. I create commissions that suits a clients needs.Email me for more information

Teaching Philosophy

I have acquired a wealth of diverse experiences in dance, visual arts, art history, and arts administration. As an arts educator, my goals are to generously share my unique and diverse teaching skills with my students so they have greater opportunities to broaden themselves as art creators and art appreciators.

As a teacher, I aim to empower the students in a positive and nurturing classroom, while creating a stimulating and challenging environment, where students enter into a world of thought-provoking discussions and lessons. I provide art lessons that help build confidence, expand the students’ imagination and develop critical thinking skills.

In the classroom, I encourage students to challenge the issues of contemporary art and broaden their awareness of art from different cultures. I use a multidisciplinary approach to discuss aesthetics, theory, and art criticism.

I am available for lectures in contemporary 20th century painting, Vincent van Gogh and the Impressionistic era. I teach classes in drawing in pastels, watercolor, mixed media, acrylics and oil. Topics include, landscapes, figurative art, still life and expressionist art forms. I offer private and semi private lessons in my home studio, in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, PA

Home Studio Sessions

BIOGRAPHY

Nancy }E. F. Halbert, a former dancer and choreographer, has a Masters in Art Education from the University of the Arts with a prior MFA in Dance from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. She learned to draw in paint after retiring from dancing. After studying with premier teachers in the Philadelphia, she started to show her abstract expressionistic work in exhibitions and galleries. In 2013, she was a fellowship participant of Vermont Studio Center and was also juried in as a featured artist in Studio Visit Magazine www.studiovisitmagazine.com.

She has won awards in prestigious shows including, at The Philadelphia Sketch Club. Nancy served as the volunteer director for five years at the artist cooperative MUSE Gallery in Philadelphia. Following MUSE Gallery; she was a member of 3rd Street Gallery and is currently exhibiting with Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA. Her contemporary figurative and landscape paintings have been juried to exhibit in such prominent shows as Winged Woman: The Art of Arlene Love and Contemporary Parallels, The Painted Bride Art Center, 2018;The Woodmere Art Museum's Contemporary Art Show, 2009, 2012, Philadelphia, PA; the Betsy Meyer Memorial Show at the Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA; The Hospital of University of Pennsylvania’s Celebration of Life Show in 2013 and 2015; James Oliver Gallery, Art/nude Philly, 2013, a benefit for the Abramson Cancer Center, and other shows in Pennsylvania, including Goggleworks in Reading PA.

She has shown in Key West, Florida and her paintings are in collections in Australia and the United States, including New York Presbyterian Hospital and Jefferson Hospital.

EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATION

I have a Master’s In Art Education from the University of the Arts and a Master’s of Fine Arts in Choreography from Temple University. I received grants for my choreography from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Painted Bride Art Center, and the Community Education Center in Philadelphia.

I was honored with a Citation from the City of Philadelphia for my work as the Executive Director of the Community Education Center (The CEC), a cultural and community arts center, in West Philadelphia. As a student of the Expanded Arts Department at Ohio State University, I received the Outstanding Achievement Award for interdisciplinary work.

I was the Volunteer Director of the MUSE Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and its membership coordinator from 2007-2011. I was also a member of artist cooperative, 3rd Street Gallery. Currently, I exhibit at Cerulean Arts Gallery in Philadelphia, PA.

Learn More

I lecture on Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Mystery of Art History and Modern Art