Georgia Freedman-Harvey
Georgia’s artwork focuses on a variety of styles of felting, and mixed media collage. She received her BA from Pitzer College, Claremont, California in studio art and organizational studies, and has also studied art in England and Brazil. She is a member of a number of arts organizations and currently serves on the executive committee of the Jewish Artists Initiative (JAI). She helped to establish a consortium of Jewish galleries, which works to establish a cultural platform and collaboration program amongst institutions hosting exhibitions with a Jewish art focus. She is a co-founder of the Hamsa Project, which promotes an ongoing dialogue between artists through the exchange of artwork. She is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the Jewish Artists Initiative, ArtTable, and the Surface Art Association.
Georgia has been involved in a number of special projects that include hands on art workshops and exhibitions focused on using art for healing and transformation. She also has extensive background in curating and overseeing art collections.
Artist Statement
When I created this series of felt bowls, I was thinking about the fact that vessels (ex. bowls, baskets, jugs) were all originally created to transport fruit, grain and water. In many parts of the world this is still the case. In western society we have turned the once functional and important role of the basket into a decorative item that we put on walls, on a table, etc. Sometimes they hold fruits or nuts that we have purposefully purchased and placed there, but in so much of the world they are still a necessity and provide a means for collecting and carrying food. In thinking about Bread & Salt, these bowls came to mind. They not only represent this evolution of the use of baskets & bowls, but they represent, by being made of delicate materials, that food is still a scarcity for so many in the world and not something to be taken for granted.
In my work as a Fine Arts consultant I manage and oversee private and foundation art collections for collectors, artists’ estates and organizations. Including work history as the in-house curator at several colleges. International exhibition experience in Vienna and Jerusalem, as well as ongoing independent curating engagements. In addition, I work with artists to advise them how to organize and manage their artwork. I am involved in the Surface Art Association and the Jewish Artist Initiative. I am a co-collaborator on the Hamsa Project, which promotes an ongoing dialogue between artists through the exchange of artwork. Academic teaching and workshop experience.