April 21 – September 8, 2024
The Museo Italo Americano is delighted to present the exhibition “Earth and Soul,” featuring the artworks of two distinguished Bay Area artists: painter Elena Civoli Brittain and sculptor Tricia Grame. This compelling exhibition offers a seamless blend of two distinct artistic mediums, showcasing the unique creations of two artists driven by a soulful passion for their craft.
Elena Civoli Brittain
Bio
Elena is a whimsical and prolific contemporary artist whose abstract series range from brightly colored surfaces, to bold textured collages, to unstructured images layered in muted tones. Elena was born in Italy.
The daughter of an Italian Army colonel from Florence, she grew up in cities all over Italy, but considers herself a Fiorentina. She immigrated to San Francisco as a teenager and studied drawing and painting at San Francisco City College. For more than 20 years, the Marina and Pacific Heights were Elena’s canvases. As a designer/developer, she renovated dozens of homes into livable works of art. Since 1991, Elena has participated in numerous group shows and juried competitions, including the Marin County Art Fair where she received honorable mentions in 1992 and 1998. She also took part in a painting workshop that culminated in an exhibition at the Abbey in Caunes.
Since 2005, Elena has been affiliated with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists’ Gallery – until its closure, and currently paints in her San Francisco studio.
Tricia Grame
Bio
Tricia Anne Grame creates two and three dimensional art inspired by prehistoric female symbols. Her passion for the sculpted forms took her to Italy and the Islands of Malta where hundreds of sculptures and etchings have been found.
She grew up in New York City, then moved to California with her husband and son. She continued her studies at the College of the Arts, State Universities, Berkeley, and after two Masters in the Arts received a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her dissertation is “Life Into Art; Art Into Life: Transformative Effects of The Female Symbol on a Contemporary Woman Artist”.
Tricia organized an invitational group exhibition and lecture with American and Italian women artists in a 11th century monastery in Pietrasanta, “Oltre il Simbolo”. She had an amazing experience carving marble at a studio in this arty town with Italian American sculptor Nola Pardi Proll one summer. The following year organized a group exhibition in Malta, “Il Mara”. We were invited back the following year for Il Mara Il. The opening was attended by the American Ambassador, Kathryn Proffitt; the Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Rights, Helena Dalli; and the Minister of Education, Louis Gali.
Tricia teaches, lectures and has curated 50 exhibitions and lectures about the position of the female throughout art history. She continues as an adjunct and in the mentoring program for the Women’s Spirituality Ph.D & MA. Program and the Writing/ Consciousness and Creative Inquiry MFA at CIIS in San Francisco. Curated for the Women’s Studies Program at Sanford University and a member of the American Association of University Women as well as other affiliations. Was an Art Commissioner for the Town of Danville. She continues to teach and contribute to art education for the San Ramon School District and believes that art and creativity is essential for our students. Her studio is in Danville, looking over the Gramegna vineyard.
