Abbie Chessler is coming back to making art after many years of channeling her creative energy into her career as a museum exhibition designer.
She graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design where she began with an interest in printmaking, and by the time she left she was immersed in conceptual and installation art. Early in Chessler’s career she created a number of temporary public art installations and exhibited in group shows, including the 1982 Maryland Biennial at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
In the fall of 2023 Abbie was an Artist in Residence at the Vermont Studio Center. Most recently she has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Maryland and Virginia as well as in West Virginia, where she spends time in the studio at her cabin in the mountains.
BFA, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1979
1979, one person thesis show, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS
1980, 11th International Sculpture Conference, Conceptual Events Day, Baltimore, MD
1983, installation, CS&D Architects, Baltimore, MD
1984, juried exhibition, Maryland Biennial, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
2013, juried group show, C Street Gallery, Laurel, MD
2014, two-person show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2014, one person show, Olive on Main, Laurel, MD
2015, group show, Mansion on Main, Wardensville, WV
2015, group show, Jordan Faye Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2015, solo show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2017, solo show, LA|DC Arts, Sip, Laurel, MD
2017, art residency, Root Studio, Columbia, MD
2017, solo show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2018, group show, Artiste Féminine, Busboys and Poets, Takoma Park, MD
2018, group show, Collaboration, Himmelfarb Gallery at Maryland University of Integrative Health, Fulton, MD
2018, solo show, Tip Top Thomas, Thomas, WV
2019, solo show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2019, group show, Art on Cullers Run, Mathias, WV
2019, group show, Our Voices, Ice House Gallery, Berkeley Springs, WV
2020, two-person show, Near and Far, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2021, Art on Cullers Run, Mathias, WV
2021, solo show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2022, group show, Art at the Mill, Millwood, VA
2022, group show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2022, group show, Art on Cullers Run
2023, group show, Environment Art, Berkeley Art Center, WV
2023, group show, Art on Cullers Run, Mathais, WV
2023, art residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2024, solo show, Lost River Trading Post Grasshopper Gallery, Wardensville, WV
2024, group show, Landscape of Desire, Melissa Ichiuchi Studio Gallery, Front Royal, VA
2024, group show, Art on Cullers Run, Mathais, WV
2024, solo show, Angelo, Charlottesville, VA