Nomadic Art: Ann Holsberry ’65 returns to alma mater for exhibition of art

Earth, Sky, Water 1 began in the ocean. 

Ann Holsberry ’65 and her husband carried the large canvas into the water, holding it up as the elements left their marks. 

“There was a moment when I could see how the waves, sand, and wind affected it,” the artist said. “Then we pulled it onto the shore, let it dry, and varied shapes and patterns started appearing.” 

Even then, Holsberry wasn’t finished. 

“It hung in the studio for a while—vertically at first—then I hung it horizontally,” she said. “I started seeing patterns and shapes that I could begin to enhance with embroidery, which I love to do.” 

The piece is now on display at the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College as part of her solo exhibition, “Ann Holsberry: Navigating Sea and Stars,” which remains up through June 1. 

It spans 11 feet across the gallery wall, peaks of white waves rising across the blue surface. Bringing the sea and stars theme home, Holsberry embroidered a set of constellations above the wave. 

In January, museum and heritage studies students joined Holsberry and Maier staff to help hang the exhibit and create a site-specific installation. 

Holsberry’s interests in art, science, and the environment converge in the exhibition. Her work explores interconnections in nature through mixed media and cyanotype, a photographic process that creates images without a camera. 

“It’s a very old, 19th-century process and, in recent years, it has become interesting to artists because it’s very experimental,” Holsberry said. “I like working in layers and enjoy the sense of freedom in experimenting with materials and the surrendering of some control inherent in working with unpredictable elements.”  

She often uses materials sourced directly from the ecosystems in which she works and allows time- and weather-based anomalies to influence each piece. 

When she brings the work back to her studio, she enhances it with mark-making and the addition of pigments, inks, wax, and embroidery. 

Holsberry’s connection to nature was shaped by her early years exploring the waterways of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“I spent much of my childhood on beaches and near rivers and waterways, where I was aware of the importance of water to all of us,” she said. “I found solace in nature. I have always had an adventurous spirit that continues to this day.” 

After studying fine arts at the College, Holsberry taught in public schools for several years before earning a masters in urban and regional ecosystem planning and then a law degree, both from Cornell University. 

She practiced law in the San Francisco Bay Area for 12 years, eventually stopping to focus solely on her art. She also began exploring the healing arts and taught process painting, a method that focuses more on the experience of painting than the outcome. 

Today, she has two studios in California, one in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in the Mendocino coastal redwood forest. 

“That’s a big part of my process, working in the outdoors,” said Holsberry, who splits her time between the Bay Area and France. “I’m very nomadic.” 

She continues to explore new techniques and work, inspired by her travels.

“Though some artists describe fallow periods, I have the experience of having a river that runs through me,” she said. “And I just keep working.”