Chandler O’Leary

Chandler O’Leary is an illustrator and book artist. She received her B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design. Drawing is at the heart of her work, and her travel sketchbooks have informed her studio practice for over fifteen years. O’Leary has exhibited internationally, and her work is featured in public collections around the United States. Her work has recently been acquired by the National Museum for Women in the Arts, Harvard University, the Newberry Library and Stanford University.

Chandler received 2015 GAP funding for the cost of travel to and around Palouse Washington and for image-making materials. Her travels will document and narrate the landscape, creating a sketchbook of plein-air drawings. By creating these drawings, Chandler hopes to bring awareness and attention to a vital part of Washington, a historically and environmentally rich region that has been “overshadowed by the landscapes and concerns of the more famous western half of the state.” The finished sketchbook will depict the agricultural arc of planting and harvest, and contrast the native grassland ecosystem with the impact of human systems upon it.