Standing Up | GAIL JERAULD BOS

My first experience with an art material was making functional and sculptural objects with soft, wet clay. When the Lowell National Park first opened I was invited to work in the Gallery and Studios in their renovated mill building. It was exciting making art and curating shows with other artists. Our audience were people from around the country.

I stayed until 1988, when I joined Peace Corps-Mali, West Africa. As a volunteer I lived with wild emotional swings: sharing the goals of my Malian hosts, then ejecting the goals, to not having an idea of what was going on. I remain so grateful for their patience and inclusion…the experience has had enormous influence on my art.

I now work in my studio on Green Street, Jamaica Plain. Whether installation, painting, or print, I try to document conflicting values in my culture…compassion verses tolerance of violence, equal opportunity verses individual freedom, working for peace or working for justice. At best I hope my art becomes a conversation piece that reveals our common concerns and moves us to work for change.