Eleanor Quist Costello Olson:
2024 and 2022 Exhibiting Artist
2020 Scholarship Recipient
Mentor
Eleanor's work has been exhibited in two of our major exhibitions, “We All Live Here Together” (2024) at the Providence Public Library and Re-Examining Conservation: Questions from the Intersections of the Arts and Sciences (2022) at Brown University’s Granoff Center in Providence, RI.
As a scholarship recipient, Eleanor created two coloring books - available here to download as PDFS - featuring Rhode Island Fauna and Rhode Island Ecosystems.
About the Coloring Books
“We humans, especially those of us who live in cities and suburbs, often think of ourselves as being removed from nature. In our collective assumption that cities are devoid of nature, we miss all of the nature that is in fact around us all of the time! Cities are full of birds, insects, and other incredible creatures. This coloring book was created with the hope that as you color each of these Rhode Island natives, it helps you pay more attention to the nature that you live within. This coloring book can act as a small nature guide to some of Rhode Islandʼs fauna!
While you do not have to color anything accurately, there are descriptions about each animal to help guide you if you would like. These descriptions also include the average size and habitat of the animal to help contextualize where all of these creatures live and to help you find them! This book is merely a jumping off point for your own investigation into the animals that call Rhode Island home. I hope that as you work your way through it, you start to notice more nature in your everyday life.”
ELEANOR QUIST COSTELLO OLSON was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, surrounded by nature, dogs, and women. Eleanor's work has become focused on interactions with the built and natural environments we live within and complicating the narratives usually thought of as black and white. They are influenced by gender and race theories, social and political histories, nature, and our current ecological state. Activist and politically engaged painting and other visual art forms have largely become the focus of their work, with an emphasis on conservation, destruction, and intersections within environmental, gender, and race issues.
Providence, RI, USA
Instagram: @equistco
Website: www.quistartwork.com