Former art educator, Beverly Johnson, is currently creating ceramics with a focus on free standing and relief sculptural forms, as well as unique functional forms. The natural world has long been a focus for Johnson. Many relief sculptural forms display organic, curvilinear planes at times in combination with architectural or geometric backgrounds. Other forms juxtapose curvilinear planes with highly textured areas and functional forms hark back to sculptural planes as well.
She graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a B.S. in Art Education and received her M.A., with a concentration in Ceramics, from the same university. She taught art at Shelton High School for thirty years where she created the Careers in Art Skills class and was an advisor to the Careers in Art Club and S.E.E.D. (Students Enraged at the Earth’s Destruction)
A longtime member of The New Haven Paint and Clay Club, Johnson participated in several exhibits at the John Slade Ely House, Creative Arts Workshop, Old Lyme School of Art and galleries in Westbrook, CT. She maintained a studio at Erector Square Gallery in the late 80s and was featured in a two person exhibit in the Gallery.
After her retirement from teaching in 2005, Johnson moved to Woodstock, CTand chaired FACES at FAHS (Fine Art and Crafts Exhibit and Sale at the Finnish American Heritage Society) in Canterbury, CT for five years before returning to the New Haven area.
In 2019, Johnson participated in a two person exhibit at the Clark Memorial Library in Bethany, CT. She and her granddaughter, Abbey Catalano, joined forces as Two Generations in the summer exhibit Off the Beaten Path also at the Clark,
As a member of the Hamden Art League, Johnson participated in many exhibitions. In 2021, her wall relief, Odyssey of Hope, received an Artistry Award in the Golden Bells Exhibition.
Johnson now works from her home studio in Hamden, CT with her granddaughter, Abbey Catalano.
