Prior to NIAD, Jean McElvane studied art and music at Contra Costa Community College for two years. She also worked as an artist’s assistant.
Her paintings and drawings tend toward realism, but the majority of her work is in the craft field, creating meticulously built fiber projects or using recycled and found materials to build amazing objects that capture the essence of insects or creatures.
// Jean’s available work //
exhibition history
Waking, Breathing, Making! organized by Laura Kamian McDermott // NAID Online Exhibition // February 2023
WIN WIN 10 Silent Auction Preview Exhibition // NIAD Gallery Exhibition // February 2022
Holiday Gift Guide #5, organized by Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh // NIAD Online Exhibition // December 2021
Menagerie on 23rd Street, organized by Prajakti Jayavant // NIAD Windows Exhibition // December 2021
Closing Of The Year // curated by Jean McElvane NIAD Windows 2020
Waste Not, Want Not: The Redemption of Trash // ACCI Gallery Berkeley 2020
Butterfly, Sugar // organized by Bonanza NIAD Art Center 2019
Pollinators: Jean McElvane + Mary Mortimer // NIAD Art Center April 2019
Together // organized by Laurie Reid NIAD Art Center December 2018
The Handmade // Rock Paper Scissors Collective Oakland 2018
Curious Weave // organized by Ramekon O’Arwisters NIAD Art Center 2016
Jean McElvane // NIAD Art Center 2016
Telling It Slant // organized by Courtney Eldridge Richmond Art Center 2015
City In Motion // NIAD Art Center 2014
Yes To The Dress Pop-Up Shop // organized by Peter Gravener NIAD Art Center 2013
Diamond Dogs Pet Supply // NIAD Art Center 2013
Championship Vinyl // NIAD Art Center 2013
You Are Here // organized by Robert Wuilfe NIAD Art Center 2013
The Variety Show // Factory Outlet Gallery 2012
Holiday Pop Up Shop And Lounge // NIAD Art Center 2012
recent press
Nat. Brut: I, Too, Like Purple (May 2017)
San Francisco Chronicle: “City In Motion”: NIAD Artists Create Urban Environment (2014, May)
San Francisco Chronicle: NIAD Art Center’s Gifts Of Artistic Ability (2012, December)