Education:

1989, B.F.A. in Metalsmithing, Summa Cum Laude, Syracuse University

Solo Exhibitions:

2006     the ART Mission, Despite Fate, Binghamton NY

2006     Rochester Contemporary, Horseplay, Rochester NY

2006     Company Gallery (ThINC), Vision & Consequence, Syracuse NY

1998     Atrium Gallery, Tales Eye Tell,  Corning NY

1996     West End Gallery, Dogs in Cars, Corning NY

Selected Exhibitions

2010     Arnot Art Museum, Gallery Gala: Framed, Elmira NY

2009     Limestone Gallery, Findings and Artifacts (two person show with Gail Hoffman), Fayetteville NY

2009     George Waters Gallery, Regional Invitational (four person show), Elmira NY 

2007     Rochester Contemporary, Re:Member, Rochester NY

2007     James Cohen Gallery / Visual Aids, Postcards from the Edge, New York NY

2006     State of the Art Gallery, Adaptive Re-use (two artist show), Ithaca NY

2006     100 West Market, Outside the Box, Corning NY

2006     West End Gallery, Director's Choice, Corning NY

2005     Rochester Contemporary, Appendix, Rochester NY

2005     Art Bar Gallery, Art Bar Artists 2005-06, Ithaca NY

2005     The Gallery at the ARTS, Full Circle, Corning NY

2005     George Waters Gallery, Sculpture, Elmira College, Elmira NY

2005     Elmira Open Studio Tour, Elmira Area NY

2005     The ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes, What is Art, Corning NY

2005     State of the Art, Invitational, Ithaca NY

2004     The Arnot Art Museum, 70th Regional Exhibition, Elmira NY

2004     Rochester Contemporary, Dialogues, Rochester NY

2004     West End Galley, Showcased Artist in the Upstairs Gallery, Corning NY

2004     George Waters Gallery, Random Selections III, Elmira College, Elmira NY

2004     Atrium Gallery, Night Visions, Corning Community College, Corning NY

2004     Hallwalls, The World of Tomorrow... Today, Buffalo NY

2003     Rochester Contemporary, There's No Place Like Home, Rochester NY

2003     Arnot Art Museum, Gallery Gala, 1991 - 2003, Elmira NY

2002     George Waters Gallery, Red, White, (Black) & Blue, Elmira College NY

2002     Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Made in New York,  Auburn NY

2002     Tri-main Center, Trimania, Buffalo NY

2002     West End Gallery, Little Gems, Corning NY

2001     National Soaring Museum, In God's Pocket, Elmira NY

2001     Atrium Gallery, Just Down the Road, Corning Community College NY

2000     Art Association of Harrisburg, Five Artist Exhibition, Harrisburg PA

1999     Gallery 210, 1999 Juried Competition, Syracuse NY

1998     Gmeiner Art & Cultural Center, 25th Regional, Wellsboro PA

1997     62nd Annual Nat. Exhibition, Cooperstown Art Assoc. NY

1997     Arnot Art Museum, Regional, award winner, Elmira NY

1996     Arnot Art Museum, Regional, Elmira NY

1992     Meadows Gallery, Materials Hard and Soft, Denton TX

1992     International New Art Forms Exh., Anticipation '92, Navy Pier Chicago IL

Grants:

2006     Artist Crossroads, Art Spore Project, NYSCA Decentralization: The ARTS of the S. Finger Lakes

Commisions:

Corning Incorporated,  Corning NY and Port Elizabeth, South Africa

The ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes, 2001 Billboard Project

Market Street Restoration Agency, Corning NY

171 Cedar Arts Center, Corning NY

Corning Community College, Small Business Development Center,Corning NY

Public Collections:

National Soaring Museum, Elmira NY

Syracuse University Print Collection, Syracuse NY

Small Business Development Center, Corning Community College, Corning NY

Experience:

2008-present     Owner / Director, Exhibit A (contemporary art gallery), Corning NY 

2005-present     Visual Arts Curator, Houghton Gallery, 171 Cedar Arts Center, Corning NY

2007     1 of 5 Presenters, Getting in the Door, special event, State of the Art Gallery, Ithaca NY

2007     Panelist, Strategic Opportunity Stipend, New York Foundation for the Arts, S. Tier Region

2007     Guest Lecturer, Elmira Art Society, Elmira NY

2007     Juror, Scholastic Art Awards, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY

2005     Judge, Elmira College Student Art Exhibits 2005, Elmira NY

2005     Panelist, Special Opportunity Stipend, New York Foundation for the Arts, Southern Tier Region

2004     Juror, Scholastic Art Awards, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY

2003     Artist Lecturer: There's No Place Like Home, Rochester Contemporary, Rochester NY

2003     Guest Lecturer, Corning Community College, Corning NY

2002     Art's Forum Coordinator, The ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes

2002     Launch of www.annwelles.com

2001     Panelist, Special Opportunity Stipend, New York Foundation for the Arts, Southern Tier Region

2000     Coordinator / Instructor, Celcor Art Project, Corning Community College & Corning Inc.

1999     1990-1999, Owned & Operated a Video Production business

1998     Juror, Festival of Art, Corning NY

1998     Juror, Arts in the Park, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY

1998     Judge, Congressional Arts Competition, Olean NY

1998     Workshop Presenter, Regional Art Conference, NY State Art Teachers Assoc., Corning NY

1998     Juror, Corning Festival of Art, juried through Empire State Craft Alliance, Syracuse NY

1998     Juror, Scholastic Art Awards, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY

1997     Juror, Scholastic Art Awards, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY

1992     Guest Curator & Art Faculty, 171 Cedar Arts Center, Corning NY

1992     Juror, Scholastic Art Awards, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY

1992     Jewelry Designer, F.M. Abdulky Inc., Ithaca NY, 1991 - 92

1991     Lecturer, Chemung Valley Arts Council Artist's Meeting, Clemens Center, Elmira NY

1990     Student Exhibition Coordinator, Glass Arts Society Conference, Corning NY

Statement:

My work draws on the power of artifacts, materials, and time, and considers the reality that we are tenacious yet temporal beings. 

With art school training as a metalsmith, I focused on wearable art for much of my career but am exploring my ideas on an ever increasing scale.  Elements of my recent artwork are reminiscent of past small scale pieces; for example, rivets, chains, fabricated movable metal parts, and the use of animals as allegorical elements. 

My visual vocabulary also incorporates mechanical imagery and toy imagery to comment on human nature.  Our tools, toys and machines speak of physiological and intellectual realities.  Their contextual effect adds credence to observations about human endeavors and about the passage of time.

I credit much of the trajectory of my current thinking and work to the past few years of my life.  I have moved back to the multigenerational farm where I grew up.  It is a place that provokes an enriched perspective.  It is also a place rife with curious objects that sometimes embody an archeological sensibility.  Likewise, living with my daughter, now six, means living in an environment teeming with the artifacts of childhood and with an acute awareness of change.