Diane Cherr is a printmaker and painter from New York City now residing in Westchester County. Women’s empowerment, personal traditions and interpretations of stories and legends are prominent themes in her work. Her prints and other works pull from personal histories, mementos and storytelling. Works feature intriguing, well-informed interpretations of iconography and symbology, joyously expressed as playful images with important ties to her heritage. Her portfolio also includes collages and drawings, inspired by patterns, narrative and whimsy.

Colorful works are created in small editions and as unique prints. She introduces and elevates items from her family, such as vintage fashion accessories, into universal symbols of femininity in combination with objects, including hamsas, lunar cycles, water and pomegranates, long established symbols associated with Jewish heritage, traditions and mysticism.

Diane often looks to Judaic scholars and women of the Bible and Torah, as she creates her art. She is greatly influenced by quilt motifs and their rich storytelling history.

Diane has received the 2020 Best in Show for her print Left Hand Jenny in Days to Remember - Annual Members Exhibition as well as the 2019 Honorable Mention and the Greystone/Evolon Purchase Award for her prints in the 12th Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition at the Grace Ross Shanley Gallery, Center for Contemporary Printmaking (Norwalk, CT). Diane was invited to participate in Faith Ringgold's Ancestors Quilt Project, creating her personal ancestry quilt. The quilts were exhibited at Ponder Gallery, Benedict College (Columbia, SC). Four watercolor paintings are part of Climbing the Walls, a 2020-2021 collaboration between Studio Theater in Exile and Hudson Valley MOCA (Peekskill, NY) bringing together multimedia artists in a virtual space to share their personal expressions during the pandemic. In 2006, Diane was commissioned to create a painting as a gift of thanks for the family of a prominent donor at Yeshiva University (New York, NY).  She is represented in collections both nationally and internationally. 

Diane holds a Studio Art degree from Wheaton College (Norton, MA) as well as a Masters degree in Art and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University (New York, NY), where she was the Graduate Print Studio Teaching Assistant.

CV

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022 Offerings, Damson Family Gallery, Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester, Rye, NY
2021 A Show of Hands, Lithography Room Gallery at Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP), Norwalk, CT, curator: Kimberly Henrickson
2014 Art on Paper, Lazarus Gallery, United Hebrew, New Rochelle, NY
2003 Mamaroneck Artists Guild, Larchmont, NY
1998 Jewish Community Center, Stamford, CT
1991 Rosenthal JCC, Pleasantville, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Welcome Spring, Palmer Art, Larchmont, NY
2024 Monoprint Magic, Hosted by Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Stamford JCC, Stamford, CT
2023 The Paper Collective, Palmer Art, Larchmont, NY
2023 With Fresh Eyes, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT, juror: Jenn Bratovich
2023 2nd Annual Mini Gems print Exhibition, Society of American Graphic Artists, NY, juror: Kimberly Henrickson
2023 14th Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition, Grace Ross Shanley Gallery, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT, juror: Ksenia Nouril, Jerry’s Artarama Award
2022 CCP Shop Swap, East London Printmakers, London, England, Tatiana Mori, juror
2022 Magical Thinking: Superstitions and Other Persistent Notions, Dr Bernard Heller Museum at HUC/JIR, NYC, curators: Laura Kruger and Phyllis Freedman
2022 Shine the Light, Hosted by InsideSmall.com, Virtual Small Works Exhibit, Lisa D’Amico, curator
2022 One of Your Best, Katonah Museum Artists Association, Katonah, NY, Virtual Exhibit
2021 Mamaroneck Artists Guild Annual Awards Show, Larchmont, NY, juror and curator: Carol Ward, Second place
2021 Open to Interpretation, Katonah Museum Artists Association, Katonah, NY, Virtual Exhibit, juror: Katie Schmidt Feder, View Online
2021 104th Juried Bendheim Exhibit, Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, Ct, juror and curator: Allison Rudnick
2021 UnEditioned, Manhattan Graphics Center, NYC, juror: Katie Michel

2021 13th Biennial Miniature Print International Exhibition, Grace Ross Shanley CCP, Norwalk, CT, curator: Christina Weyl, juried
2020 Days to Remember: Members Exhibition, Grace Ross Shanley Gallery at CCP, Norwalk, CT, juror Cybele Maylone, Best in Show Award
2019 Under the Influence: Members Exhibition, Grace Ross Shanley Gallery at CCP, Norwalk, CT
2019 PaperWorks 7: Theme & Variation, Upstream Gallery, Hastings- On-Hudson, NY
2019 12th Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition, Grace Ross Shanley Gallery at CCP, Norwalk, CT, curator: Tomas Vu-Daniel, juried, Honorable Mention and Greystone/Evolon Purchase Award
2019 Surface Matters-Members Show, Annual Exhibition in the Grace Ross Shanley Gallery at CCP, Norwalk, CT,
2019 Inspired by…Quilts, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ, curator: Virginia S. Block
2019-1997 The Aesthetic Sense Gallery, Mount Kisco, NY
2018 Faith Ringgold: Ancestors Project II, Invitational Group Exhibition, Ponder Gallery, Benedict College, Columbia, SC, curator: Wendell George Brown
2016 Putting It All Together, The Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY,
2015 Hidden Yonkers, The Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY, curator: Luis Perelman
2015 16th Annual Salon Club Art Show, WAH Center, Brooklyn, NY, curator: Yuko Nii, juried
2014 Over the Edge: Paperworks Unbound, WAH Center, Brooklyn, NY curator: Yuko Nii, juried
2015 11thOpen Juried Small Works Exhibition, Mamaroneck Artists Guild, Larchmont, NY
2015 Mamaroneck Artists Guild at Arts Westchester, White Plains, New York
2014 Ways of Seeing, Arts Westchester Gallery 9, White Plains, NY
2014 Home Is Where the Art Is, Lazarus Gallery, United Hebrew, New Rochelle, NY
2014 Summer Remix: A Group Salon, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY
2014 We Love Art, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
2014 Paperworks, Upstream Gallery, Hastings-on Hudson, NY
2013 Voices, The Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY, curator: Luis Perelman
2013 Paperworks, Upstream Gallery, Hastings-on Hudson, NY
2013 Surf and Turf, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY
2013 From Inside Out, Bruce S. Kershner Gallery, Fairfield, CT
2012 A Feast for the Eyes, Lazarus Gallery, United Hebrew, New Rochelle, NY
2012 Artists Make Mirrors, Bendheim Gallery, Greenwich, CT
2012 Connections, Arts Westchester, White Plains, NY
2009 Architechtonics, Kathy Caraccio Printing Studio, NY, NY
1992 Modern Times Through the Concerned Eye, Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY, juror: Elizbeth Sussman
1995 It’s Love, Tri-State Juried Exhibit, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY, Honorable Mention

COLLECTIONS

Jerry’s Artarama, Norwalk, CT, 2023
Greystone/Evolon Collection, Warminster, PA, 2019 

Fordham University, Bronx, NY, 2005 

Scarsdale Synagogue, Scarsdale, NY, 2003 

Bet Am Shalom Synagogue, White Plains, NY, 2003, 2007 

West Side Jewish Community Center, NYC, 2002 

Children's Specialized Hospital Permanent Collection, Mountainside, NJ, 1993 

Herbert Mark Newman Theatre, Pleasantville, NY, 1991 

Southeastern Louisiana University Slide Library for Prints & Drawings, New Orleans, LA, 1984…..
Teachers College Art Department Collection, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY, NY, 1979-82 

Shippee Memorial Foundation, Wheaton College, Norton, MA, 1973 

PUBLICATIONS

Capsule Previews for Artscope 95, Artscope magazine, November-December 2021 https://artscopemagazine.com/2021/11/capsule-previews-for-artscope-95/
Exhibition: A Show of Hands, Best in Show Award Recipient Diane Cherr, CCP, Norwalk, CT, November 2021 https://contemprints.org/exhibition/a-show-of-hands/
Bieder, Evan, Small Scaled Classics, Artscope, July-August 2021
104th Annual Bendheim Exhibit, Greenwich Art Society, Bendheim Gallery, July 6, 2021, juror: Allison Rudnick https://www.greenwichartsociety.org/online-gallery
Meet Diane Cherr: One of Our Craft Show Artists, betamshalomshow.org, March 10, 2021 https://www.facebook.com/betamshalom/posts/meet-diane-cherrone-of-our-craft-show-artistsbetamshalomcraftshoworgdiane-cherr-/1827079920799890/
Climbing the Walls, Virtual Multi-Media Arts Exploration in the Time of Corona, Studio Theater in Exile and Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY, September 2020
Artist Cherr featured on Climbing the Walls, p. 20, The Scarsdale Inquirer, August 20, 2020 https://www.scarsdalenews.com/arts_and_leisure/artist-cherr-featured-on-climbing-the-walls/article_95d41528-e30b-11ea-94dc-1b3ad88e2dbd.html
Blue Door Art Gallery Presents ‘Faces’ Portraits, Yonkers Times, May 7, 2020 http://yonkerstimes.com/blue-door-art-gallery-presents-faces-portraits/
Nord, Kristin, Printmaking Under the Influence, Artscope, January-February2020
Institute of Applied Human Dynamics Receives Grant, p. A25 Arts Westchester: Westchester County Business Journal, Dec. 2019- Jan 2020
Kids Rise to the Challenge, This and That by JL, Arts Westchester, June 21, 2018 https://www.thisandthatbyjl.com/kids-rise-to-the-challenge/
The Arc Westchester Hosts 69th Annual Membership, Annual Meeting 2018 ,The Arc, Westchester, NY , June 26, 2018, https://arcwestchester.org/about/press-room/annual-meeting-2018/
Climbing the Walls, Virtual Multi-Media Arts Exploration in the Time of Corona, Studio Theater in Exile and Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY, September 2020 https://www.studiotheaterinexile.com/news/climbing-the-walls-painting-on-a-day-in-may-diane-cherr
Baker, Susanna, Studio Montclair: Opening Reception for ‘Inspired by…QUILTS,” Tap into Montclair, Montclair, NJ (online), August 13, 2019 https://www.tapinto.net/towns/montclair/sections/arts-and-entertainment/articles/studio-montclair-opening-reception-for-inspired-by-quilts
Rivera, Danielle, Scarsdale artist explores tradition at Judaica art show, p. 13, The Scarsdale inquirer, December 1. 2017
Banerjee, Debra, Surf and Turf, p.13, The Scarsdale Inquirer, August 16, 2013
Banerjee, Debra, Speak, Memory! Creating art with life stories, Reprinted with permission, The Scarsdale Inquirer, December 7, 2012 https://creativeagingtoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/scarsdale_inquirer.pdf
Banerjee, Debra, Making Connections: Art’s Westchester’s teaching artists exhibit their work, p. 17, The Scarsdale Inquirer, February 3, 2012
16th Annual Judaica Craft Show in White Plains set, p.14, The Sound and Town Report, Nov. 27, 2009
The Birds and the Bees, Press Release, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY, June 28- Aug 26, 2006 https://madelynjordonfineart.com/exhibition/about/the_birds_and_the_bees_including_works_by_ross_blecknercarole_bolseydeborah_buckdiane_cherrruth_epsteinwolf_kahnlawrence_kelseyjoy_moserlucie_gould_reitzfeldhunt_slonem_donald_sultanlinda_touby
Nechamkin, Ilene, The Amazing Technicolor Art of Diane Cherr, Scarsdale Inquirer, February 18, 2005

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

27th Annual Artists’ Showcase of the Print Club of New York, NYC, 2022
Center for Research in Art and Technology Advisory Board, UMass Amherst, MA, 2005-08
Arts Alive Grant: St. Cabrini Nursing Home, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 1994
Arts Alive Grant: Westchester County Office for the Aging, White Plains, NY, 1994-95
Impact II Grants from Exxon for curriculum excellence, MCS, NYC, 1983, 1984
Harlem Intercultural and Interracial Arts Grant, MCS, NYC, 1983

EDUCATION

Teachers College Columbia University, NYC, MA, Art & Education
Wheaton College Norton, MA, BA Studio Art, Art Honors