Grace Noel knows she was put on this planet to make art. She has been doing it as long as she can remember and, due to her natural talent, has been receiving distinguished and well-deserved recognition since elementary school. “Throughout childhood, I often won first place in regional and national art competitions such as the Second Congressional High School Art Competition and Scholastic Gold Key Award,” she said. With a seemingly endless well of inspiration to draw from, Noel has continued to garner accolade after accolade. She’s worked in 100s of mediums, from her mainstay of oil and acrylic painting, to sculpture and installation art. “I am a professional artist who provides a commercial art studio where I create pieces for individual clients up to city municipalities,” she continued.
While her skill has always been there, a lifetime of acknowledgement has helped shape her from virtuoso into the more challenging role of public artist. While some creators paint strictly for their own amusement, Noel recognizes art as a community act. She shares her visionary approach not only through the work she openly displays in her basement workshop in the Denver Art Society, but through a myriad of classes hosted both on and off-site. “I’m very much a public artist, both in the sense that my work is on display for the public, and my talents are actively being shared with audiences of all skill levels,” she said, noting that art’s therapeutic presence in her own life was something she had to share. “Art is unique in that it combines the mind, body, and soul while bringing people together in honor of beauty, which creates inclusivity, inspiration and community. I believe in the power of community and that the work I put in is reciprocated, holds space for the arts and inspires other creatives,” she continued.
Even with plenty of terrestrial themes in Noel’s work, she believes her commitment to the craft was written in the stars. “My astrology points to me being an artist. I was born to be an artist,” said Noel, who also practices as a professional astrologer. Clients can get their charts read surrounded by images of idyllic landscapes, snowcapped mountaintops, fanciful sunsets and photorealistic images of local wildlife. “Colorado is the heart and soul of my artwork. I am indigenous to Colorado, and I feel like my physical being has evolved for the climate and landscape. My physical connection is also spiritual and is the foundation for my artistic expression,” she said. More abstract images depicting death, motherhood, colonialism and religion also dot the space. Noel’s skill for visually linking the cosmic, the tangible and the visceral is mirrored by the spiritual shrewdness of her astrological readings.
Her latest display, The Mountain Meditation Series, debuted on July 20 and features multiple mixed-media expressions that Noel hopes will inspire future pieces. “My new series includes three styles, and I hope to choose one that will be painted onto the two 24″ x 30” stainless steel panels that I was gifted by Mai Wyn Schantz, a renowned Denver-based oil painter who has decades of experience creating fine artwork on stainless steel and aluminum,” said Noel. By working over a reflective surface, Noel lets viewers look inward while gazing at elegant expressions of the natural world. While she says that the 18 pieces on display are basically sketches, they’re a subtle departure from her earlier work, and are incredible in their own right. “My signature rainbow palette connects every self-produced art series I’ve made since 2016. Overall, my artwork has a theme of honoring ancestors and an appreciation for the interconnection that we all share, not just as people but with all life on Earth and the universe. While my new Mountain Meditations artwork seems to deviate from my signature rainbow style, I used the same set of oil paints to show how these colors originate in our colorful Colorado landscape,” she continued.
This year will also mark the arrival of Noel’s largest-scale project to date. In September, she and architect Tim Hodsdon will debut the Grand Lake Marquis, a massive archway and entry point to the town’s creative district. The duo has been working on the piece since 2020, when Hodsdon approached Noel, hoping that she could embellish his extant structural elements with her creative vision. Noel chose to depict the Ute Creation Story, and the vision was brought to life by Colorado Creative Industries in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. “I thought about where it was being made, Grand Lake. I had just discovered through my mom doing our ancestry that our ancestors were members of the Ute Nation,” said Noel.
Through her work as an educator, Noel says that she’s assisted thousands of artists along their paths, but she didn’t do it alone. “I would not have this opportunity without the support of my family, teachers, friends, colleagues, artists, students, clients, art buyers, business owners, municipalities, the National Endowment for the Arts, Colorado Creative Industries, nonprofits and everyone else who has supported my artistic journey,” said Noel. It would appear that for Noel, art is not just a two-way street, but a universal throughway.
The Mountain Meditation Series will be on display through the holidays. A special celebration will be held this First Friday, August 1.
Denver Art Society is located at 734 Santa Fe Drive, Denver.
All photos courtesy of Grace Noel and Tania Kaaz.
