![Helen O'Leary](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/directoryImages/_480x480_crop_center-center_80_none/helen-o-leary-photo-1164.jpg)
Biography
Helen O’ Leary was born in Wexford, Ireland. She attended NCAD and earned a BFA and MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL. She has been honored with the Rome Prize American Academy in Rome, Hennessy Purchase Award, IMMA, Dublin, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship; two Pollock-Krasner awards; the Joan Mitchell Award for painting and sculpture; and several grants from the Arts Council. She has attended many residencies, including the Culturel Irlandaise, France; the Sam and Adele Golden Residency, NY; Mac Dowell, NY; Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, ME; and Yaddo, NY. Exhibitions include the American Academy of Arts and Letters, NY; The MAC Belfast, Ireland; National Gallery of Art, Ireland; Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, Lesley Heller Gallery, NY; Galerie le Petit Port, Ireland; the Contemporary Arts Centre, Australia; Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, IL; Kerlin Gallery, Ireland; and Fenderesky Gallery, Ireland. She currently is a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. She lives in Jersey City, NJ, State College, PA, and Leitrim, Ireland.
Collected Works
![Helen oleary material 26624 2](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-material-26624-2.jpg)
![Abstract mixed media art installation.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/8.The-Mac-Belfast-2016_300dpi-scaled_2023-07-28-204453_criq.jpg)
![Home is a Foreign Country](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/14.Home-is-a-foreign-Country-2018_300dpi-scaled_2023-07-28-204238_fvki.jpg)
![Helen oleary sticks 06](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sticks-06.jpg)
![Helen oleary sculptures 098](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-098.jpg)
![Helen oleary sova](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sova.jpg)
![Helen oleary sculptures 141](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-141.jpg)
![Helen oleary sculptures 101](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-101.jpg)
![Helen oleary sculptures 102](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-102.jpg)
![Helen oleary sculptures 45](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-45.jpg)
![Helen oleary sculptures 16](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-16.jpg)
![Helen oleary pigment made diy](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-pigment-made-diy.jpg)
![Helen oleary fader studio](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-fader-studio-eva.jpg)
![Helen oleary 2016](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-2016.jpg)
![Helen O'leary 001a5393a](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-001a5393a.jpg)
![Helen O'Leary Sculpture](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/helen-oleary-sculptures-120.jpg)
![Abstract mixed media structure.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/2.Irish-Museum-of-Art-back-2012-15_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
![Abstract mixed media structure consisting of dowels and fragmented pieces of wood.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/4Safe-House-Rome-2019_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
![Abstract multi-colored mixed media art installation consisted of many fragmented pieces of wood.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/5.001A5155_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
![Mixed media wall installation of four abstract folded panels in pink, olive green, brown, and red.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/7.The-Mac-Belfast-2016_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
![Mixed media art installation comprised of many pieces of wood fragments.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/10.The-Mac-Belfast-2016-detail-back_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
![Wall mounted abstract art made of constructed wood.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/12.Delicate-negotiations-2014_300dpi-scaled.jpg)
![White abstract wall art installation made of clay on constructed wood.](https://arts.psu.edu/assets/uploads/work/_860xAUTO_fit_center-center_80_none/13.efficiency-of-love-tif-_300dpi-scaled.jpg)