New Member Profile: A Colorful Affair

A Unique Artistic Partnership - Nancy Katz and Mark Liebowitz

(12/15/09) Nancy Katz grew up in Worcester, and spent twenty five years in California. She moved back east to be close to her parents. Katz has been painting on silk for fifteen years, creating her own work

as well as leading groups in both community and corporate settings. "People think they can't do art", she says,  "They think that being an artist is some kind of mystery." Katz strives to take the mystery out of it, and get people to experience art as play. An example of her work is a residency that she will be doing at the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia in February, facilitating community art experiences to get people involved in creativity.

Mark Liebowitz is from New Jersey. He encountered stained glass as an art history major, fell in love with it at first sight, and decided to learn how to make it. He's had a successful career as a creator and restorer of stained glass for churches and synagogues.

The couple met at a biennial conference of synagogues where they were both showing their work, and began to work together on a major project for a Conservative congregation. The synergy between their visions was immediately obvious. "Joyful Spirituality", they both feel, is the true heart of religious life. Katz says that the 8' x 75'  piece was her Phd in stained glass. To work on it, they rented space in Shelburne Falls near the potholes, and spent the next year and a half on design and execution. As the project wound down, the couple became dissatisfied with the original space and found the new home of A Colorful Affair on State Street. Moving to the new studio has changed everything for them. They now have room for both of them to work harmoniously in the same space, and to achieve their goal of becoming more engaged with the Shelburne Falls community. While the studio is not a retail shop, it is open to the public and they get lots of visitors. The motto of the new space is "Art-Color-Joy".

Katz and Liebowitz were married in Charlemont in June of 2009. Naturally, they expressed their creativity at the wedding, doing "lots of playful stuff". In honor of their marriage, they will design and create a new stained glass window for over the transom of Memorial Hall, as a gift to their new home.

Please visit the Colorful Affair Website for a look at their work!

A Colorful Affair
28 State Street
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

413-824-2521