Professor
Painting and Drawing
Hartford Art Schoolbalco@hartford.edu 203.804.7007 V 231 catbalco.com
Education
MFA, Painting and Printmaking, Yale School of Art, 2007
BA, Studio Art (Painting), Yale University, 1997
Cat Balco has shown her paintings, murals, and collaborative projects widely. Recent venues include Real Art Ways in Hartford, Conn., The Painting Center in New York, and the University Gallery in Sacramento, Calif. She served as a visiting artist at the Maine College of Art, Swarthmore College, Pratt Institute at the Munson Williams Proctor School of Art, and Yale University, where she is an associate fellow.
Balco has received residencies and awards from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Weird Farm Trust, and the Albers Foundation. In addition, she received several University of Hartford awards related to her teaching, including an Engaged Learning Fellowship, the Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Award, and the 2012 Innovations in Teaching Award.
2017
- Cat Balco, Watch your Step! Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
2014
- The Ellipses Project, Real Art Ways, Hartford, Conn.
2013
- Cat Balco: Recent Paintings, University Gallery, California State University at Sacramento, Sacramento, Calif.
- A Shape Language, Frame 301 Gallery at Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, Mass.
2012
- Untitled, recent paintings by Cat Balco, Secretary of State Denise Merrill’s office, Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford, Conn.
2010
- Tag & Repeat X2, large-scale public wall works through the SAP program, Artspace, New Haven, Conn.
2007
- Cat Balco: Recent Paintings and Drawings, The Olin Gallery at Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, Conn.
2016
- Coffin Grant, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT
- Sabbatical Grant, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT
2012
- Arts Catalyze Placemaking Arts Leadership Grant, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Hartford, Conn.
- Grant, Women’s Education and Leadership Fund, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Conn.
- Grant, Summer Stipend, University of Hartford
- Grant, The Albers Foundation, Financial award given to Artspace to support my project Tag & Repeat x 2
2007
- Helen Winternitz Award for Excellence in Painting, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
2006
Gloucester Landscape Painting Prize, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
Honors
2009
- Named Associate Fellow, Morse College at Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
- Curatorial Projects, Juror positions, and Art Consultantships
2012
- Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Juror
- Connecticut Commission for Culture and Tourism, Juror, reviewed public art proposals for the UCONN School of Nursing, Storrs, Conn.
2011
- Seton Gallery, University of New Haven, Juror
2010
- Mindsets, exhibition of collaborative work by artists and scientists; co-curated with New Haven Arts Council curator Debbie Hesse, Haskins Labs at Yale, New Haven Conn.
- West Hartford Art League, Juror, West Hartford, CT
2008
- Art Consultant, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, Conn.
Teaching Awards
2013
- Innovations in Teaching Award-$500 award recognizing innovations in education awarded for new class: Arts in Healthcare: A Service Learning Initiative
2010
- Belle Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize-$10,000 annual award recognizing one outstanding junior faculty member University of Hartford, West Hartford, Conn.
2009
- Engaged Learning Fellowship - Course reduction fellowship to support the development of an engaged learning program University of Hartford, West Hartford, Conn.