Fran studied art and sociology as an undergraduate at Brandeis University and then received an MSW, working for several years with heroin addicts. Discovering that she could indeed earn a living in the arts, she entered Boston University’s School of Fine Arts where, specializing in photography and graphic design, she received her MFA. 

She has held a succession of positions in the field of illustration and design: branding, print, and signage for corporate, arts, and retail establishments; CD-roms for books, museum installations, sales and training; book cover illustrations; animations, multimedia, and web designs. Additionally, she was Senior Designer with AOL Time Warner, where she was designer of the preeminent web site devoted to African American culture and where she produced photo illustrations for the daily editorial content.

Between professional life and raising two daughters, Fran continued to create her personal art, combining her illustrative and photographic skills with a passion for surrealism, paradox, illusion, assemblage, and the dislocations of time and place.

Fran is a Visiting Scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. She is also a recipient of grants from the Sassower, the Tyre, and the Pufflin Foundations, for 2006, 2007. and 2008.

She has won numerous awards and prizes; most recently she won 1st and 2nd place in the Fine Arts sub-category for Px3 Prix de la Photographie (2008 and 2007 respectively); she was a fourth place winner in the Adobe sponsored Photoworkshop.com; and she was a finalist for an Ultimate eye Foundation grant. And at the International Photo Awards 2008, she won 2nd place for Collage and Honorable Mention for Digitally Enhanced.

Her work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Education:

Boston University MFA

Simmons College MSW

Brandeis University BA

Visiting Scholar, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University

Honors and Awards:

2008

Prix de la Photographie Paris 2008 - First Place, Fine Art category

Prix de la Photographie Paris 2008 - Peoples’ Choice, 2nd Place, Fine Art category

Common Ground Touring Collection

Ultimate Eye Foundation, Finalist

International Photo Award - 2nd Place, Fine Art - collage

International Photo Award - Honorable Mention, Fine Art - digitally enhanced

2007

PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris -2nd prize in Fine Art category - Winner

Photoworkshop.com (5th annual digital imaging competition, Adobe) - Winner

Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA - Color Photography - First Place

Women’s Caucus for Art - Featured Member

Zingology.com - Featured Artist

Featured Artist- AreaofDesign.com

2006

Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA - Best in Show

Malden Muse Gallery - Top Three Artists

Concord Art Association, Concord, MA - Members Prize

Attleboro Art Museum, Attleboro, MA - Juror’s Choice Award

Los Angeles Center for Digital Art - Top 40

Recent Grants:

Sassower Foundation - 2008

Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University – 2007

Puffin Foundation – 2007 - 2008

Selected Exhibitions (Juried, Group, and Solo):

23Sandy Gallery – Solo show ,  Portland, OR (2008)

American Photography 24 -ai-ap disTRIBUTE gallery  (2008)

Newton Free Library – Solo show ,  Newton, MA (2008)

Bromfield Gallery, “A Woman’s Place”, Boston, MA (2008)

Shaw Gallery, Bar Harbor, Maine (2008)

Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA (2008)

Project Basho (Juror: Andrea Modica) Philadelphia, PA (2008)

James Pierce Gallery - Solo show,  Baltimore, MD (2008)

Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA (2008)

Left Bank Gallery , Wellfleet, MA (2007, 2008)

Mt. Ida College, (Juried competition) Newton, MA (2008)

Wellfleet Public Library - Solo show. Wellfleet, MA (2007)

Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University (2007)

Danforth Museum of Art (Juried competition), MA (2007)

Attleboro Art Museum (Juried national competition) Attleboro, MA (2007)

Stonover Farm Gallery, Lenox, MA (2007)

Upstairs Gallery, Tryon, NC (2007)

Women’s Caucus for Art, New York (2007)

Harper College (Juried national competition) Illinois (2007)

Arsenal Center for the Arts (Juried competition), MA (2007)

The Pen and Brush (Juried international photography competitions) New York, NY (2006, 2007)

Attleboro Art Museum (Juried national competition) Attleboro, MA (2006)

Watermark 2006 (Juried international competition) North Carolina (2006)

Energy Gallery – Freestyle 2d (Juried international competition), Toronto (2006)

Red Dot Fine Art Gallery (Juried competition) Santa Fe, New Mexico (2006)

Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (Top 40 international competition) Los Angeles, CA (Spring 2006)

Caladan Gallery (Juried competition) Beverly, MA (2006)

Dangenart  Gallery (Juried international competition) Nashville, TN (2006)

Women’s Caucus for Art (Juried competition) Boston (2006)

Bunker Hill Community College (Juried competition) Charlestown, MA (2006)

Northwest Art Center (Juried competition), Minot State University, North Dakota (2006)

Concord Art Association (Juror: Howard Yezerski) (Fall 2006)

Belmont Gallery of Art, - Solo show, Belmont, MA (June 2006)

The Gallery at Concord Library – Two person show , Concord, MA (October 2006)

Iona Gallery - Solo show, Provincetown, MA (July 2006)

BB&N Gallery, Cambridge, MA (2005)

Illustrations / Publications:

Orion Magazine  (Orion Society, Fall 2007) -- illustrations

Cover, Return to Warden’s Grove (Univ. of Iowa Press, 2008)

Calyx, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women  (2008)

The Rambler (2008) - illustration

Wonderland (Denmark) 2007 - illustration

Cover, Canadian Women’s Studies Journal (2007)

Panamowa New Lit Order (2007)

Cover, Motherhood Theories (Demeter Press, 2007)

Cover, Grassroots Spirituality (Imprint Academic, 2004)

Cover, Mysticism, Mind, and Consciousness (State University of New York Press, 1999)

Cover, Calendar Magazine, Boston Globe, 1977

Cover, Middlesex Beat (2006)

• 1990 – 2000: Illustration and Design – Major Titles:

   “A Jack Kerouac Romnibus” (Penguin Putnam, NY, NY) – CD-Rom and electronic book

   “Becoming Americans” (Strawberry Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH) – CD-Rom and museum installation

   “His Name was Lincoln”, published by Sunburst Communications – CD-Rom and textbook

    Musicians Toolbox II, Cakewalk Audio – CD-Rom, MIDI software

    The Art of Business Ensembles (Advance/Micromentor, Cambridge, MA) – CD-Rom and business training

Press Coverage:

The Boston Globe, Sidekick - Cover - August 2008

Middlesex Beat, July 2006 – Cover and feature story

Duxbury Reporter, February 2006

The Worcester Phoenix, October 27, 1995

Boston Sunday Globe, October 8, 1995

Brandeis Review: Beats and Bytes Fall 1994

Brandeis Review: Banners 2000

Art New England: Art and Technology  1995

The Sun (Lowell, MA) 1995

Presentations and Teaching:

NewTV, Of Books and Beyond, 2008

Digital Workstop, San Francisco, 2008

Griffin Museum of Photography, 2008

Danforth Museum, 2007

Salon of the Arts, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, 2007

Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA (Digital imaging 2005, 2007)

Harvard University, Carpenter Center, Department of Visual and Environmental Studies,

Digital and multimedia  (Teaching assistant, 1994 -1996)

Private tutoring in digital imaging (on-going)

Griffin Museum  of Photography, Winchester, MA 

Newton Free Library, Newton, MA  

Resume

In Camera and In Photoshop, with Karin Rosenthal