About the Artist
Therese LaChance Ely
Art from a Hiker's Heart
Therese LaChance Ely
www.thereseely.com
Therese Ely is an award-winning artist living in Kalispell, Montana. She works in traditional oil paint, drawing on the area’s exciting variety to create plein air and studio pieces. Therese began painting in childhood, taking both private and school enrichment art classes. University work earned her a degree in biology and chemistry. After leaving a career in chemistry to raise three children, Therese resumed her passion for artwork through focused painting workshops taught by master artists. Those retreats introduced her to the challenges and delight of plein air panting.
Therese has been involved in the art community at many levels. She taught small groups of teen and pre-teen art classes in a private studio for twenty years. A volunteer in the Fremont (CA) Art Association, Therese served two years as its president, and chaired several art exhibits and juried shows. She was frequently a guest speaker for art clubs around the surrounding counties, sharing insights to safe handling art materials as well as plein air painting.
She and her spouse are semi- retired in northwest Montana, where Therese quickly became involved in the local art community. She proudly shows work at Phillips Gallery in Kalispell. It is an honor to have work in exhibits hosted by Kalispell’s Hockaday Museum.
Exhibitions
Flathead River Land Trust, “Paint the River” exhibit and auction to fund river conservation easements 2022
Hockaday Museum, Kalispell, MT 2020 Salon Exhibit First Place, Peoples’ Choice Award
Waterworks Museum, Miles City, Montana annual auction fundraiser 2021, 2022
Summer (Honorable Mention) 2015 and Winter Salon 2015-2020 Shows, Hockaday Museum
Hockaday Museum 2017-2023 Glacier Plein Air Paint-out juried participant
SCAL California Statewide Landscape Exhibition, 2012, 2014 (juror David Leffel)
Oil Painters of America, “Surfbreak 2009 Western Regional Exhibit Kirkland WA (juror Jeffrey Watts)
“Waterworks” Single-artist show; Mission Coffees, Fremont, CA, November 2010; Sierra-Scapes and Beyond” November 2007
“Art from a Hiker’s Heart” Solo exhibit of paintings inspired by Sierra, Cascade, and New Mexico backcountry hikes; City of Milpitas, CA Phantom Art Gallery, 2007
“While a Volcano Sleeps” Solo exhibit of works from Lassen Volcanic National Park; Fremont Art Association Gallery, 2002
Annual Open Art Show, Fremont Art Association, 1993 through 2013
Awards, Honors, and Publications
Room to Breathe; the Wild Heart of the San Francisco Peninsula Berkeley, CA; Heyday Publishers, 2012 work selected for inclusion this coffee-table book.
PaintAmerica Foundation, “Late Light Dingley Creek” chosen top 200 Mini Exhibit Paint the Parks 2010 (online)
PaintAmerica Foundation, “While a Volcano Sleeps” chosen top 200 Paint the Parks, 2009 (online)
Fremont Art Association Open Juried Show Silver Medal oils, 2008, 2009, 2011
Artist of the Year, Fremont Art Association, 1997, 2003
Filoli Estate, Woodside, CA 4th Annual Show Honorable Mention 2001
Pleasanton Art League Honorable Mention 1999; San Leandro Festival of the Arts Honorable Mention 1997
