TIME LAPSE is opening on March 19, 2021 at 6:00pm. As a body of work, the paintings form a visual diary, reflecting internal thoughts and dreams, capturing daily landscapes and local surroundings, expressing the isolation and dislocation of life during the global pandemic, and grappling with the larger American political landscape.

One full year and 365 paintings later, this exhibition, TIME LAPSE,  is opening at M A R A Art Studio + Gallery.  During the opening night event, the artist will be live painting piece number 365. The exhibition will run until Friday, April 30, 2021. Sponsored by HalO Arts Project.

“On March 19, 2020, when the Covid-19 global health crisis began, I was laid off from my job. In quarantine, attempting to process the turbulent changing world, I began each day by painting. Posting the images daily became a way for me to share my experience, and connect with others when everyday face to face communication was strangely limited.” - Lisa DiFranza

Lisa’s interdisciplinary arts background is guided by the belief that the arts are essential to build, sustain and grow thriving creative communities. Her theater work spans multiple settings, having served as Artistic Director of The Children’s Theater of Maine, Literary Manager at Portland Stage Company, and as a director of numerous productions in Maine, Chicago, New York and Iowa. As an educator, Lisa taught students in visual and performing arts at Columbia College Chicago, was the Founding Director of The Arts Academy, an innovative public high school arts program in Portland, Maine, and worked for five years on the production faculty of the Juilliard School Drama Division. In Chicago, Lisa created The Living News Project – a three year journalistic theater collaboration about homelessness in Chicago, supported by the City of Chicago, the Illinois Humanities Council and CAN-TV. Lisa has worked as a consultant to successfully guide arts organizations through major transitions. Until last year, she served as Cultural Curator at Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota, Florida. In March 2020, when the Covid-19 global health crisis began, Lisa was laid off from her job. In quarantine, she returned to her artistic roots and started a daily painting project. The images she created are a diary of sorts, reflecting internal thoughts and dreams, daily surroundings, and the larger American political landscape during the pandemic. Lisa is a proud recipient of a 2021 HalO Arts Fellowship.