April 2 – 18, 2026
Opening Reception – Saturday, April 4th, 2 to 4 pm
Deborah Baldizar: UNDER THE SURFACE
First floor gallery
Artist’s Statement: During a Spring 2025 sabbatical, I explored the idea of wild swimming. This is a daily outdoor practice embraced by the brave, regardless of conditions. When necessary, swimmers cut through ice, to plunge into water and engage in the ritual. What came from my investigation was an understanding of swimming as a metaphor of life’s paradox. It can be both healing and harmful. Feels unbearable yet liberating. Ignites fear and builds resilience. My work gives form to the fragments of, often contradictory, emotions sitting just below the surface: those usually hidden. The figures are vessels that reference liminal moments and highlight stages in our lives. My personal experience with swimming is the starting point for the imagery and symbolism in this body of work.
Bio: Deborah Baldizar is an Associate Professor of Art at Lasell University and a professional artist. Her sculpture has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States including the Fuller Craft Museum, Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO and Babson College. She is a member of the Seekonk Artist Network and faculty advisor of Empty Bowls, a grassroots effort to make art and fight hunger. She received faculty research Packard Grants to push her ceramic work to new heights, one in California to study the figure in clay with Tip Toland and the other to study wheel throwing at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. She has been invited to numerous group and solo shows and had her cast paper sculpture included in the book, CAST: Art and Objects, by Jen Townsend and Rene Zettle-Sterling, published by Schiffer. She has delivered artist workshops, talks and received awards for her sculpture. Deborah lives in Seekonk, MA with her husband and two sons.
Lasell University’s ALUMNI SHOWCASE
Second floor gallery
What does resilience look like? This exhibition brings together Alumni artists to explore the many faces of perseverance, from the deep journeys of growth and what it means to endure, adapt, and push forward. Each work offers a unique perspective: some rooted in experience, others in imagination and interpretation. All mediums, all stories. Come see how creativity reflects the idea of bouncing back, staying strong, and keeping going!
Featured Artists: Amelia Capron, Ciarra Chasse, Abby Damke, Lilly Hoeniger, Kaitlyn Johnson, Jamie Kinteris, Chloe Kinteris, Nick Kinteris, Ray Karaczun, Huy Le, Sarah Rudker, Jill Szcesuil, Erin Tilley, Dylan Wilson, Geralson Withrow, and Aaliyah Wyman
Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday, 2 – 5 pm. Exhibitions are free and open to the public.
wedeman gallery 