Nancy L. Penrose
Seattle-based Writer and Editor
Nancy L. Penrose is an award-winning writer whose essays have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. She is the coauthor, with Angela Gregory, of A Dream and a Chisel: Louisiana Sculptor Angela Gregory in Paris, 1925-1928, and, with Khoo Seow Hwa, of Behind the Brushstrokes: Appreciating Chinese Calligraphy. From 1999 to 2014 Penrose served as writer, editor, and communications coordinator for the University of Washington's ocean observatory program.
6 x 9, 248 pages, 25 b&w illus.
ISBN 978-1-61117-977-4 Hardcover, $39.99s
ISBN 978-1-61117-978-1 Ebook, $39.99
Women's Diaries and Letters of the South,
Melissa Walker and Giselle Roberts, series editors
University of South Carolina Press Catalog here.
LOUISIANA PUBLIC BROADCASTING DOCUMENTARY, SEPTEMBER 2022: Angela Gregory: A Legacy Chiseled in Stone.
LETTERS READ PODCAST BY NANCY SHARON COLLINS: Lady Louisiana Artist Angela Gregory
Readings, talks, and signings
MEDIA: Interviews, articles, blog posts
See also: AngelaGregoryArt.com
A Dream and a Chisel: Louisiana Sculptor Angela Gregory in Paris, 1925-1928 by Angela Gregory and Nancy L. Penrose portrays a young artist’s formative years, recounted in her own words.
Angela Gregory (1903–1990) was an internationally recognized American sculptor and a professor and sculptor in residence from 1962 to 1976 at St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans, Louisiana. A graduate of the Newcomb Art School (1925) and Tulane University (1940), she was a fellow of the National Sculpture Society. In 1982 she was inducted as one of France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters).
PRAISE
“The tone is lively, reflective, and candid…Overall, the book paints a vivid picture of Angela Gregory, Antoine Bourdelle and the Paris art world of the 1920s.”—-Alexander Adams, alexanderadamsart.
“It is a brilliant evocation of 1920s life in and around Bourdelle's studio, and a very moving evocation of Angela Gregory's personality." —Amélie Simier, Director, Musée Bourdelle, Paris.
“New Orleans native Angela Gregory’s story of her years in the Paris atelier of a prominent sculptor is a fascinating tale. In forthright language she recounts the challenges she faced as an American and as a woman, shedding light on the rigors and benefits of academic training. Her narrative is peppered with entertaining anecdotes and descriptions of her encounters with such notable figures as her mentor Antoine Bourdelle and his wife, Krishnamurti, and Joseph Campbell, who encouraged Gregory to write about her Parisian experiences.”—Martha R. Severens, Curator, Greenville County Museum of Art 1992–2010.
“This detailed text is a testament to two dynamic women—Nancy Penrose, whose decades-long effort to tell the story of Angela Gregory’s artistic awakening that led to this insightful book, and to Gregory herself, who unabashedly committed to sculpture despite societal expectations.”—Amy Galpin, chief curator, Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum.