KATHLEEN BEAUSOLEIL: MEET AT THE FERRIS WHEEL
EXHIBITION DATES: September 29 – October 24, 2026
RECEPTION: Thursday, October 8, 5 – 8 PM
The Painting Center is pleased to present Meet at the Ferris Wheel, a solo exhibition of new oil paintings by Kathleen Beausoleil in the Main Gallery. Centered on the American town fair, the exhibition of 15 oil paintings that explore how crowds form, how people connect through repeated encounters, and how shared rituals create a sense of belonging. The exhibition will run from September 29 through October 24, 2026, with an opening reception on Thursday, October 8, from 5 to 8 pm.
Beausoleil’s interest in the fair is rooted in her own experience. Growing up in a small New Jersey town, she witnessed countless fairs each summer, where families and friends from neighboring small towns returned to the same places year after year. These gatherings became a ritual of togetherness. Through the simple act of showing up repeatedly, familiar faces reappeared, relationships deepened, and temporary fairgrounds became enduring sites of Community.
Working primarily in oil on canvas and panel, Beausoleil paints the subtle choreography of the crowd: the spaces between figures, recurring gestures, patterns of movement, and invisible relationships that reveal how people organize themselves in public. The exhibition takes its title from the familiar invitation to meet at the Ferris wheel, which becomes a symbol of reunion, anticipation, and shared memory. Rather than documenting the spectacle of the fair, Meet at the Ferris Wheel considers the deeper meaning of gathering. The paintings suggest that belonging is created through repeated presence—by returning to the same places, recognizing one another, and participating in rituals that connect people across towns and generations.
Kathleen Beausoleil received a 2022 Fellowship from the NJ State Council on the Arts. She was a member of The Drawing Center’s Viewing Program and has attended Artist in Residency programs including the Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency, Chalk Hill Artist Residency, Da Vinci Art Alliance Residency, and the Artist *Forests* Community Residency Program sponsored by the Holter Museum of Art and Helena National Forest. Beausoleil’s work is in the permanent collection of The Art Museum of Missoula and private collections throughout the United States. She taught at the SUNY Empire State’s Studio Semester program. She received her BFA Cum Laude at Syracuse University. Beausoleil is a resident of Fair Haven, New Jersey.
For more information on the artist, visit: www.kathleenbeausoleil.com and @kathleenbeausoleil.
