The Gallery at the Annenberg School of Communication, UPenn, Philadelphia

As the risks associated with climate change grow globally and locally, artists are exploring diverse methods to widen climate communications beyond the written word of scientists and journalists. Risky Beauty: Aesthetics and Climate Change, curated by Dr. Cynthia Haveson Veloric, will showcase artwork in different media that draws in viewers with its sensual beauty, while stimulating awareness and changing perceptions. The exhibition will challenge viewers to consider how their aesthetic experience of nature might change in light of the scientific consensus about the validity of the climate crisis, the known societal forces that hasten environmental degradation, and the impact of climate change in their personal environments. Artists: Diane Burko, Maureen Drdak, Stacy Levy, Dierdre Murphy, Amie Potsic, Hiro Sakaguchi, and Chantal Westby.

Ardens Mundi 1, Inferno 2017 Copper repoussé elements, mineral particle threads, and abraded acrylic on 1.5 inch archival wood panel, 48 inch diameter.

I’m pleased to announce the inclusion of ATMAN 7 in this exhibition—part of (re)FOCUS 2024, Philadelphia Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts. https://refocus2024.org/about

Avery Galleries is pleased to announce our upcoming exhibition The Women of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Past to Present, which opens on March 14th and will be on view through April 14th, 2024. This group exhibition features the work of women artists who studied at PAFA from the 19th century to the present, including Joan Becker, Emily Brown, Mariel Capanna, Deborah Fine, Aubrey Levinthal, Sarah McRae Morton, Elizabeth Osborne, Madeline Peckenpaugh, Mia Rosenthal, and Christina Weaver, among others. This exhibition is also part of the citywide initiative (re)FOCUS: Philadelphia Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts, which recognizes and celebrates the achievements of women artists. Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, March 14th from 5:30 to 8:30pm.

ATMAN 7 will be exhibited at the Main Line Art Center in the Betsy Meyer Memorial Exhibition 20th Anniversary Retrospective in the MLAC galleries from November 10, 2023 through February 17, 2024. The exhibition features the works of over forty artists who were selected to participate in past Betsy Meyer Memorial Exhibitions; Drdak’s work was respresented in the 2007 and 2008 iterations. The works in the 2023 exhibition span over two-decades, transcend traditional mediums, push boundaries and explore a wide-range of themes, and include works presented for the first time at the MLAC galleries, including photography, sculpture, painting, mixed-media, textiles, and more. The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Meyer Family. https://mainlineart.org/exhibition/betsy-meyer-memorial-exhibition-20th-anniversary-retrospective/

April 14 — June 26, 2023, Nurture Nature Center, Easton, PA Curated by Dr. Cynthia Haveson Veloric Exhibiting Artists: Diane Burko, Maureen Drdak, Stacy Levy, Dierdre Murphy, Amie Potsic, Hiro Sakaguchi, and Chantal Westby

JANUARY 5th to 29th. OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, JAN. 15th, 1-5 PM. www.grossmccleaf.com

"POISED AND FORCEFUL," Park Towne Place, Philadelphia. July 6, 2020 – December 6, 2020

Ardens Mundi 2 on exhibition in Downriver in the Multiverse at PAFA’s Alumni Gallery, PAFA Museum, 118 N. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA. Curators; Anna O. Marley, Curator of Historical American Art, Hiro Sakaguchi, PAFA Faculty, and Brittany Webb, Curator of the John Roden Collection.

ARDENS MUNDI 1, INFERNO, 2017, 48 by 1.5 inches, copper repoussé elements, mineral particles and acrylic on archival wood tondo. First in an ongoing series of Burning Worlds addressing the effects of global warming.

“Burning World 3” is selected for exhibition by Art in Embassies curator Sarah Tanguy for inclusion in the Bridging Cultures Through Art exhibition at the US Ambassador’s Residence in Kathmandu, Nepal. The exhibition commences April 24, 2019 and will run the duration of the Ambassador’s term.

Maureen Drdak’s work Inner Perceiver 4 represents PAFA Alumni of the 1970s in Innovation and Vitality: 150 Years of Alumni of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, at Avery Galleries, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Inner Perceiver 4, 2015, abraded acrylic and 23K gold on archival wood panel. 30 x 30 x 1 Inches

Drdak will be presenting on her Fulbright work; “Eternal Visions—Contemporary Forms; Preservation and Viability of Endangered Arts Practices through Twenty-first Century Guru-Shikshya Relationship”

Maureen Drdak will be presenting an individual paper and convening a panel for the “South Asian Studies: Never More Relevant:” South Asian Studies Association Conference 2017. The conference will be held from March 24-26, 2017 at Baur Center, Claremont McKenna College, California. http://sasaonline.net/2017-conference-2/

Drdak’s individual paper; "Eternal Visions—Contemporary Forms; Preservation and Viability of Endangered Arts Practices through Twenty-first Century Guru-Shikshya Relationship" has been accepted for oral presentation at the 2017 South Asian Studies Association (SASA) conference.

Drdak is also convener and moderator of the panel: The Holy Serpent of Asia; Relevance, Reimagining and Revitalization in Cultural Production.
Panelists: Maureen Drdak, Visual Artist and Independent Scholar: “Naga: Cultural Negotiation and Reimagining of a Sacred Signifier.” Dr. Deepak Shimkada, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont Graduate University, Art Historian: “The Naga’s Embrace: Cultural Binding through Function, Valuation, and Relevance.” Youdhistir Maharjan, Visual Artist: “Ananta Shesha; Experiencing the Myth of Eternal Repetition.” Kurchi Dasgupta, Visual Artist, Curator, Writer and Critic: “The Naga in Contemporary South Asian Art.”

"Weeping Banyan 3" is featured by invitation in the fine art component of the 2016 Fulbright Association National Conference in Washington D.C.; the exhibition is located in the Gelman Library of George Washington University. The exhibition runs Nov. 10-Dec. 18, 2016. The work features Drdak's pioneering synthesis of repoussé and painting, for which she was awarded the 2011-2012 Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship to Nepal. Drdak studied with Master Rabindra Shakya, grandson of the famed historic repoussé master Kuber Singh Shakya of Okubahal, Patan, Nepal.