Resume — Siena Gillann Porta

SIENA GILLANN PORTA

P.O. Box 46, Palisades, New York 10964
sienaporta@gmail.com

SIENA GILLANN PORTA is a multidisciplinary visual artist who uses contemporary media in both installations and painting with a focus on figuration, martials arts, movement and transformation; expressing accessible emotional resonance.

Porta is a native New Yorker who lives and works in the Hudson Valley.

EDUCATION

• M.F.A. Sculpture, The Pennsylvania State University
• B.S. Studio Art, CUNY at Brooklyn College
• Studio & Forum of Stage Design, NY, NY
• The New School, NY, NY
• School of Visual Arts, NY, NY
• The Art Students League, NY, NY

SOLO INSTALLATIONS AND EXHIBITIONS (selected)

• NOHO M55 Gallery
‍ ‍Showing Up-Acts of Witness, 548 West 28th St., NY, NY 2025

• Noho Gallery, 530 West 25 Street, NY, NY
‍ ‍Paintings; Karateka, 2008-9
‍ ‍Cease to Cherish Opinion, 2005
Just Sitting (shikan taza), 2003

• Galleri Ofeigur, Skolavordustigur 5, Reykjavik, Iceland 2001

• Mid-Hudson Arts & Science Center, Sculpture & Technology Installation, Gallery talk re: spray metal technology, Poughkeepsie, NY 1992

• 14 Sculptors Gallery, 164 Mercer Street, New York, NY
‍ ‍Rabbits Among Us 1990
‍ ‍Nowhere Else 1988
‍ ‍In Situ 1985
‍ ‍Passing Through 1984

• Mari Galleries Ltd. Mamaroneck, NY, (catalog)

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)

Firmament Gallery,”The Art of Assembly” Nimbus Art Center, Jersey City, curator, T. Maneca, juried NYSWA exhib. 2026

Governor’s Island,”Climate Imaginarium-Witness to Change” Building 406A Colonels Row, May- Oct. 2026
• Charles B Sifton Gallery, NYSWA “Reflections on Progress - Courting Challenges” 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY, March-Sept.
• NOHO M55 Gallery, “Members Exhibition”, 548 W. 28Th Street, NY, NY
• Charles B Sifton Gallery, 14 Sculptors: “SHELTER” 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY, May-Oct. 2025
• NOHO M55 Gallery, “Double Exposure”, 548 W. 28Th Street, NY, NY
• CERES Gallery, NYSWA Centennial,”The Time of our Lives”, 547 W. 27th St NY, NY
• The Treasure Room Gallery, The Interchurch Center, NYSWA Centennial “Reflections on Progress”, 475 Riverside Dr., NY, NY
• Belskie Museum,”Anomaly” 14 Sculptors Inc., Closter, NY
• NOHO M55, “My One & Only” Members Show, 548 W. 28th St. NY, NY
• Blue Mountain Gallery, “Read, Write & True”, NYSWA, 548 W. 28th St. NY, NY 2024
• Azarian Mc Cullough Gallery STAC (St Thomas Aquinas College), “FIRE-haiku” Sparkill, NY
• Sculpture for Leonia,”OH SIT…” Station Pkwy + Ft. Lee Road, Leonia, NJ   2024-27
• HvMOCA,The Hudson Valley Museum, Inspiration Art Group International “Address Earth - Art Expo”, Curator Bibiana Huang Matheis 2022
• Inspiration Art International, “Art-Women & Work” virtual exhib.
• Carter Burden Gallery, “Lost & (re) Found,” 548 W. 28th St. NY, NY Artists Circle
• Taller Baricua Gallery,“Evolution/Revolution” 1680 Lexington Ave, NY, NYSWA, and Artist panel May-Sept
• NYSWA virtual exhibition “Women on the Edge of Time”, 2021-2022
• NY Artist’s Circle “Memory”, and “Lost & Found”, , virtual exhib. 2020-2021
• Sculpture for Leonia “Chasing Nature” Station Pkwy + Ft. Lee Road, Leonia, NJ 2021-23
• IONA College -Brother Chapman Gallery,”Female Identity…”., NYSWA 2020
• The Hammond Museum, 14 Sculptors Inc. Outdoor Installations: “Full Bloom” and Artist Talk, Curator Bibiana Huang Matheis 2019
• The Hammond Museum,” “To Sit or not to Sit”, Curator Bibiana Mathias, 14 Sculptors Inc. Outdoor Installations to July to Oct. 2017
• Azarian Mcullough Gallery,”Shelter”, STAC (St. Thomas Aquinas College), Sparkill, NY
• Blue Mountain Gallery, NYSWA, “Balancing Act”, 530 W. 25th St. NY, NY
• One Art Space, Signature Members Exhib, 23 Warren St., NAWA, NY, NY
• The Prince Street Gallery, NYSWA, 530 W. 25th Street, NY, NY 2018
• St Peters Church, “Art as Sanctuary”, NYSWA 619 Lexington Ave. , NY, NY 2017
• The Rockaways, NY, Art in the Parks, (New York City Dept. of Parks and Recreation) “14 Sculptors on the Rock”, competitive proposal 2017
• New York University, Zerilli-Marimo Gallery, 2015, 2017 NY, NY
• The Akin Museum, “Indoor & outdoor Installation 14 Sculptors”, curator Bibiana Mathias, Pawling, NY 2016
• The Banana Factory, ISEA, juried exhib with Outside the Line Collective, Bethlehem, PA 2016
• Amherst College, Hampden Gallery “Head”, Curator D. Lombardi 2015
• Highbridge Park, Manhattan, Art in the Parks, (New York City Dept. of Parks and Recreation) “Sculpture on the Promenade”, 14 Sculptors Inc. 2015
• Manhattanville College, Arthur M. Berger Gallery, “Self & Identity”, Purchase, NY 2013
• Governors Island / 4 Heads, 14 Sculptors Inc. “Portraits” NY 2011
• Ramapo College of NJ, Kresge Gallery, “Continuing Threads …” Curator Sydney Jenkins 2009
• Salem Art Works, Outdoor Sculpture Installation,14 Sculptors Inc. Salem, NY 2007-12
• Noho Gallery, 530 W. 25th St., NY, NY, group shows 2001, 02, 03, 05, 07, 08
• NJCU New Jersey City University; Outdoor group Installation, Visual Arts Building (14 Sculptors Inc.) 2007-12
• Mclevy Park, 14 Sculptors Installation, City of Bridgeport, CT 2004-5
• Rutgers University, “World Paper Challenge” curator Penelope Dell 2003
• Hafnarborg Cultural Museum, Hrafnarfurdor, Iceland 2002
• Snaefellsness Regional Museum, Olafsvik, Iceland 2001-2
• Jacob Riis National Seashore at Ft. Tilden Park, NY “Millennium” 2000-1
• Adelphi University, Gallery exhibition and Outdoor Installation (catalog) 2000 -01
• New Jersey City College, Gallery and Outdoor Installation, “Urban Air Forms” (catalog) and Artist panel
• Nassau Com. College, Firehouse Gallery, “The Raw & the Cooked” Garden City, NY 1998
• Rockland Center for the Arts, “The Studio & the Set”, West Nyack, NY 1997
• Eighth Floor Gallery, “Neo Kinetic Postmodern Techne” 473 Broadway, NY, NY 1996
• Blue Hill Cultural Center, Curator / Exhibitor, “New Metaphors” Pearl River, NY (catalog) 1995
• 14 Sculptors Gallery, “Material Narrative”, 164 Mercer St., NY, NY, Curator Carlos Gutierrez-Solanas 1993-4
• Barbara Gibson Gallery, “I”, Nyack, NY 1992
• Lorraine Kessler Gallery, “Body and Soul”, Poughkeepsie, NY
• Lehigh University, Seigel Gallery, “Columns” curated by Susan Tunick, PA (catalog) 1991
• University of Notre Dame, Isis Gallery, “Sculpture” IN 1990
• 14 Sculptors Gallery, “Cultural Anthropology - Altars & Symbols” curator Ricardo Viera
• 14 Sculptors Gallery, ”Challenging Utopia”, Curator, Jude Schwendenwein
• Seraphim Gallery, Englewood, NJ (2 person show) 1989
• 14 Sculptors Gallery, ”Pipe Dreams”, Curator, Marsha Moss 1989
• U.S. Embassy, American Cultural Center, “Group exhibition” Reykjavik, Iceland 1988
• 14 Sculptors Gallery, “South & North American Sculpture” Curator, Franz Vila
Coordinator/Exhibitor/Catalog design, Siena Porta 1987
• Clove Furnace, NY, Mount Aramah Gallery, “The Art of Rockland & Orange”, Curators, Adele Myers and David Weinrib, (catalog) 1986
• Terraine Gallery, “Small works exhibition” Green St, NY, NY 1984
• BACA Downtown, “Body Memories”, curator Greta Gunderson, Brooklyn, NY 1984
• A.B. Condon Gallery, “New Drawings-dissection”, W. Broadway, NY 1980
• Hopper House Gallery, Juried exhibition, curator Gail Levin, Nyack, NY 1980
• Palisades Interstate Park Commission, Outdoor Installation, Curator, Allan Gussow 1982
• Allied Artists of America, (juried show) NY, NY 1981
• The Women’s Interart Center, West 54th Street, NY, NY (catalog) 1975

REVIEWS, MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS (selected)

• White Hot Magazine - August 2025, Chelsea Exhibition Reviews, NYSWA) by Liam Otero   2025
• YouTube - NYC Gallery Openings “Siena Gillann Porta’s Powerful New Exhibition at NOHO M55, 11/2025
• Art in Conversation with Farrin; Featuring Siena Gillann Porta, YouTube May 2025, produced by NAWA (The National Assoc. of Women Artists) May 2025
• The Time of Our Lives, reviewed by and discussed in Eleanor Heartney’s essay published in the NYSWA Centennial Catalog 2025
• Gallery & Studio Magazine, “Her Fighting Spirit”, featuring Siena Gillann Porta and her solo show at NOHO M55 Gallery, “Showing Up-Acts of Witness”, Essay by Ann Rudder Fall 2025
• The Wave, The Rockaways, NY,”Aseity” Siena Gillann Porta, Review by Anna Spivak May 2017
• Gallery & Studio Magazine
‍ ‍“Materializing the Mental journey of Meditation” by Ed McCormack, 2005 Review
‍ ‍“Temporary Sculpture Park Springs up in Bridgeport” by J. Sanders Eaton, 2005 Review
“Porta’s New Zen Vernacular” by Ed McCormick, 2003 Review
“At Noho….”, by J. Sanders Eaton, 2003 Review
• Newsday, April/LI Ed. “...Exhibit at Adelphi” Review by Oscar Corall 2000
• New York Times, “New Metaphors” Review by Vivian Raynor 1995
• TKR Ch. 30: Aspects of the Arts, “Siena Porta, Sculptor” Producer,Richard Connelly 1991 Media
• International Sculpture Center Conference; Siena Gillann Porta (Subject of Slide Review) Presentation by George Adamy, Washington DC Media
• Spotlight Magazine,” Siena Porta” featured review by Noreen McLaughlin, NJ edition 1986   Publication
• The New York Art Review, American References, Chicago, IL, Les Krantz 1988 Publication
• The Rockland Review, “Like Nowhere Else”, Stony Point, NY 1986 Publication
• The Journal News: “Sculpture for Health Center” 1986 Gannett Publication
• Women Artists News; “Sculpture, Siena Porta” Review by John Arthur Schanks
• 14 Sculptors Gallery; Catalog, “Then and Now” Review by Lawrence Alloway 1983

GRANTS, AWARDS, AND FELLOWSHIPS (selected)

• Artist in Residence Varmahlid Haus, Hveragerthi, Iceland, 2014
• Artist in Residence Varmahlid Haus, Hveragerthi, Iceland, 2010
• Artist in Residence Brisons Veor Trust; Cape Cornwall, England 2003
• Special Opportunity Grant, NYFA New York Foundation for the Arts, 2002
• Travel Grant and Painting Workshop, USIA United States Information Agency Partners of the Americas/Rockland Chapter, St. Lucia, West Indies 1992
• Sculpture Grant-decentalization, NYSCA New York State Council on the Arts, Robert L. Yaeger Health Center Pomona, NY 1986
• Artist in Residence, Vriesland, West Hudson Arts Center, S. Nyack, NY 1980-81
• Federal Artist Grant Rockland Centre for the Arts, NY 1979-80 “Arts Alive”
• Arts Council Grant, Hershey Medical Center, Anatomical Study/Drawings 19778-9
• Full Graduate Fellow & Teaching Assistantship The Pennsylvania State University, 1977-79,
• International Women’s Year Award , Women’s Inter-art Center, NY, NY 1976
• Grebanier Drama Award (Playwright) CUNY City University of New York, NY 1975
• Women’s Interart Center, National traveling slide award, NY, NY 1975

PRESENTATIONS (selected)

• Taller Baricua Gallery, NY, NY “Evolution, Revolution” NYSWA , Artist Panelist 2022
• Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY Artist Panelist, moderated by Monica Church 2019
• Barrett Art Center, Artist Panelist, Poughkeepsie, NY 2018
• Casa Belvedere, Artist Panelist for IAVANET, Staten Island, NY 2013
• Hveragerthi Museum, Artist Presentation, Iceland 2010
• New Canaan High School; Visiting Artist, Fritz Eager Foundation, CT 2007
• New Jersey City University, Artist Panelist, “Speaking to Power” 2008
• Rockaway Artist Alliance, Guest speaker 2001
• Adelphi University, Artist Panelist 2001
• Jersey City State College, Guest speaker 1998
• Bergen Community College, Visiting Artist presentation 1994
• “Me and the Mirror”; Video, Channel 31, VIA Productions, Siena Gillann Porta,
Subject/Scriptwriter, Editors; Dieter Froese and Franz Vila, NY, NY 1990

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS & LOANS

• University of Iceland, Agricultural College of Hveragerdi, Iceland
• City of Hveragerdi, Office of Mayor,Hveragerdi, Iceland
• Hafnarborg Cultural Museum, Hrafnarfurdor, Iceland
• Brisons Veor Trust, Cornwall, England
• Jacob Riis National Park at Ft. Tilden, loan 2000-2023 RAI, Breezy Point, NY
• County of Rockland, Robert L. Yaeger Health Center, Pomona, NY
• Bergen Community College, Paramus, NJ
• American Embassy, Reykjavik, Iceland
• St. Philip R.C. Church, Norwalk, CT
• Fulbright Commission, Reykjavik, Iceland

LISTINGS – ONLINE AND PRINT (selected)

Who’s Who in America, Marquis Inc., Chicago, IL 2003-present
Who’s Who in American Art, R.R. Bowker & Co., NY, NY 1989-present
The New York Art Review, American References, Chicago, IL, Les Krantz 1988 Publication

POSITIONS (selected)

Scenic Artist with United Scenic Artists Local 829, NY, NY 1986 2018
As a charge-scenic, lead scenic and journeyperson, Porta painted and sculpted drops and hard scenery for:

• The Metropolitan Opera
• Broadway theatrical productions
• Feature films
• Independent films
• Netflix
• Amazon
• Network Television

• 14 Sculptors Gallery, President 2021-present
Co-President 2018-2021
• NYSWA, (New York Society of Women Artists) Vice President of Search/Venue 2023 -2026

COLLEGE POSITIONS

• Ramapo College of NJ, Adjunct Professor of Contemporary Art 2001-2012
• STAC-Saint Thomas Aquinas College; Adjunct Professor of Art 2000-2010
• Bergen Community College, Adjunct Professor of Visual Art 1984-85
• Rockland Community College, Lecturer, Sculpture Courses 1985-6
• Dominican College, Lecturer, Drawing Courses 1984-6

CURITORIAL AND WRITING

• Iona College The Brother Chapman Gallery,“Gender Parity & Identity”, written proposal accepted for NYSWA at by Siena Gillann Porta and edited by Diana Freedman-Shea 2019
• Arthur Berger Gallery, Manhattanville College “Self & Identity”, written proposal for 14 Sculptors Inc. accepted to e, Purchase, NY 2013
• Azarian McCullough Gallery; Curator/exhibitor/author, “Planet in Crisis”, St. Thomas Aquinas College, NY 2008
• Noho Gallery; Coordinator for group exhibitions, NY, NY, 2002, 2007
• STAC St,Thomas Aquinas College, Curator/Cordinator student exhibitions 2001-9
• Adelphi University, Catalog statement, Long Island City, NY    2001
• New Jersey City University; Coordinator for outdoor installation, Catalog statement 1998
• Dominican College, Sparkill, NY, Designed and coordinated exhibition for St. Lucia Minister of Culture/Artist, Cedric George   1996
• Blue Hill; Art in Public Spaces, “New Metaphors” Curator/Exhibitor and Catalog Statement Pearl River, NY   1995
• International Sculpture Center, “Spray Metal, An Artist’s Perspective”, Author “Maquette” Journal, Washington D.C. May-June 1994
• 14 Sculptors Gallery, Coordinator of exhibition, Catalog design “South & North American Sculpture”, NY, NY 1987