September 26 - November 7

Artist Statement:
These paintings represent a dialogue of a multi-generational artistic bond between a grandmother, mother, and granddaughter.

Roberta O’Neal Salma has been a professional artist for over 60 years. She studied at The Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC and then the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Multiple galleries have represented her and keep an active studio that also serves as an artist community in Burlingame, California. Her work has evolved over the years, and for the past decade, she has primarily created large-scale abstract paintings. The majority of Roberta’s paintings that are represented in this show are a series of tree paintings, Monterey Pines specifically, that are inspired by the time she spends in Carmel.

Lindsey Salma Bruel grew up watching her mother’s artistic practice and spent many of her childhood weekends visiting museums and discussing art with her mother. Lindsey received an MA in Art History and Education from Columbia University and worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Lindsey has always dabbled in making art, but after a summer of making art with her daughter, she plans to spend more time in the studio.

Schuyler O’Neal Bruel, currently a senior at Priory, has made art with her mother and grandmother for as long as she can remember. She has always enjoyed looking at art and knows that every new city she visits with her family will be spent exploring museums and galleries. Until high school, art was a daily practice, but the demands of her classes had made Schuyler pause her practice until this summer. She hopes she will be able to take classes for pleasure in college.

While these paintings and photographs are not necessarily thematically connected, they represent experiences and places the artists traveled to this summer, hence many are small in size. The large portrait was worked on by all three artists and is the great-grandmother of Schuyler, the paternal grandmother of Lindsey, and the mother-in-law of Roberta. Sittie, which means “grandmother” in Arabic, is no longer with us, but she instilled the love of family and identity as a proud Palestinian matriarch. She has been in our thoughts frequently this summer as tragedy and sadness have spread through her homeland.

Together, these three artists offer a layered narrative where the past, present, and future converge to tell a story of legacy, connection, and growth. Their collective journey reminds us of the enduring power of family, memory, and artistic expression.