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Artist Biography: Nick Santoleri
Nick Santoleri grew up in a rural area of Chester County, Pa, where he developed a fascination with the landscape and colonial architecture found there. Through his often nostalgic paintings, Santoleri hopes to blend past and present. Best known for his richly detailed and realistic watercolor paintings, Santoleri has broadened his creative vision by expanding both his subject matter and his artistic media. His expansive portfolio includes landscapes, still-life, and portraits in watercolor, oil, acrylic, pencil, and pen and ink.
Santoleri is a member of the Philadelphia Sketch Club and continues to develop his artistic talent with classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The artist’s twenty-five-year career of publishing fine limited edition prints from his original paintings has earned him a national reputation.
Galleries and Collections
Currently, Santoleri’s prints are sold in hundreds of galleries throughout North America and abroad. The self-taught artist has received numerous awards for his work and has been commissioned by corporations, universities, non-profits, and individuals to create unique original artwork. Much of his work has been displayed and sold by well-known galleries and art shows.
Santoleri’s original watercolors and limited edition prints are included in the permanent collections of many corporations, government offices, and educational institutions, including PNC Bank, Astra Zeneca, St. Joseph’s University, LaSalle University, Thomas Jefferson Hospital, Unisys, Double Tree, UPS, DuPont, and Philadelphia City Hall. Many of his paintings and drawings have been displayed and sold by well-known galleries and art shows.
Walden Woods Project
Since 1991, Santoleri has used his limited edition prints to help raise funds for the Walden Woods Project, a conservation effort for the woodlands and pond made famous in Henry David Thoreau’s novel, Walden. To date, Santoleri’s two prints depicting the historic and environmentally sensitive area around Walden Pond have raised in excess of $100,000 for the organization. Don Henley, Grammy Award-Winning recording artist and founder of The Walden Woods Project cosigned these prints, making them especially valuable as collectibles. In 1998, Santoleri was invited to the dedication of the Thoreau Institute in Concord, Mass., where he met President Clinton. To commemorate the event, Santoleri produced an oil portrait of the President which now hangs in the Thoreau Institute.
Other Philanthropic Pursuits
Santoleri has also worked with the Salvation Army, the Ronald McDonald House, and a number of other charitable organizations employing his artwork for fundraising. At the 200th Anniversary of the signing of our nation’s Constitution, Santoleri’s print, We, The People was presented to over a hundred participating foreign and national dignitaries, representing five continents. Additionally, the Valley Forge National Park Preservation Committee selected three of Santoleri’s prints to be sold at that historic site. Finally, Santoleri’s popular Philadelphia prints have been used on the sets of a number of movies and television shows filmed in the Philadelphia area.
Over the years, Nicholas Santoleri has become an internationally recognized artist. Working on the Walden Woods Project, with its reach into the global environmental issues, brought Santoleri’s artwork worldwide attention. A Japanese firm published several of his pieces for exclusive distribution in Japan, and the New York Graphic Society published reproductions of Santoleri’s artwork for international distribution.
Nick Santoleri ~ Artist | Pine Ridge Productions, Inc.
1515 West Chester Pike Unit A-6, West Chester, PA 19382
In Historic Chester County, Pennsylvania
S. Beck OK
