Dante Vena
774-202-3299
kwvena@yahoo.com
www.hatchstreetstudios.com
Hatch Street Studio
88 Hatch St.
3rd Floor
Print-making, etchings, screen printing, watercolors and oils.

My early interest in art stems from my struggle with the English language. I was born in Castrolibero, Cosenza Italy and came with my family to the U.S in 1940 at the age of 9. My teachers encouraged me through my artwork as a means of self expression. Out of this difficult struggle, a lifelong passion for art developed. My interaction with students, teaching and the natural environment continued to inspire me in my own work. Interestingly, I had a 9 year old Italian boy from Naples, Italy visit me at my studio this summer. He is here to learn English, but when the English isn't easy, he turns to art, as I did so many years ago. Art frees an artist in the very moments and process of creating.

Dante Vena obtained his PhD from the University of Ohio in 1976 with undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He has artworks and numerous collections and has won several prizes in national art competitions. He was the former president of the Massachusetts Art Education Association and is listed in the Who's Who in American Art. From 1965-1966 he was a full bright scholar, on exchange to Blackpool England teaching drawing and print making. In 1971, he served as an intern with CEMREL developing circiculum for elementary art teachers. The focus was aesthetic education, which integrates the arts with other academic areas. He has taught Art Education at UMASS Dartmouth since 1972, where he also served as Chair of the department, he is now retired. In 1991, he went to Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia.