Found Art and Activism
Jeanne O’Melia is a found object artist with a long history of creating beauty from found or discarded items. She received her first tools at age 10 and has been creating ever since. She studied art at Iowa State and fell in love with watercolors for their inherent spontaneity and portability.
During the first Gulf War, she assembled metal scraps found on her bike rides and welded her first metal sculpture, titled, “Undeclared War Kills.” Later, Jeanne started incorporating items found along side the road to her sculptures. As an environmentalist and activist, Jeanne’s work calls attention to how we treat the earth, cleaning up and restoring her to her natural beauty.