Chantal Westby

We are delighted to announce that interest in our opening is exceptionally strong. Guests anticipating attendance are encouraged to reserve their place in advance. Reservations may be made at:

🎉 Opening Reception & Summer Solstice Family Day
Sunday, June 28 | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 The Frances M. Maguire Art Museum
Saint Joseph's University
50 Lapsley Lane
Merion, PA 19066
I hope you'll join me for the opening celebration and experience this inspiring exhibition that honors the heartbeat of Philadelphia through the eyes of its artists.
https://www.sju.edu/maguire-art-museum/Art Calls & Events

ANNOUNCEMENT
Come join us for the opening and witness her monumental cityscape of Philadelphia—THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE—selected as a signature artwork for our 250th anniversary celebration.

Standing more than 20 feet wide, this sweeping vision of Philadelphia anchors the with a presence that is both intimate and immense. It invites viewers into a moment suspended between past and future, echoing the spirit of a city that has always rebuilt, reimagined, and risen again.
Artist Statement: Dawn of New World .

Created in the stillness of 2020, Dawn of New World emerged from a Philadelphia held between fear and possibility. Across its expansive 83-by-250-inch horizon, color becomes a language of hope—a sky shifting from darkness into light, its vertical drips recalling rainfall, memory, and the quiet tears of an uncertain time.

The silhouetted cityscape grounds the piece in our shared human experience: isolated yet connected, vulnerable yet resilient. Through layered pigments, minerals, and silver leaf, the work captures the emotional tension of that moment—the longing for connection, the fragility we carried, and the courage it took to imagine a new beginning.
This painting invites viewers to stand at the threshold of transformation and to feel, even for a breath, the promise of a new dawn.

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Museum Spotlight Announcement
June 20-August 2, 2026: beneath this historic roof, I step into the light to honor 250 years of wonder.
In this moment, surrounded by centuries of stories, I make my presence known.
For 250 years the museum has spoken; I add my voice to its enduring chorus.
Thanks; I am very deeply touched.
More to follow See less

Here are my paintings, carrying a message close to my heart.
I am celebrating World Ocean Week by sharing my art honoring the unsung heroes of the ocean. 🌊

While much of the world looks elsewhere, last year in Nice, a crucial summit unfolds. The stakes? Nothing less than the future of our oceans.
Fishing, warming, preservation, the challenges are enormous. The oceans make life possible, yet they are reaching their limits:
• Absorbing 25% of our CO₂ emissions
• Generating 50% of the oxygen we breathe
• Regulating our climate, mitigating extremes, storing heat
• Home to a unique biodiversity—now threatened at high speed
But they are saturating. Acidification, overfishing, plastic pollution, rapid warming, the warning signs are everywhere.
At this summit, leaders must act:
✔️ Protect 30% of the oceans by 2030
✔️ Regulate the high seas, today almost a lawless zone
✔️ Fight against deep-sea mining
✔️ Establish real financing mechanisms

Without healthy oceans, there is no balance.
Through my art, I amplify this message. My paintings reflect the silent distress signals of our planet, the warming waters, the vanishing biodiversity, and the SOS of a world in crisis.
As negotiations unfold—with outcomes we can only hope for, let’s poetically remind the world that the ocean’s call grows louder.
It is time to listen, and to act.

It's surely our responsibility to do everything within our power
Two paintings from my collection and my book
THE OCEAN, THE EARTH, SPACE, AND HUMANITY

As welcomes the world for ,
Guests are invited to explore the ’s and creative environment.
Appointments may be scheduled via my website, www.chantalwestby.com
or by contacting + 1 (610) 613-9619


Lénaïc Mercier - Multimedia Artist

A hymn for the deep and a call for laws that protect the from warfare, , and collapse.

My Artist’s Statement Addendum: , , and the

The current confrontation in the Middle East including Iran’s targeting of commercial vessels, has exposed a terrifying truth about our global dependence on . More than 400 fuel‑laden ships and an estimated 2,000 sailors have been stranded or rerouted across dangerous waters, according to multiple . Many crews have been pushed to the edge: running low on food and water, cut off from their for months, and forced into a conflict they never chose.
These are workers trapped in a struggle created by poor negotiation, escalating retaliation, and an system built on and vulnerability.
This is not only a crisis.

It is a new kind of war, a .
Every tanker becomes a target.
Every sailor becomes collateral.
Every ocean becomes a .

And when a fuel carrier is struck, the ocean absorbs the wound.
, already suffering from , , , and -seamining, cannot endure another era of -fuel warfare. A single damaged can release more pollution than entire nations do in a year. The ocean cannot keep paying the price for our dependence.

We all know this.
We all agree.
The must change.
The ocean must be .

Definitely finished, nothing else to say!
Tectonic Hymn
Size: 15" x 60" x 10 panels
Medium: Ink/Minerals and Varnish on canvas
Tectonic Hymn emerges from my deep concern for the unseen worlds beneath us, those vast, fragile that live in the bottommost layers of our .

As I painted, I kept returning to the tension between wonder and extraction. The dark, mineral form suspended above the luminous became, for me, both a and a warning. Its golden flecks echo the rare elements now sought through -seamining, a practice that promises minerals for yet risks irreversible harm to life we barely understand.

My research into deep-sea mining has been both inspiring and unsettling. The is clear: extracting cobalt, nickel, and other critical minerals from the ocean floor could disrupt ancient habitats, stir toxic sediment plumes, and silence that have evolved over millions of years. These abyssal plains are not empty; they are living archives of our ’s memory. Painting them felt like listening to something sacred.

With “ Hymn,” I wanted to honor that silence, that pressure, that slow breath. This work is my way of asking us to pause before we mine what we cannot replace. It is a hymn for the deep, a gesture of reverence for the that thrives in , and a reminder that our
above and below are bound to the same precious .

Picture by Dr. George Westby.
Website: https://www.chantalwestby.com/paintings...

Reflections on our Endangered Environment
Philadelphia Ethical Society
Thursday, May 21 • 5:30–7:30 PM

Honored to join Reflections on our Endangered Environment, an exhibition supporting the Clean Air Council’s essential work for clean air and healthy communities. At a moment when environmental protections face real pressure, staying engaged and united matters more than ever.

Tickets are available now.
https://www.eventbrite.com/.../reflections-on-our...

Alongside remarkable Philadelphia artists, I’m donating my work to help raise funds for this vital mission. Deep thanks to curator Cynthia Haveson Veloric, PhD, for her vision and dedication.
Art can awaken responsibility. Art can move people to act.
Proud to be part of this collective effort.

Painting: Ink and gold on canvas 36 inches x 48 inches

Meet the artists:
Nancy Agatii • Diane Burko • Julia Clift • Talia Greene • Yvonne Love • Deirdre Murphy • Amie Potsic • Rebecca Rutstein • Hiro Sakaguchi • Simone Spicer • Cindy Stockton Moore • Chantal Westby See less

I couldn’t resist sharing this small but powerful clip.
In just a few seconds, it reminds us how urgently we need to care for our its wildlife, its , its fragile . It’s a gentle call to remember that we are not separate from . We belong to it. Every species has a purpose. Nothing is accidental. Everything is part of one i , living that depends on our .

But I also want to acknowledge something important.
This video was generated with AI a tool that, while extraordinary, comes with a real environmental cost. AI requires enormous amounts of and, increasingly, vast quantities of clean for cooling and . At a time when scarcity is becoming one of the defining challenges of our century, this contradiction is impossible to ignore.

So I share this clip with mixed feelings: admiration for its emotional clarity and concern for the hidden behind its creation.

It raises a deeper question for all of us:
How do we use responsibly without letting it replace the human effort, creativity, and care that true change requires?
Sometimes the simplest stories carry the most important , but the way we tell them matters too.

What are your thoughts? How do you stay mindful of your role in the ecosystem, especially in a world where even our digital tools consume the planet’s resources?

Evora Adventure Kids 1 like. "Big Hands Save a Tiny World . ​​ "