About the Artist

Artist Statement – Cara Lawson-Ball

In recent years, my work has shifted from a longstanding focus on the female form to a broader exploration of landscape, memory, and belonging. My abstracted oil and cold wax paintings are rooted in these slow journeys through the natural world. Fleeting color impressions—seen in swipes of sky, field and water—become meditative layers of texture and light. Each piece distills memory into form – an invitation to pause, reflect, and reconnect.

Where my paintings bring the quiet space of reflection, my sculptures inhabit the shared space of connection. These pieces are less about individual identity and more about shared experience—places of refuge, strength, and inclusion.

My influences are diverse and ongoing. The ephemeral installations of Andy Goldsworthy, the simplicity of Max Leiva’s figures, and the honesty of poets like Victoria Erickson and Gwendolyn Smith Patterson all feed my practice in unexpected ways.

Ultimately, I want to create work that speaks to the quiet, powerful places—within us and in community—where we feel most present and most human.

Artist Bio - 

Michigan artist Cara Lawson-Ball creates bronze sculpture and multimedia paintings inspired by her deep appreciation of the Great Lakes region and its inhabitants. Through the use of imagined line, strong color, and layered abstraction, her work invites viewers to linger in the wild places—both in the landscape and within ourselves.

Cara’s abstracted oil and cold wax paintings emerge from quiet, immersive experiences of hiking and canoeing in the northern United States. These works reflect a meditative connection to nature, where fleeting impressions of light and form become layered memory on Birch panels. Her bronze sculptures, by contrast, often focus on the theme of human connection, with a particular emphasis on community and inclusion.

For decades, Cara explored both the female form and native animals in her work, but her current practice reaches more broadly—toward inner landscapes, shared experience, and the restorative power of belonging.

Her award-winning work is included in private, public, and institutional collections throughout the U.S. and Canada, with commissions in numerous state, local, and private spaces. Cara earned a BFA in Sculpture from Indiana University, with additional study through the Oxbow School of Art affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist CV -

Selected exhibitions and collections highlight a career dedicated to exploring connection through material and place

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2025 – Cocktails & Company, Buchanan, MI
• 2025 – Landscapes & Cocktails, Plymouth, IN
• 2023 – Abstracted Observations, Buchanan, MI

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2026 - Around the Bend 2026, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN

https://southbendart.org/around-the-bend-2026/

• 2026 – Michiana Area Artists Competition, The Box Factory, St. Joseph, MI

https://boxfactoryforthearts.org/maac/

• 2026 – Honeywell Fine Art Competition, Honeywell Arts & Entertainment, Wabash, IN

• 2026 – Indiana Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Roti Roti Art Center, Buchanan, MI
• 2026 – Northern Indiana Artists, 1^st Unitarian, South Bend, IN
• 2026 – Artlink Midwest Regional 2026, Ft. Wayne, IN

https://www.artlinkfw.org/2026-midwest-regional

• 2025 - Midwest Museum of American Art 47^th Annual Juried, Elkhart, IN
• 2025 - Northern Indiana Artists, Fernwood Botanical Gardens, Niles, MI

https://www.artlinkfw.org/2026-midwest-regional

• 2025 – Indiana Women’s Caucus for Art, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN

https://www.southbendart.org/hear-our-voices-recent-work-from-the-indiana-womens-caucus-for-art/

• 2025 – South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI

https://www.southhavenarts.org/pastexhibitions2025

• 2025 – Northern Indiana Artists, 1^st Unitarian, South Bend, IN
• 2025 – Indiana Women’s Caucus for Art, St. Mary’s Moreau Gallery
• 2024 – Roti Roti Art Center, NIA Members Show, Buchanan, MI
• 2024 – South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI
• 2024 – South Bend Museum of Art, Around the Bend, South Bend, IN

https://www.southbendart.org/around-the-bend-2024/

• 2023 – Roti Roti Art Center Members Show, Buchanan, MI
• 2023 – Crooked Tree Arts Center Guild Member Salon Show, MI
• 2021 – Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN
• 2019 – Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN
• 2014 – Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN
• 2013 – St. Mary’s University, Notre Dame, IN
• 2012 – Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN
• 2011 – Wellfield Botanic Gardens, Founders Dinner Exhibition, IN
• 2003 – Lafayette Zoo Exhibition, IN
• 2003 – Colfax Cultural Center, South Bend, IN
• 2002 – Get Into Nature, Bremen, IN
• 1999 – Cantigny Sculpture Show, Chicago, IL

Awards and Honors

• 2026 - 2026 Honeywell Annual Fine Art Competion, — Judge’s Award
• 2025 – 47th Annual Juried Midwest Museum of Art, Elkhart, IN- Purchase Award.  

 https://www.midwestmuseum.org/47th-elkhart-juried-regional

• 2025 – Northern Indiana Artists, Heartland Gallery, Plymouth, IN - Judge’s Award

• 2025 – Northern Indiana Artists, Heartland Gallery, Plymouth, IN - Judge’s Award
• 2024 – Heartland Art Galleries, NIA Members Show, Plymouth, IN – Judge’s Award
• 2023 – Heartland Annual Juried Regional Art Exhibition, Plymouth, IN – Purchase Award

 https://www.heartlandartgallery.com/35th-annual-juried-regional-art-exhibition/

• 2022 – Cass County Artists Exhibition – 1st Place

• 2019 – Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project, Published, New York, NY 

• 2018 – Light Space & Time International Art Competition – 1st Place, Sculpture

https://www.lightspacetime.art/the-gallerys-top-twenty-five-3d-artists-to-watch/

 Selected Public Commissions

• Riverbridge Park, North Manchester, IN
• Wellfield Botanic Gardens, Elkhart, IN
• Wildlife Prairie State Park, Peoria, IL
• New Carlisle Landscape Project, New Carlisle, OH

Collections

• Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN
• Starved Rock State Park, Utica, IL
• Private collections in CA, HI, IL, IN, MI, OH, OR, and Canada

Education

• Indiana University South Bend – BFA in Sculpture, 1999
• Oxbow School of Art, affiliated with SAIC – Metalworking, 1997
• St. Mary’s University, Notre Dame, IN – Business, 2013

Selected Publications & Reviews

• Sculpture Review
• Country Lines Journal
• Journal Star – “Sculpture Garden”
• National Public Radio – “Sculpture Unveiling”

Memberships

• Roti Roti Art Center, Buchanan, MI
• Northern Indiana Artists Association
• South Haven Center for the Arts, MI
• Women’s Caucus for Art – National, Indiana Chapters
• Wellfield Botanical Gardens, IN

“If one of my works speaks to you, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me directly at [email protected]”