Creative Guts

For this week's bonus episode, Creative Guts is pleased to share this episode of Off the Wall with Matt and Amy from the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, New Hampshire. Off The Wall is a semi-regular series where Matt and Amy chat with a wide variety of visual artists, digging into the nuts and bolts of their creative process to reveal more about the layers of meaning, emotion, and intent behind their work.

In this episode, you’ll hear Denise Manseau discuss "Making Way", an exhibition on view in the Carnegie Gallery until September 4, 2026. The Carnegie Gallery is located in the Rochester Public Library, 65 South Main Street, Rochester, NH 03867. Visit rochestermfa.org to learn more.

Denise Manseau creates paintings that are inventions in response to place—inner landscapes that transform the visible world into tangible form. Her work emerges through a process of discovery, where observation and memory converge to shape environments that feel both familiar and imagined.

Manseau holds a BFA from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has attended the Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine as an Open Studio Resident and was a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center. Paintings developed during her residency in Monasterace, Italy were included in a traveling exhibition at the Monasterace Museo and at Hillyer Art Space for International Artists in Washington, DC.

Learn more about this exhibit at https://www.rochestermfa.org/denise-manseau/.
View her work at www.denisemanseau.com and follow on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ddmanseau/

Any views or opinions expressed by the RMFA hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

Our hearts are still full from our live podcast panel discussion on Women in the Arts from this past Saturday, which was produced by Creative Guts and the New Hampshire Art Association (NHAA).

Surrounded by powerful works in the Sue Werner Thoresen exhibition at the NHAA, panelists Maria Oakley, Catherine Graffam, and Lori Moretti, along with moderator Becky Barsi, got vulnerable. They discussed inspiration, process, visibility, challenge, community, and what needs to change to make the art world more equitable for women and gender-diverse people.

Thank you to our panelists for their openness, and to the folks who attended this engaging event. 💙

The podcast recording of this discussion will be released in late June. Be sure not to miss it by subscribing to Creative Guts wherever you get your podcasts!

Join us for a live podcast recording tomorrow! 🎙🎧

Creative Guts is hosting a live panel discussion at the New Hampshire Art Association (NHAA) with three amazing panelists, Maria Oakley, Lori Moretti, and Catherine Graffam, for a discussion on women in the arts.

Featured in this post is the work of panelist Lori Moretti, a Boston-based figurative painter whose work examines the psychological and relational tensions shaping contemporary life. View more of her work at www.morettipaintings.com.

EVENT DETAILS:

📆 Saturday, May 16th | 2:00pm
📍 Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery | 136 State St, Portsmouth NH
🎟 Tickets required | $20 for NHAA members, $25 for non-members
Seating is limited so reserve your tickets now:

https://www.nhartassociation.org/events/creative-guts-live-panel-podcast-at-nhaa

Creative Guts Chair and co-host Laura Harper Lake enjoyed an invigorating day at the 2026 NH Nonprofit Conference & Expo, hosted by NH Center for Nonprofits. 👏

It was great to see so many amazing nonprofits at this event, including the fine folks from Mosaic Art Collective!

In just over a week, Creative Guts will be hosting a live podcast at the New Hampshire Art Association (NHAA) with three amazing panelists: Maria Oakley, Lori Moretti, and Catherine Graffam! Co-host Becky Barsi will be moderating a discussion on women in the arts, with Co-host Laura Harper Lake recording in the background. 🎙🎧

📆 Saturday, May 16th | 2:00pm
📍 Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery | 136 State St, Portsmouth NH
🎟 Tickets required | $20 for NHAA members, $25 for non-members

Seating is limited so reserve your tickets now:
https://www.nhartassociation.org/events/creative-guts-live-panel-podcast-at-nhaa

Join us for an important discussion, learn about these three artists, and see how a podcast is recorded!