About

The luminosity of Gretchen Maneval’s paintings are evocative of the Post-Impressionist era, with a touch of Fauvist flair. Gretchen has cultivated a vibrant painterly approach- landscapes dance with light, figures convey a sense of depth and spirit, and interiors vibrate with rich color and form.

Gretchen began oil painting 30 years ago with Theresa Shovlin (formerly McDaniel) at Towson High School’s nationally renowned fine arts program (Class of ’92). While still in high school, Gretchen received the prestigious United States Congressional Award for Creative Merit for a self-portrait that included an original poem, which was exhibited in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. In 1991, Gretchen was selected for the Alex Cooke Memorial Mural Project, and her original mural was installed at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

During her undergraduate education at the University of Virginia (’96), Gretchen was awarded a Fine Arts scholarship and studied painting and drawing with Philip Geiger.  Gretchen received her Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction in the Distinguished Honors major of Political and Social Thought at UVA, and she minored in Urban Planning via graduate level courses at UVA’s School of Architecture.

During the late ‘90’s and early aughts while living in Washington, D.C., Gretchen studied and exhibited at the Washington Studio School, and at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center.

After receiving her Master in City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) School of Architecture and Planning in 2003, Gretchen moved to Brooklyn, New York for 13 years, where she studied in the studio atelier of Andrew Reiss, formerly of the Art Students League of New York.

Gretchen currently studies with Matthew Zoll at Zoll Studio of Fine Art, and resides in Baltimore County, Maryland with her husband and two young boys.