Soon after being born in Yonkers NY in 1963, Lori Schafer relocated to farm country in Upstate New York while still in diapers.
Surrounded by a menagerie of farm animals, her love of them continued to grow and eventually found this love running alongside her love of creating art. A few decades later she founded WalkingWoolStudio — a name chosen because her love of sheep transcended all other animals, save for dogs. She spends the majority of her time working with a wide range of mixed media and techniques, creating photographs, drawings, transforming fleece into fiber art, and designing jewelry. She is deeply interested in celebrating the unique qualities of the animals, vegetables, and minerals that catch her eye.
A longtime artist, Lori Schafer has worked at iconic NYC art museums and galleries. She is a dedicated vegetarian, and has spent many years creatively absorbed with the fruits of her existence. Large scale vegetable drawings were inspired by her involvement with one of NYS’s pioneering CSA farms.
She has a BA Cum Laude from St Lawrence University, and four years of art history studies at CUNY Graduate Center. Since 2013, she has lived in Rockland ME with her husband Jeffrey Wolff, an artist and award-winning writer.
Solo Exhibitions
2015 Primo Restaurant, Home Grown Artist Series, Rockland ME
2009 Wearhouse Gallery, Great Barrington MA
2005 The Gallery at West New Cinema, West Newton MA
2002 Biotech II Gallery, UMass Medical School, Worcester MA
2001 John Andrew’s Restaurant, South Egremont MA
2001 ArtSpace Gallery, Columbia Memorial Hospital, Hudson NY
2000 Brandow’s Gallery, Hudson NY
1998 Foundation Gallery, Columbia-Greene Community College, Hudson NY
Group Exhibitions
2022 Lewis Gallery at the Portland Public Library and satellite exhibition venues, Portland ME, Hole History III
2022 River Arts, Damariscotta ME Land and Sea
2022 PAAM, Provincetown MA Members’ 12 x 12
2022 River Arts, Damariscotta ME Wild Things
2019 River Arts, Damariscotta ME Wild Things
2019 Friends of Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Rockland ME Fins, Feathers & Fur, Best in Show
2018 Friends of Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Rockland ME Fins, Feathers & Fur
2018 River Arts, Damariscotta ME Wild Things
2018 Harlow Gallery, Hallowell ME Play
2016 River Arts, Damariscotta ME Group Show
2016 Michael Good Gallery Annex, Rockport ME Group Show
2013 PicassoWhat Gallery, Rockland ME Picasso Would Have Loved This
2011 ARTSWorcester MA Summer Show
2011 UNUM Corporate Gallery, Worcester MA
2010 ARTSWorcester MA Biennial
2008 Worcester Center for Crafts Petal Pushers
2005 Gallery 1581, Boston MA Myth, Dream & Fantasy in the 3rd Millennium
2003 Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams MA Drawings
2002 Two Meat Lockers Gallery, NYC Dining Haul: Unpacked No. 4
2001 Scollay Square Gallery at City Hall, Boston Local Color
2001 Bernstein Display Gallery, NYC Eight Women
2000 Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University, Canton NY 5th Biennial Alumni Show
2000 Impact Artists Gallery, Buffalo NY A Woman’s Touch
2000 Rothschild Gallery at Radcliff, Cambridge MA Sanctuary
2000 Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg MA New England New Talent
1999 Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn NY BWAC Fall Show
1997 SUNY Albany Art Museum, Albany NY Artists of the Hudson-Mohawk
1997 Viridian Artists Inc., NYC Annual National Juried Show
Reviews & Interviews
“Beauty of the Sheep,” by Megan Parks, Vitality, vol. 22, 2011.
“She’s Got the Beet,” by Nancy Sheehan, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Jan. 13, 2002.
“In the Garden of Venus,” by Peter Barton, The Artful Mind, June 2001.
“Fitchburg Art Museum New England New Talent,” by Joan E. McCarthy, Art New England, Jun/Jul 2000.
“Lori Schafer at Brandow’s,” by Viva Feiner, Almanac, Apr. 27, 2000.
“Painting to the Beet,” by Sam Dvorchik, Berkshire Record, Apr. 14, 2000.
“ROOTS: Vegetables Grow into Artwork,” by Lyrysa Smith, The Independent, Mar. 19, 1998.
“Lori Schafer . . . at Carrie Haddad,” by Ellen McKay, Nov. 3, 1997.
Awards & Commissions
Interlaken School of Art, Elm Street Market Installation, Stockbridge MA 2001.
2nd Prize Works on Paper, Columbia Co. Council on the Arts Juried Show, Hudson NY 2000.
Catalogue copy for the multimedia installation, The Way of the Cross, Time & Space Ltd., Hudson, NY.