Diane Arenberg, an artist who enjoys the challenges and rewards of working in diverse mediums, is a resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she pursues her love for creativity in pastel, oil, printmaking, and metalsmithing. Although her work varies from representational to abstract, the common thread amongst all these mediums is her passion for the landscape, nature, light, and texture She derives much of her inspiration from weather beaten canyons in New Mexico.
Arenberg began formal art studies at the University of Illinois, continued in the arts at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, and received a BA in Interior Design. While at Purdue, Arenberg studied metalsmithing with Gene Pijanowski for three years. She has expanded her knowledge through studying with painters Dan Gerhartz, Yuqi Wang, Doug Dawson, Sally Strand, Ryan Wurmser, and Albert Handell; sculptors Mary Davidson, and Jim Kempes; jewelers Gene Pijanowski, John Strachota, and Mary Anna Petrick; and sculptor/printmaker Paul J. Yank.
Recently, she was chosen as one of six artists to participate in an artist and cultural exchange “Convergence: Textures of Time” at Green Olive Arts in Tétouan, Morocco.
In 2014 Diane was one of six invited artists in “As We See It” at the Millward Sheets’ Barking Rocks Estate in Anchor Bay, California. Arenberg has had both solo and group exhibits in Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, and New Mexico. Her article, “Perfect Your Palette with Handmade Pastels”, was featured in the inaugural issue of The Pastel Journal. A signature member of the Pastel Society of New Mexico and artist member of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, she has been invited or juried into national Plein Air Painting events in Manitou Springs, Colorado, New York, NY, and Door County, Wisconsin. She has also been a member of the Palette and Chisel in Chicago, Illinois since 1990.
Arenberg has received serveral awards for her philanthropy and volunteer work with Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee and the Welfare Auxilliary of Children’s Hospital. In 2013 she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She currently serves as a Governing Board Member at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico.
Her works hang in both corporate and individual collections throughout the United States.
