INTERVIEW: Nancy R. Davison | Ogunquit Art Association (OAA) 2026 Showcase Artist - Barn Gallery

Nancy R. Davison is an Ogunquit Art Association member-artist (Printmaking) and one of our Showcase Artists at Barn Gallery for the 2026 Season.

Davison’s Showcase at Barn Gallery will run from May 2oth – June 20th, 2026 with an Opening Reception on Saturday, May 23rd (from 4PM – 7PM) and a Gallery Talk (along with Painter, Madeleine Hopkins) on Thursday, May 28th at 6PM.

Featured Photo Above: Davison, Nancy R.; Aerial View, aquatint etching, 1976 16 x 19.5 (detail)

Learn more about the Barn Gallery 2026 Schedule: barngallery.org/2026-season

Continue reading below for some excerpts from a discussion we had with Nancy R. Davison about her background and work. Interview by OAA Artist Dustan Knight.

Photo: Nancy R. Davison by OAA Artist Mark Pizza.

What is the title of your Showcase and how does your artwork reflect it?

Retrospective: Etchings and Linocuts from 1976 to 2019.

What techniques, materials and ideas will you be showcasing?

Aquatint etchings, some hand-colored and linoleum cuts of the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen

Are your titles important to your artwork?

Yes, I like to give enough information to identify the subject but leave enough room for the viewer ‘s personal response.

How does this body of artwork fit into your larger art production?

I have been a working artist for 45 years. This is my larger art production.

How long has the Ogunquit Art Association been a part of your art career?

I was juried in 1982, became President in 1988. Now retired from OAA administration but still exhibiting.

What are your future art plans?

At the moment, I am drawing from life – people at church, in line at the grocery storer, at the beach – and doing some painting. I hope to get back to relief printmaking.

Legacy

I will never have a solo
Retrospective at the Whitney.
My entry in Who’s Who
Has languished for years.

Remnants of an artmaking lifetime
Lie quiet in my closet
Mixed in with ever-changing new work.

But Richard sent an inquiry.
He bought an etching
In a driving rainstorm.
He was short on cash.
I gave him the picture.
Took what he offered, said
‘Send me the rest.’
He did.

Forty-four years later, he emailed to tell me
How much he loved the piece and to ask
Did I still have its companion
The one with all the people digging on the beach?

I did.
He has it now.
Both of us, delighted .

On gloomy days, I see my work at Goodwill
On sale for the frames.
My writing trapped in a drawer.

However,

People tell me
‘You paint what I remember’
‘I see you every morning
In your painting on my wall.’
‘Your book is on my nightstand
Reminds me of my Summer Cottage’
‘I remember your sermon on giving.’
My art, my words move them still.

I describe what it’s like to be alive in this place
At this time or that time.
Memory a sharp reminder in my work.
All that I am, all that I have, all that I do is a gift from God
A loan
That must be shared or lost
Legacy

About Nancy R. Davison – Printmaker

Nancy R. Davison took printmaking from Leonard Baskin at Smith College and set up her own printmaking studio after graduation. She is best known for black and white linoleum cuts and aquatint etchings of architectural landscapes, especially of the southern Maine seacoast. She began making political prints during the Gulf War. Her current exhibition at Barn Gallery is a retrospective view of etchings and linoleum cuts from 1976 to 2019. A life-long volunteer in the arts, Davison is a founder of the Ogunquit Arts Collaborative/Barn gallery, a member of the Ogunquit Art Association and the Boston Printmakers. She is listed in Who’s Who in American Art.

LEARN MORE: nancyrdavison.com/