About the Artist
Savannah Canavan is an artist located in the Midwest. She was born in central Wisconsin and has been interested in art for as long as she can remember. In high school, her painting teacher really encouraged her to pursue art as a career. Savannah graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with her BFA in Studio Art and a minor in Art History. Her primary medium is oil paint, and she creates a variety of compositions and a variety of subject matter. She is interested in using her painting language to create sensory experiences upon the canvas and inspire beauty within her world and others. Her paintings are regarded for their vivid colors and bold, visible brushstrokes.
Savannah has been a part of a variety of group exhibitions. Her work has been shown in the Argyle Zebra Gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as the Center for Visual Arts in Wausau. She has been featured in a couple publications of Furrow Magazine and Pigeon Review Literary and Art Journal. Her art has been featured on the front cover of VolumeOne magazine out of Eau Claire, WI. Most recently, Savannah's art has been featured on the Bravo show, Top Chef.
It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that art must “mean something”. That it is only important if there is some deep, philosophical meaning behind it. As someone who went to four years of art school, it was incredibly hard to unlearn this mindset. I focused so much on trying to assign a meaning to my work for years that I didn’t even always enjoy painting because I felt like an imposter since I didn’t have an answer to the question “what does it mean”.
Then I realized that I don't have to tell people my art means something. My art has value because it showcases my lived experience of making art. They capture the beauty that I see and feel everywhere. These paintings that I create are bright and colorful and energetic. They create a delicate balance between imagination and intention. My painting language uses bold marks and vivid color to create a sensory, visual experience for anyone who sees them. And most importantly, I am creating work that makes me happy and that I am proud of. My paintings create an excitement within me that pushes me to keep working. I am not forcing the paint on the surface to become something it is not by assigning some arbitrary phrase to it when I know, deep down, that my painting doesn’t mean that.
My paintings are an eclectic collection, bold in color and marks. Yet they are still full of meaning. They are full of experiences. It is every moment of a painting, the intimate familiarity in both creation and perception, that make it important.
Exhibitions
2025 Fruit Stand, Solo Installation, Center for the Visual Arts, Wausau, WI
2025 It's All Symbolic, Group Exhibition, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Eau Claire, WI
2025 Fabulous Florals and Fine Art, Juried Exhibition, Pablo Center at the Confluence, Eau Claire, WI
2024 Gathering, Group Exhibition, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau, WI
2024 Art for All, Art Auction, Argyle Zebra Gallery, St Paul, MN
2024 ArtsWest 45, Group Exhibition, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Eau Claire, WI
2024 Bold Expressions, Solo Exhibition, Lucille Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer, WI
2023 Art by the Foot, Group Exhibition, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau, WI
2023 Basement Tapes, Online Juried Exhibition, 119 North Weatherly Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2023 Everywhere, Everything, Solo Exhibition, Forage, Eau Claire, WI
2023 Defying Sameness, Group Exhibition, AZ Gallery, St. Paul, MN
2022 One Narrative, Group Exhibition, AZ Gallery, St. Paul, MN
2022 Home. Locality of Reference, Group Exhibition, AZ Gallery, St. Paul, MN
2022 Pushing Color, Solo Exhibition, UW-Stout Gallery 209, Menomonie, WI
2022 Bits and Pieces of the Human Whole, Group Exhibition, Art Works, Eagan MN
2022 Open Passages, Group Exhibition, UW-Stout Gallery 209, Menomonie, WI
2021 Mom, I’m Scared, Group Exhibition, UW-Stout Gallery 209, Menomonie, WI
2021 Faces, Online Juried Exhibition, Grey Cube Gallery
2021 Images of Exchange, Group Exhibition, UW-Stout Gallery 209, Menomonie, WI
2018 Emerging Artists, Group Exhibition, New Visions Gallery, Marshfield, WI
Press
Upcoming 'Top Chef' Season to Display UW-Stout Grad's on Set
Cover, April 20th issue VolumeOne Magazine, April 20, 2023