About

Biography

A widely traveled painter, muralist and sculptor, Lucy Boyadjian Janjigian, was born of Armenian descent in Jerusalem where she attended English Mission schools. She received her B.A. in Biology from Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, and her M.S. in Plant Ecology from Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Painting became her passion and she developed into an award winning artist after many years of study at the Art Students League and the Stacy Studio Workshop in New York City.

All paintings are acrylic on canvas unless otherwise noted.

She is listed in “Who’s Who in American Art.” In 1986, Lucy won First Place in Abstract Acrylic Painting at the National Arts Club, New York, NY.

Lucy has been repeatedly commissioned for paintings, murals, magazine and church bulletin covers, book jackets, children’s book illustrations, Christmas cards and stamps.

She has participated in numerous one-person and group exhibitions.

Solo Exhibitions at:

  • Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA.
  • Armenian Library and Museum of America, Watertown, MA.
  • Emory University, Dobbs University Center Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
  • Heidelberg University, Beeghly Library, Tiffin, OH; On the 150th anniversary of the University.
  • Eglise Evangelic Armenienne, Issy les Moulineaux, France; On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Armenian Evangelical Churches.
  • Felician College, Lodi, NJ; To coincide with the International Ethics Conference on Value Inquiry.
  • Queens College, Benjamin Rosenthal Library, Flushing, NY.
  • First Community Church, Columbus, OH: Participated in a Homeless workshop weekend.
  • Convention Hall, Philadelphia, PA; At the 201st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA.
  • Fairleigh Dickinison University, Madison, NJ; For Hungerthon for the Homeless.

View featured exhibitions.
View a comprehensive listing of her exhibitions.

Collections

Her works hang in many public, private and corporate collections:

  • The Jerusalem Fund Gallery Al-Quds, Washington, DC.
  • Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, Washington, DC.
  • Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA.
  • San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, CA.
  • Dar al-Kalima University for Arts and Culture, Bethlehem, Palestine.
  • Stony Point Conference Center, of the National Presbyterian Church in Stony Point, New York.
  • The Armenian Library and Museum of America, Inc. Watertown, MA.
  • St. Leon’s Armenian Church, Fair Lawn, NJ.
  • Armenian Missionary Association of America, Paramus, NJ.
  • Haigazian University, Beirut, Lebanon.
  • Armenian Evangelical Union, Fresno, CA.
  • Berliner Handels und Frankfurter Bank, NYC.
  • Mekhitarist Monastery of Vienna, Library and Museum, Austria.

Reviews

What started as an individual commission to do five paintings, in connection with the 70th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, turned into a spiritual affinity and a personal ministry with the Uprooted and Homeless at its core…paintings that are moving people in ways she never expected.
—Ronnie Levine, Senior Staff Writer.
THE NEWS. Wyckoff, NJ.

Unbelievable—I was mesmerized. You are blessed! You are magic! It was a destined moment when I took time to enjoy your paintings. Your work is so strong and so beautiful that it should be shared with as many people in the world as possible. Your paintings convey the strong message that WCC is trying to deliver.
—Dr. Jeane Sindob, Executive Secretary.
Commission on the Programme to Combat Racism; World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland.

Your art is a quiet ministry of spiritual power. In particular, the Homeless Series is timely because of the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. You are powerfully reminding the Rich Man that Lazarus is at his door desiring to be fed and clothed and housed. (Luke 16: 19-31)
—Rev. Vartan Hartunian, Pastor.
First Armenian Church, Belmont, MA.

Your ability to speak of the needs of the homeless without words provides the inspiration and encouragement, and sometimes the anger, to those who are striving to work in their own manner for the dignity of all persons.
—Dr. Emma Quartaro, Social Work Chairperson and Chair of The Homeless Conference, April 14. 1989.
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.

I was so deeply moved that your works became a central point of illustration for my sermon (July 19, 1987). I hope my sermon spoke to the power of your artistry.
—Rev. Donald Purkey, Pastor.
First Presbyterian Church, Detroit, MI.

Once again I see your paintings. and once again they set me on fire. Your Christion faith has taught you to follow in the footsteps of the gentle man of Galilee…for your paintings are really, in the long run, evangelism. You make suffering beautiful through color and form and purest technique. You ore Delaunay with a purpose and Van Gogh with peace of mind. More…
—Arthur Charles Finmann, Flushing, NY.

This morning I woke up with your paintings mentally before me. Your work is God-inspired.
—Lilia Skala, Academy Award-winning actress.
(Written the day after seeing Janjigian’s paintings.)

Her lyrical abstractions utilize bold color. “Kaleidoscope” employes large areas of light blue and violet, from which rhythmic shapes of warmer color emerge, suggesting the lyricism in the later works ot Arshile Gorky.
—Diana Freedman, art critic.
ARTSPEAK magazine.

I make effective use of your slides on “The Uprooted” as a resource in presentations to church groups about refugees.
—Rev. Donald L. Smith, Resettlement Enabler.
Synod of Southern California and Hawaii Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, CA.

For her graphic power, Janjigian most resembles Kathe Kollwitz, the German printmaker—especially in her simpler more centered compositions. But while Kollwitz would have portrayed the pathos…in stark black and white, Janjigian brings (it) to life in bold strokes of rich, vivid color, much closer in spirit to the Expressionism of Max Beckmann and Emile Nolde, as well as the fiery murals of Jose Clemente Orozco.
—Sean Simon, art critic.
ARTSPEAK magazine.

Lucy Janjigian…has tapped into that creativity that lets canvas and paint call forth living spirit and living flesh. We saw real women and men, tortured, distorted, and dispossessed. Thank you for allowing our sensitivities to be quickened and our caring channeled.
—Rev. Willis A. Jones, Senior Pastor.
The Wyckoff Reformed Church, Wyckoff, NJ.

I was so moved. You have expressed the essence of what newscasters so blithely call “the homeless problem.” You have brought it to life!
—Linda Gramatky Smith, Glen Rock. NJ.

Lucy Janjigian’s canvases evoke a sense of the spirit of the refugee. The paintings entitled “The Homeless” are richly formed. brilliantly colored images expressing her own awareness of the problems of the helpless and dispossessed. This collection is an especially powerful testimonial to humanity’s will to endure.
—Hope Noah, art critic.
Spotlight magazine.