KELSY PATNAUDE AT SEA (with cole brauer)

The Newport Art Museum proudly presents KELSY PATNAUDE: AT SEA (with cole brauer), an exhibition capturing an exhilarating 130-day racing voyage aboard a 40-foot sailboat. Curated by Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue art correspondent and founding director of Art&Newport, the exhibition opens on Friday, October 25.

Central to the show is Patnaude’s 100-foot panorama, created with photo-transfer, oil, graphite, and ink on linen. This sweeping artwork reflects the awe and fear of the ocean while narrating the compelling journey of Cole Brauer, the first American woman to complete a nonstop, single-handed race around the world. Patnaude presents Brauer’s experience as the sole female competitor in the 2023-24 global solo challenge, through multimedia elements, enhancing the visitor’s immersive experience.

Patnaude, a Worcester, Mass. native now living in Newport, is both a professional yacht captain and practicing artist. Her work, exhibited along the East Coast, explores the roles of gender and the sublime in the male-dominated sailing world – expressing her passion for empowering women through both her art and maritime career.

Biography:
Kelsy Patnaude is a painter and yacht captain who lives in Newport, RI. Born in Worcester, MA she received her MFA at Lesley University College of Art & Design in 2019. Since graduating, Kelsy has shown in group and solo exhibitions up and down the East Coast from Gloucester, MA to Miami, FL. Working professionally as a sailor, Patnaude is the captain of a successfully campaigned local 12 meter sailing yacht. Balancing her passion for empowering women in sailing and her artistic practice, she explores the role of women in the sailing industry in her work.