Yesssss check out HiFructose.com for their new article on my artwork!!! Still such a dream ✨Link to the article in my Bio.
Repost from @hifructosemag :
Eleanor Scholz’s intricate wood burnings blend gorgeous lattice work with writhing organic forms. See more of her work on HiFructose.com. #EleanorScholz #pyrography #woodburning #HiFructose @instaeleanor #instaeleanor #woodart #pirografia #geometricart #geometry #wilderness #labdscape #bayareaartist #oaklandartist #bayareaart #oaklandart #detail #detail #detail #filigree #mandala #mandalaart #mandalaartist #patterndesign #pattern #patternart #tappancollective #tappancollector
Say hello to Conall Patrick O'Leary. He joined Eleanor and I at midday on Thursday, January 15th, and transformed our lives in an instant. Today, we set foot in our Inner Richmond apartment for the first time as a family of three.
2025 brought my thesis semester at SFSU, an incredible artist residency at @recologyair , curating Lay of the Land at @rootdivision with @_naomialessandra_ and @julianna_heller , graduating with my MFA after 4 years of ups and downs, getting awarded a year long residency/ fellowship at @headlandsarts , showing my Recology work at @minnesotastreetproject , showing work at @gtuberkeley and then grappling with all the changes and challenges that being pregnant and returning to full time work has brought to my creative energy and practice.
It has been a year of unimaginable growth and transformation, creative output and creative exhaustion, very high highs and very low lows, and the knowledge that starting in early 2026 with the birth of our son, life will never be the same.
Thank you to everyone who has supported, celebrated, created and grieved with me as I rode this years’s creative and emotional (and physical) roller coaster—I am so grateful for my people, for my partner @poleary87 and for all the incredible opportunities I’ve been given this year.
❤️❤️❤️
We’re wrapping up 35 years of creativity, sustainability, and transformation!♻️🎊
As we close out the 35th anniversary year of the Recology Artist in Residence Program, we’re celebrating a legacy of incredible artists who’ve turned discarded materials into works of art that inspire us all.
Former artist-in-residence Eleanor Scholz O’Leary @instaeleanor shares what drew her to this unique residency: ✨”There’s no shortage of material and no shortage of creative ways to use it.”♻️
Her 2025 exhibition featured biomorphic sculptures resembling jellyfish crafted from unexpected finds like stove burners, saw blades, balloon ribbons, jewelry, and bubble wrap scavenged and repurposed from the Public Reuse and Recycling Area. 🛒
💭 What would you create from these materials? Drop your ideas below!
It’s been probably 4 months since I’ve made anything. This spring was insane: I prepared for my MFA thesis show at @sfsu_school_of_art at the same time as my residency at @recologyair , all while co-curating Lay of the Land at @rootdivision with @_naomialessandra_ and @julianna_heller , and at some point in the midst of all that, I found out I was pregnant. Had another show at @gtuberkeley this summer, got to be part of the Recology group show at @minnesotastreetproject in August, and have been traveling a lot, too. Phew!
I am 2 months into my year-long residency at @headlandsarts now, working full time at my day job so I can get health insurance and maternity leave, and trying not to be too hard on myself for needing a break, needing rest, needing time to recover... So far I haven’t really made anything (besides a baby lol) and that’s been pretty hard.
I am *dying* to be back in the flow at the studio now, and juuuuust starting to get some ideas that feel pretty sticky. Like, I’ll be restless until I try them. I’m honestly relieved—in these times of rest and recovery and little to no artistic production, I start to worry that maybe I’ve lost it, maybe I won’t have any more ideas ever again.
It turns out I was just tired.
Excited to get to work on these new ideas and see what they can turn into. So far they are just screen shots and notes and some text messages inquiring about what tools my friends have—next step will be getting my hands dirty.
Headlands Center for the Arts has an open house coming up on November 2nd—maybe I can have something to show for myself by then???
Big news from the Scholz O’Leary household! Baby boy arrives in January 2026. We’re excited, we’re overwhelmed, we can’t believe we’re making a new human, it’s just the craziest thing.
The young lad is already taking after his da (very energetic) and his mom (enthusiastic about desserts).
Thanks to all our friends and family who are already doing so much to help us navigate this bewildering and exciting new chapter, we can’t wait for you to meet the newest O’Leary.
FINAL WEEK to see Lay of the Land!
Lay of the Land curated by Naomi Alessandra Schultz, Julianna Heller, and Eleanor Scholz O’Leary features 14 Bay Area-based artists offering deeply personal ways of experiencing the many environments that exist in this moment.
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday–Saturday, 12–6 PM (Saturday by appointment)
1131 Mission St, San Francisco
Featured in the @sfchronicle and @7x7bayarea — don’t miss your chance to see it.
#rootdivision #layoftheland #sfexhibition #sanfrancisco #fyp
Come see Lay of the Land at Root Division 💚
On view Wednesday through Saturday, 12 to 6 PM (Saturday by appointment)
📍1131 Mission St, San Francisco
This group exhibition re-engages nature and place through personal histories, featuring work by Catherine Wang McMahon, Callan Porter-Romero, Tricia Rainwater, Emily Gui, and more.
Co-curated by Naomi Alessandra Schultz, Eleanor Scholz O’Leary, and Julianna Heller.
#LayoftheLand #RootDivision #SFExhibitions #BayAreaArtists
This Saturday, 6–8 PM 🌿 join us at Root Division for live performances in conjunction with Lay of the Land, co-curated by Naomi Alessandra Schultz, Eleanor Scholz O’Leary, and Julianna Heller.
Sun Park, a multidisciplinary artist and writer, will present a poetry reading developed alongside their video work exploring sensory experience, spirituality, and place. Their practice investigates the porous boundaries between body and environment, informed by experiences with religion and Bay Area landscapes.
Phil McGaughy, a Bay Area artist and musician, will activate the gallery with a kinetic performance using a body-mounted projector to cast tide footage offering a visceral meditation on embodiment and the natural world. McGaughy holds a BFA from SFAI and an MFA from the University of Delaware, and is a founding member of MycoWorks, a Bay Area biotech company specializing in mushroom-based leather.
Presented as part of Second Saturday. Free & open to the public.
RSVP >> https://bit.ly/3GzNYM7
“Artistic practice...can benefit immeasurably from unfocusing; to train oneself to observe what appears out of sight so as to cultivate an understanding of the structural complexity and agency of our environment.”
—Jussi Parikka, “Cartographies of Environmental Arts”
Join us during gallery hours to see our newly opened exhibition Lay of the Land, showcasing the work of 14 Bay Area-based artists, co-curated by @_naomialessandra_ , @julianna_heller , and @instaeleanor .
Come see the exhibition that’s been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and 7x7 Bay Area. 🌿
Wednesday – Saturday, 12–6 PM (Saturday by appointment)
New extended hours!
📍1131 Mission St, San Francisco
