2019 Governor's Arts Awards

Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure
Award Recipient: Sylvia Nicolas, Mont Vernon

Sylvia, a European-born multidisciplinary artist, has resided in New Hampshire since 1968. She has contributed to the cultural life of New Hampshire through her many public statues, stained glass windows, and mosaic installations. Now in her 90s, she continues to bring her unique eye for form, color and composition to an ever-growing list of public commissions across the state and the region. In style and execution, her sculpture and stained glass designs bear the unmistakable mark of 20th-century European modernism. Her figures are boldly drawn with heavy outline, their flattened appearance nonetheless brimming with an energy and vitality not typically associated with stained glass in a religious context. Sylvia has called herself a “storyteller of mythologies,” characterizing her work as containing a “mixture of reverence and irreverence.” Ultimately, she says, “I would like to be remembered for my humanity.” Sylvia’s work can be seen on countless college and university campuses across New England, including St. Anselm College in Manchester, and churches, chapels, hospitals and schools as far as Colorado. She is currently working on a commission of 14 Stations of the Cross for a church in Providence.

Last updated: October 29, 2019