GiGi Desaulniers (formerly Colson) has been able to gather ideas from the people and cultures she
has experienced, the main source of inspiration for her artwork which includes watercolor, oil, knife-cut silkscreen paper
collage and black and white photography.
An artist, freelance writer and speaker, GiGi seeks to share her experiences traveling and being actively
involved in issues regarding women and poverty in developing nations in order to create poverty awareness and inter cultural
understanding. On multiple occasions she has volunteered with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity
in Calcutta, India.
She is founder and executive director of the Institute for Poverty Awareness and Education,
Inc. (IPAE) She was a participant in the 2000 Grameen Bank International Dialogue held in Bangladesh and
was a delegate at the 2001 Asia-Pacific Micro-Credit Summit in New Delhi, India. She is president of IPAE
International Kolkata, registered in Kolkata, India.
GiGi owns GiGi’s Global Specialty Art and Gifts and Global Village
Art School at 68 South Main Street, Woonsocket which opened in 2006. GiGi’s love
of art and her desire to promote the art of others led to the shop opening where she is also on on-site custom picture framer.
In 2008, GiGi started
an art school on the premises to provide art-full opportunities to adults in the Northern Rhode Island and South Eastern Massachusetts
areas. The school is called Global Village Art School. In 2010, a new component to the
school is expected to open called L’Ecole des Beaux Arts which will cater to established and professional artists who
wish to hone their talent.
GiGi has studied art privately for many years including watercolor with Robert Ducharme; oils with
Lynne Meleleu, and has taken courses at Rhode Island School of Design.
She wrote the art column, The Call Gallery for The Call, (the
daily for Northern Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts) for several years highlighting local artists and the art scene
throughout Rhode Island and has reviewed for Art New England. She has been published in several local as
well as national and international publications and is writing a book about the people she has met on her journeys.
She was a member
of Chicago’s Woman Made; SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators); S.P.A.C.E. (Studio for the
Promotion of Arts, Culture and Excellence) and presently holds membership with the Wickford Art Association.
She has shown her
artwork through local exhibitions and participated in fund-raisers for non profit organizations, including Bowls Against Hunger
Art Auction for the Rhode Island Food Bank.
GiGi’s premier one woman show was held in the summer of 1997 in "Le Jardin" at Cadeaux
du Monde, Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI. In September, 1997, she was awarded in the Newport Council
for International Visitors Photo Contest for a photo taken of the children in Brahmapur Village, Calcutta, India.
In 1998, GiGi exhibited
at the SCBWI Members Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA and WomanMade Gallery, Chicago, Illinois. Also, the Museum
of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, RI; Handled With Care Gallery, Warwick, RI; TSETSE Gallery, Providence, RI and India Cafe,
Providence, RI.
1999 exhibits included, Handled With Care Gallery, Warwick, RI; Gallery Flux, Providence, RI and Scollay Square
Gallery, Boston City Hall.
Year 2000 exhibits included, Goddard College, Plainfield Vermont; Macy’s Black History Month
Exhibit, Boston; Scollay Square Gallery, Boston City Hall; TSETSE Gallery, Providence, RI; and the Hunger Awareness Exhibit,
University of Rhode Island, Providence, RI.; Cadeaux du Monde, Newport RI; solo exhibit; Artist in residence, Santarella Museum
and Gardens, Tyringham, Massachusetts; and Wickford Art Gallery, Wickford, RI; University of Rhode Island (Providence Gallery).
2001exhibits included:
Cadeaux du Monde, Newport, RI, solo exhibit; returning artist in residence, Santarella Museum and Gardens,
Tyringham, Massachusetts, and University of Rhode Island, Providence, RI.
2002 exhibits: University
of Rhode Island, Providence (March and April exhibits),
returning artist in residence, Santarella Museum and Gardens, Tyringham,
Massachusetts, T’s Restaurant, Park Avenue, Cranston, RI.
2003 exhibits: URI Feinstein Providence Campus and
solo exhibits at Family Resources Community Action, Woonsocket, RI., Cadeaux du Monde, Newport, RI and
The Trellis Restaurant, Williamsburg, Virginia, solo exhibit.
2004 exhibits: URI Feinstein Providence Campus (Honors
Colloquium on Hunger) and solo exhibits at Cadeaux du Monde, Newport, RI , Ganache Hill Gallery, Williamsburg, VA., Woonsocket
Harris Public Library.
2005 exhibits: Gallery Opening, Global Village Art, Woonsocket, RI; Chapel Gallery,
United Methodist Church, Providence on the Art Trolley Tour; Feminine by Design, Providence RI.
2006 exhibits: Wickford
Art Gallery, Wickford, RI.; Ganache Hill Gallery, Williamsburg, VA.
GiGi’s pieces are permanently displayed in private collections
throughout the United States and internationally. Her works can be found at Ganache Hill Gallery, Williamsburg,
Virginia. She has a watercolor on permanent display at the Fijian Embassy in New York
City.
Her works can now be seen at GiGi’s Global Specialty during gallery shop hours or by appointment.
She is available for commission works.
