JC Gilmore-Bryan’s Phantoms
JC Gilmore-Bryan was fascinated with Notre Dame Cathedral long before it burned to the ground in 2019. She began making prints of Notre Dame while studying in France. “For the last 4 years I have been going to La Cite Internationale des artes in Paris for 2 months of the year for an artist’s residency though I have done seven residencies there altogether,” she says. “I started the prints of Notre Dame in 2017 and named them Phantoms of Notre Dame - the year before the Cathedral burned!”
Luckily, JC scheduled her time in Pairs for the beginning of 2020, before Covid-19 restrictions. While in Paris, she was able to benefit from working with other artists and was truly inspired to continue with the Notre-Dame theme.
Though she keenly felt the absence of the actual physical structure of Notre Dame, JC felt her work was a part of keeping it in the minds of those who also loved it. In fact, in 2019 she began donating 100% of the sales of her Phantoms of Notre Dame series to the rebuilding fund of the great Cathedral. “This year, she will continue to donate to the rebuilding fund but will retain a portion of the proceeds to use for art supplies, studio, etc.,” says her husband and major cheerleader, John Bryan.
JC literally arrived home from Paris a few days before shelter-in-place orders would have grounded her in France. Not a bad place to be grounded but she was happy to be home.
CAC is proud to support JC Gilmore-Bryan and her cause.