Skylight Features Local Artist with a Mission to Heal

One of the most exciting aspects of the multi-use penthouse space in Skylight’s Cleveland office is the ever-changing artwork. Margaret Stamm, an artist local to Cleveland with a passion for helping others through her work is our current tenant of this space, displaying her beautiful paintings for all to admire. 

Growing up in Cleveland, Margaret always felt drawn to working with art. After completing Shaker Heights High School’s Advanced Art program, she was accepted into the Cleveland Institute of Art, where her portfolio began to grow and her fervor for her work flourished. 

Margaret describes her creative process as slow and carefully thought out, “I like to think about things for a while and plan them out. I wish I was a little bit more prolific and created things more quickly, but I tend to sit on things for a while,” she said. “I used to paint in oils which is a much more freeform process, it can change a lot and you can work more often and quickly. For the past several years, I’ve been using acrylic paint, which has changed my procedure from what it used to be. Now I’m really settling into my current process of planning out using acrylics.”

Margaret’s pieces draw inspiration from a variety of different influences. “I’m interested in private spaces and interior spaces as a spiritual metaphor,” Margaret explained. “In college, I was really interested in the feminist dialogue of housework and domesticity, but that’s evolved into the simple things in life, which I think everyone can relate to.” 

Along with inspirations such as these, she draws from different cultures and styles of art. “I’ve always really enjoyed Japanese and Buddhist art. I like children’s illustrations as well, that’s something that has been a huge influence for me.” Margaret has a whole series of work that is based on early childhood recovery. Works from that series are featured at University Hospitals and the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. “I’m interested in how art and nature might heal. I work at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, where we educate about the benefits of green spaces and how nature eases pain in patients,” she explained. “I am interested in how we might find a little bit of spiritual healing that could manifest itself in a physical way for people in recovery.”

Though she thoroughly explored this body of work for a while, she is moving on from it to consider new pathways for her art. “I’m starting to explore a new mindset that focuses on the small corners of life” Margaret shared. 

The pieces displayed in Skylight’s tenth floor penthouse space come from a range of Margaret’s collections, from different periods of her career. “Horizon is pulled from my series on childhood recovery. It’s a little more child-like and rudimentary, maybe even playful. Rose and the smaller floral pieces are from my botanical illustrations series, and the Sun Spot, Open Window, Starry Window and the Geisha are from my newer works,” she said of the paintings currently featured. 

We are so proud to be able to display Margaret’s work, and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for such a talented artist! You can attend Margaret’s Yoga classes once a week at Abide Yoga in Shaker Heights, where she continues in her efforts to help heal. You can also subscribe to her YouTube channel, Margasway Yoga, for free online classes.

Thanks for sharing, Margaret!

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