Delaware artist’s work returns home from U.S. Embassy in Bahrain

A Delaware artist’s work displayed at the U.S. Embassy in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, has returned home and is on display at a local gallery.

In January 2022, at the request of then-U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain Steven Bondy, the curator of the Art in Embassies Program with the U.S. Department of State reached out to Bethany Beach-based artist Eileen Olson about an opportunity to exhibit her work at the U.S. Embassy in Manama.

The painting selected, “Sail at Daybreak,” is a blue-and-white abstract nautical work that reflected Bondy’s fondness for the Delaware coast. It was shipped to Bahrain in July 2022 to be hung in the ambassador’s residence.

Bondy later sent a personal letter to Olson relating how much he enjoyed the artwork hanging in his dining room, where he greeted many foreign dignitaries and hosted dinners. He described her painting as “a classic seashore montage that sparks imagination.”

Olson said the ambassador most likely saw her 2021 solo art exhibit sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts in the Mezzanine Gallery at the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington.

The Art in Embassies program was created to exhibit original artwork by American artists in the residences of U.S. ambassadors worldwide to promote cultural engagement.

Olson studied at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art and the Corcoran School of Art, and is a member of the Rehoboth Art League. Her work is held in private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad.

With the recent appointment of a new ambassador to Bahrain, Olson’s work was returned to her Jan. 7, and it will be on display through the end of February at Gallery One in Ocean View.