About

Pittsburgh-based artist (with deep ties to the Hudson Valley), Branda C. Maholtz, works primarily in oil paint and pastels. Her work is known for its loose brushstrokes and thoughtful color palette that evoke an illusory, dream-like abstraction, even when the subject matter is familiar. Branda’s titles demand attention not only for their contextualization of the pieces, but also as they serve as an attempt to form a deep emotive connection with the viewer. In her recent works for the series “Landscapes: Postcard Sent from the Past” (2022-2024), Branda creates a sense of place for her most vulnerable experiences while playing with idea of a double-entendre by titling her pieces twice to further explore the multiplicity of meaning and memory as it evolves and is open to interpretation. Branda’s work has been selected for several Associated Artists of Pittsburgh shows, including “Brooklyn X Pittsburgh: the Industry of Art” curated by Eric Shiner, and “Spring Thaw 2025: Alchemists in the Greenhouse.” She was a finalist for TenMoir Gallery’s “Secret Garden” and “Lucid Dream” in 2025, shown at the juried “Images 2024 and 2005” juried Gallery Exhibition, and received an Honorable Mention for the Pittsburgh Scene Innovation Grant in 2023. She has also shown work in Hudson, NY. Her recent solo show, “get (it) together: selected works” garnered much attention in the Pittsburgh area.

Below is a short Arts-Oriented CV of sorts:

Art Exhibitions and Shows

“Brooklyn X Pittsburgh: The Industry of Art” curated by Eric Shiner, former Director of The Andy Warhol Museum and Current Preseident of PowerhouseArts, July-August 2025: Chutes and Ladders, 2025

New Member Exhibition, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Group Exhibition 2025, Curated by Dawn Henry: How to Fall In Love: 1. Stack These Moments and Affections. 2. Know Full-Well We Are a Bad Poem and Our Kiss Will Surely Cause It All to Tumble. 3. Build it Again. 4.  Be Better; Be Happier, 2024

“get (it) together: selected works” Solo Exhibition. The Ohringer Gallery in Braddock, PA, June 2025.

“Spring Thaw: Alchemists in the Greenhouse” Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Group Exhibition 2025, Curated by Annie Wischmeyer: Rabbits in the Grass or Whatever You Want to See, 2024

“Images 2025” Group Show, Juried Gallery Exhibition as part of the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival: Bittersweet Return to Hudson Valley  or  All Things Can Be True: Everything is the Same but Different—When Your Heart is Full, You Don’t Have To Solve Problems That Were Never Meant to Be Solved, 2023.

“114 x 114 – Winter Sales Exhibition” Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Group Exhibition 2024: Mars Direct in Gemini, 2023

“Images 2024” Juried Gallery Exhibition as part of the Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival: Viewshed of the Moraine at Long Family Farms or Wild Ride on a Side by Side... and Elk County Morning Mist Clearing or A Year Later and I Am Able to See the Beauty in Everything Around Me And Look at That—I’ve Learned to Let Go, 2023

Solo Show “Landscapes: Postcard from the Past”  Summer 2024, Colonia Antiques, Hudson, NY.

“Pittsburgh Seen Innovation Grant,” Honorable Mention. October 2023.

Thesis Art Installation: “Interference.” Spark Gallery, Syracuse, NY—Fall 2001. A combination art installation and poetry reading that was the culmination of my creative work with memory concepts.

Community Work in the Arts

  • Served as a grant-award panelist for CREATE, Council for Resources to Enrich the Arts, Technology, and Education. 2021 & 2022.

  • Managed Capital Campaigns and fundraising for various community projects and groups including founding a highly successful WPA-style Arts Grant Fund during the pandemic for local creatives in need, raising over $20 thousand in three weeks.

  • Worked as a Development Associate at Hudson Hall, the Historic Opera House. 

  • Served as a grant-award panelist for CREATE, Council for Resources to Enrich the Arts, Technology, and Education. 2021 & 2022.

  • Managed Capital Campaigns and fundraising for various community projects and groups including founding a highly successful WPA-style Arts Grant Fund during the pandemic for local creatives in need, raising over $20 thousand in three weeks.

  • Worked as a Development Associate at Hudson Hall, the Historic Opera House.

    Publications

    “Pointing Towards the Sun.” Chronogram, May 2016.

    “The Potter Laughs.” Chronogram, October 2010.

    “The Borrower,” “Nesting,” “history of love in salt,” “enveloped”, “Reading: Sensations in St. Petersburg.” Nanomajority, June 2008.

    “Prerequisites: People of the City.” 5 trope, an online literary magazine, April 2005.

    Education

    MFA in Creative Writing with an Emphasis in Poetry and Focus in Painting from Syracuse University

    BS Psychology and Minor in Writing from Clarion University of Pennsylvania