Pucker Gallery

Geoffrey Dunn

Represented by Pucker Gallery since 2020

BORN: 1952 in Erie, Pennsylvania
RESIDES: Erie, Pennsylvania

For Geoffrey P. Dunn, painting has been an important activity in his life ever since it was recommended it to him at age 13 by his mother when he was confined to quarters for misbehavior at school. Upon graduation from high school, he had a one-person show of his work, earning him the school prize in fine arts. He also received the school’s prize for best historical essay in which he chronicled the development of American landscape painting during the nineteenth century.

In college, Dunn majored in religion and minored in fine arts, studying with the Dutch painter Charles Stegeman. It was Professor Stegeman who first suggested to Dunn a career in medicine: “You are a very competent painter and do fabulous work, but I believe your heart is elsewhere. I think you should be a doctor.” During this time, Dunn studied privately in Erie for several years with professional artist Andrew Sanders. After a long hiatus, Dunn resumed painting during his many trips to the Georgian Bay region of Ontario, where he was strongly influenced by the Canadian school The Group of Seven. During the late 1990s Dunn recognized a deeper and more spiritual purpose to painting through the inspiration and counsel of Brother Thomas, a world-renowned potter. At that time plein air painting had increasingly become the counterpoint and catharsis for Dunn’s career in hospice and palliative care. This subsequently was the substance of much of his professional writing and lecturing.

Dunn has had four solo exhibits at Glass Growers Gallery and two solo exhibits at the Erie Insurance Group’s gallery. Additionally, he exhibited annually at the Mercyhurst faculty exhibit, and twice at the Erie Art Museum Spring Show. Dunn is a member of the Northwest Pennsylvania Artists Association and in 2012, he was accepted as a non-resident artist member of the Salmagundi Art Club in New York City. He exhibited in a juried show there in 2014 and received an Honorable Mention. Private patrons have commissioned his work over the past decade.

Dunn is also an Emeritus member of the Department of Surgery of UPMC Hamot, and former Medical Director of the Palliative Care Consultation Service there. His surgical experience included trauma, burns, pediatrics, and cancer in this country and abroad, where he has been a visiting professor in India, Great Britain, Canada, China, and Norway. Since 1997 his work has focused on the education of surgeons nationally and internationally about the principles and practice of palliative care in the setting of serious and life-limiting illness. His current pursuits include painting and environmental service.

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