Mary A. Armstrong

Newton, Mass - Mary A. Armstrong, 71, passed away suddenly on May 14, 2020 at her summer home in Georgetown, Maine.  She was born in Torrington, CT,  daughter of William H. and Martha (Williams) Armstrong and raised in Kent. 

            She graduated from The Northfield School in Massachusetts, received a BFA from Boston University and received her Master’s from Lesley College.  She taught art at Charles River School, and later at Boston College, retiring in 2018.  On August 30, 1980 she married Stoney Conley. Together they created a life studying and teaching art, preferably in Florence or Venice.

            An accomplished painter, Mary had numerous exhibitions with Victoria Munroe  Gallery in Boston and New York City, and the Cross Mackenzie Gallery in Washington, DC.   Her most recent exhibition, Conditions of Faith, was at the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College in 2019.  She had fellowships at Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and The Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland.

She enjoyed singing in the choir of St. Anne’s In The Field in Lincoln, MA.

Mary lived and did everything with a burning bright intensity.  Her art works explored how light played over desert mountains, cliffs of Ireland and the canals of Venice. She gloried in nature, celebrating light with its roots in darkness.  She read voraciously - fiction, poetry and history - and loved a spirited disagreement about ideas.  She taught all how to see in finer detail, especially her students and grand nephews, Atticus and Will.  Like her gardens, her life was rich in color and alive with the love of family and dedicated friends.

     She is survived by her husband, Stoney Conley, MA, brother, Christopher F. Armstrong and his wife Meredith Eachus Armstrong of PA., and several nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her brother, David Armstrong.

     A Celebration of her life will be held at a later date. 

Memorial contributions may be made to Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, or The Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland. 

Condolences may be made online at www.DaigleFuneralHome.com 

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