Held has exhibited extensively in the US and abroad. She has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships from: NJ State Council on the Arts (2 for sculpture), Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellows Award, Three Dodge Foundation Grants for Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation Fellowship, and an Aljira Emerge Fellowship. She was invited to the TDG4 (Tambacounda/Dakar/Geneva) International Workshop in Tambacounda (Senegal) 2004, the Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar Playa (Spain) 2004, Beer-Sheva International Biennale (Israel) 1997 and 1993, and the 33rd International Sculpture Symposium in Boleslawiec (Poland) 1997. Held's work has been reviewed in numerous publications including NY Arts, Sculpture, American Ceramics, Cover, The New York Times and the Newark Star Ledger. Nationally, her work is part of the public collections of Grounds for Sculpture (NJ), Kenkeleba Sculpture Garden (NYC), The Montclair Art Museum (NJ), The Museum of Modern Art Artist Library (NY), the Newark Museum (NJ), The NJ State Museum, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VA). Internationally, Held's work is included in the public collections of the Negev Museum (Israel), the city of Boleslawiec (Poland), the city of Tambacounda (Senegal), and Tajimi City (Japan).
Of her work, Held has expressed:
My pieces are mysterious: almost real, but actually without any corollary in the material world. They have the intensity of old bones and are evocative of the body and the body's presence. I am drawn to experimentation with disparate materials including translucent cast rubber, clay, wood, metal, found objects, insect nests, thread and permeating light. By exploiting the seductive qualities of these materials, I juxtapose their beauty with the elemental power of the work.
The sculpture shown in this exhibition, THE PLACE WHERE SHE IS, is part of a group of work begun after the death of Marion Held's mother in 2005.
