Corey R. Tevan

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Corey Tevan, of Tewksbury, MA who passed away peacefully on April 1, 2025, at the age of 77.
Corey was a loving husband, father, grandfather and dear friend to many. He was a gentle, creative, loving and deeply spiritual soul; an artist who devoted his life to his work and painted until his last days. His art has been collected by patrons around the world, and shown at museums and organizations throughout Massachusetts including the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, The Worcester Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. He operated two galleries in Rockport, Massachusetts-Reverie Gallery, and later Corey Tevan Gallery on Bearskin Neck-both of which served as a beacon of luminosity, joy and beauty both to casual passersby and to his following of loyal collectors and appreciators.
In addition to maintaining a fervent and constant creative practice throughout his life he also taught art at Northeastern University, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Brooks Academy, and privately in his gallery on Bearskin Neck. He worked at Spinnaker Software and used his imaginative aesthetic to design visuals for various computer games in the education and entertainment spheres. He also created pieces for HBM/Creamer Group, Colombo Yogurt, Polaroid and Houghton Mifflin Publishing among other corporate clients.
Corey led a life surrounded by an extensive loving family and cherished friends. He is survived by his daughter Angel Tevan Tenekedzhyan, her husband Mihran Tenekedzhyan, and two grandchildren Grace and Raffi; his sisters; Gloria Tevan(predeceased); June and her husband John Colombosian (both predeceased); Eleanor and her husband Harry Demirjian; his Nieces Jill Colombosian, her husband Jay Hachigian; Alice (predeceased) and her husband Steve Selverian; his nephews Michael Colombosian and wife Tiffany, Stephen Demirjian and wife Victoria Fontana, Andrew Demirjian and wife Dahlia Elsayed; many nieces, nephews and cousins; his wife Dora Tevan, her sister Nancy Kalajian and brother Richard Kalajian. He leaves behind a legion of precious friends including Tessa Magnuson and Tony Scanlon to whom he was a friend, teacher, mentor, and champion.
Born in Portland, Maine, Corey moved to Andover as a young child after his father Haik Tevan passed away. He was raised by his mother Alice and three older sisters Gloria, June and Eleanor, all of whom loved him dearly and supported him throughout his life. His sister's husband John Colombosian served as an important role model and father figure in his early years.
A "normal kid" when he was younger, Corey was introduced to the spiritual and artistic world by his teacher Francis Dalton, with whom he studied for four years at Andover High School. Her refined artistic sensibilities, guidance and connections opened Corey to a world of creative expression and set the course for the rest of his life. She encouraged originality and laid the foundation for his imaginative and spiritual life to flourish. During that time, he also studied at Phillips Academy in the evenings taking as many classes as he could. Dalton recommended Corey attend The Museum School in Boston, her alma mater, where he studied painting until 1971.
Corey eventually moved from Boston to Nahant, Massachusetts where he started a family. He held a gallery in Nahant before moving to Rockport where he lived for almost three decades. In recent years he relocated to Tewksbury, Massachusetts to be with his daughter, Angel, and her growing family. Corey was completely devoted to his family and especially his dear daughter who meant the world to him. He cherished the time he spent with his grandchildren, Grace and Raffi, as he watched them grow. Corey was fiercely proud of his ancestry and Armenian heritage.
Guided by a deep attunement to the moon, sun and stars, Corey was fun, funny, imaginative, quick, curious, and playful. He was always interested in learning from those around him and from the universe itself. He had a poetic sensibility in his language and gentle demeanor that left a pointed impression on those he encountered.
Corey's work can best be described using elements of the lyrical whimsy of his own words. His art explored infinite mysteries unhindered and had the effect of suspending reason with his perceptual license. His aspiration was to transform the inscrutability of the universe with visionary imagination and illuminate the sensibilities of the ethereal.
Great artistic understanding asks for creative dynamism, ruthless originality, humorous agency, courageous dignity, and more than a penchant for meaningful sensitivity. Corey embodied all of these through his innate gifts which were fine-tuned over years of dedicated practice, inquiry and sacrifice. As an artist-he sought the treasures that live in the center of awareness, and pursued expression of the highest of sublime perceptions. He humbly and without egoic tendency took on the role of aesthetic force, daring to inspire and liberate the individual and synergy of societal harmony. He held a quiet courage in his abilities to see, feel and do with empathy, and in his work he has made care immortal-giving to humanity that which reality denies.
Corey was attuned to a realm of consciousness where unity glimmers in distant ethereal dominions yet undreamed. He manifested that realm for the pleasure of our senses in this physical plane and created art worthy of nurturing the nobility of an elegant spirit.
He will be deeply missed by all of those he touched, but his guidance and care can still be felt since his passing on from his physical form.
A celebration of life will be held at a future date.
For more information on Corey's art and legacy, visit www.coreytevanfineart.com