Florida Artists Group

Artists Bio:

Rachel Stewart received a BFA in sculpture from Boston University College of Fine Arts and a MA from Union Institute and University. She lived and worked in Jamaica making it her home for twenty years.  She taught at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and exhibited her sculptures in various galleries in Kingston including the National Gallery of Jamaica. Her collaborative public murals can be seen in the Springs Plaza in Kingston, Life of Jamaica, New Kingston Shopping Plaza and the Café Laguna restaurant in Negril. She was awarded the Governor Generals Award for her collaborative mosaic mural located in the Coal Yard Market in downtown Kingston, Jamaica. Photos of her art can be seen in Jamaican publications such as Dare to Dream by Ken Ramsay and The Garden Party Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Bank of Jamaica.
 
She currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida where she teaches and exhibits throughout the United States and Jamaica. In 2017 she had a solo exhibition in the Ledger/Murray Gallery at the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland Florida. In that same year Stewart was an invited artist for a special exhibition, 100years/100artist, at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg. Her work can be seen in the permanent collection of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida where she was an Adjunct Professor in the Visual Arts Department (2018). In 2019 she was invited to exhibit her prints at the Fine Art Print Exhibition at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Stewart is a recipient of the Artist Resource Fund Award from the Pinellas Arts Council of Florida (2003) and from the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance Individual Artists Grant 2016 and 2020. She is a member of the Florida Artists Group (FLAG).

Artist's Statement:

Mapping/Marking

I am inspired by the markings of nature, the deficiencies and profusions of growth that affect the life of trees, the geological layers of earth, the natural movements of water currents and  formations of fallen leaves. My work is about capturing the nuances of times and seasons as an allegory for mapping my  life. I use hand crafting methods of carving in wood, constructing and deconstructing discarded wood pallets, gouging, burning and painting layered surfaces, unconsciously mapping memories and recording visual data. The tactile relationship with my materials and tools is vital to creating my markings.
My artwork serves as a way to visually reconstruct life, threading together interracial circumstances, cultural cross-overs, deaths and migration. It is a metaphor for recollecting patterns of old experiences and discovery of new ones. Mapping and marking not only describe physical spaces but also psychological and emotional pockets of my life. They help chart the order of things ordained by the Creator. Mapping is a method to track cross cultural influences, trace religious connections and settle uncomfortable experiences.

 Guided by city road maps, my work defines major places of creative inspiration. Using delicate paper-cut lines and or random cuttings from an electric saw, I link various experiences to construct a web of relationships, beginning with my birth in Boston to my life in Jamaica continuing to my current home in St.  Petersburg, Florida.  A system of bridges, geometric shapes and layered structures brings order out of chaos and denotes birth, growth, maturity and/or death.
By working on paper and carving on wood I can explore the space of two dimensional and three dimensional surfaces. These two methods open the possibility of discovery and afford me the opportunity to express layered meanings through personal mapping and markings of a faith walk.



Major Exhibitions - Selected Solo and Joint Shows

2018             National Gallery of Jamaica • Kingston Jamaica Engaging Abstraction Explorations VI
2017             Polk Museum of Art Ledger/Murray Galleries • Lakeland FL • Solo Show • Translated Forms
2016             Studio@620 • St. Petersburg FL • Cultural Routes; Continuing the Journey Joint      Show with                       Judith Salmon
2015              Gallery 221 • Hillsborough Community College Tampa FL • Solo Show • Mapping / Marking
2014             Pinellas County Center for the Arts • Guest Artist • Solo Show • Breaking Banal
2006             Studio@620 • St. Petersburg FL • Home Ties Joint Show with Judith Salmon
2001             Ambiance Gallery • St. Petersburg FL • Solo Show • Placement/Replacement
1996             St. Petersburg Center for the Arts • St. Petersburg FL • Earth & Sea Joint Show
1992             Makonde Gallery • Kingston Jamaica • Recent Works
1991             Frame Center Gallery • Kingston Jamaica Caribbean Sea • Solo Show
1989             Spiral Gallery Brooklyn New York Three Jamaican Artist

Juried And Invitational Shows

2019             University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters Kingston Jamaica
                      Fine Art Print Exhibition
2018             St. Petersburg College Clearwater FL. 20th Annual Juried Student Exhibition
2017             Morean Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL 100 Years/100 Artists
2016             African American Research Library • Ft. Lauderdale FL Color Outside the Lines
2013             Tampa Museum of Art • Tampa FL Five By Five
2013             Elliott Gallery • Eckerd College St. Petersburg FL When the Spirit Moves Me
2009             Studio@620 • St. Petersburg FL Works on Paper
2008             Art Du Monde Gallery • St. Petersburg FL 8/08/08
2008             Gulf Coast Museum of Art • Largo FL StudioWorks
2006             Gala Corina • Ybor City FL Esperanza
2006             Art Center of Manatee• Bradenton FL Speaking Volumes
2005             Terrace Gallery • Orlando FL • Eight Women Sculptors
2005             Longboat Key Center for the Arts • Longboat Key FL FLAG
2004             Chelsea Galleria • Miami FL Caribbean Collections
2004             Artist Unlimited • Tampa FL Black and White 2004 Juried Exhibition
2003             Ormond Beach Art Museum • Ormond Beach FL Derived From Wood
2002             Slidell Cultural Center • Slidell LA Mixed Media Juried Exhibition
2002             The Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL All Florida Juried Exhibition: Figurative Elements
2001             Elliott Gallery • Eckerd College St. Petersburg FL Book Arts
1998             Gallery 501, Blake High School • Tampa FL Art Department Faculty Show
1997             Art League of Manatee County • Bradenton FL International Fine Arts Media Exhibition
1995             Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design • Sarasota FL Faculty Exhibition
1994             Frame Center Gallery • Kingston Jamaica “Contemporary Works”
1994             National Gallery of Jamaica • Kingston Jamaica Annual National Exhibition

Teaching Experience

2018                     Adjunct Art Professor • College of Arts and Media • Southeastern University • Lakeland FL 2011 - 2018         Teaching Artist Creative Clay Cultural Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL
2017                     Teaching Artist American Institute of Architects Miami Chapter Summer Camp Program                               Instructor Art Lab Workshop Polk Museum of Art • Lakeland FL
2015 – 2016        Adjunct Art Professor • College of Arts and Media • Southeastern University • Lakeland FL 2014 – 2015       VSA Artist-in-Residency Program • Paul B Stevens Exceptional School • Clearwater FL
2013 - 2015         Art Instructor Polk Museum of Art • Lakeland FL
2006 -- 2010     Program Supervisor Youth Arts Corps • Gulf Coast Museum of Art • Largo FL
2000 –                Assistant Curator of Exhibitions/Registrar • The Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL
1997 – 2000      Art Instructor Magnet School for the Arts • Howard W. Blake High School • Tampa FL
1995 – 1996        Adjunct Professor Ringling School of Art and Design • Sarasota FL
1988 – 1994       Art Instructor Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts • Kingston Jamaica

Education

2018                        St. Petersburg College of Art and Design • Printmaking I
2011                         Union Institute and University • MA Creativity Studies • Cincinnati Ohio
2010 - 2011            Salvador Dali Museum • Internship • St. Petersburg FL
1997 - 2000            University of South Florida • Professional Teaching Certification K-12 •Tampa FL                                  Undergraduate degree at Boston University College of Fine Arts • BFA Sculpture •
                                  Boston MA

Awards/Affiliations

2018      Second Place Award • St. Petersburg College 20th Annual Juried Student Exhibition
              Relief Print
2016      Recipient of St. Petersburg Arts Alliance Grant • St. Petersburg FL
2008     Second Place Faculty Award • StudioWorks Gulf Coast Museum of Art • Largo FL
2008     Best of Show • 8/08/08 Art Du Monde Gallery • St. Petersburg FL
2007     Honorable Mention • Members Exhibition The Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL
2005     Honorable Mention • Members Exhibition The Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL
2004     Third Place Award • Black and White Artist Unlimited • Tampa FL
2003     Artist Resource Fund Grant • Pinellas Arts Council of Florida
2002     Honorable Mention • Mixed Media Exhibition Slidell Cultural Center • Slidell LA
2002     Honorable Mention • All Florida Juried Exhibition The Arts Center • St. Petersburg FL
2002      Member FLAG (Florida Artist Group)
1997      Best of Show • International Fine Arts Media Art League of Manatee County •
              Bradenton FL
1987     Silver Medal in sculpture Festival Fine Arts Exhibition Jamaica Cultural     Commission               Kingston Jamaica

Major Commisions Special Projects:

2002        St. Petersburg Public Art Committee St. Petersburg, FL
1994         Special Effects Limited • Kingston Jamaica
1993        Jamaica Secondary School Text Book Project Social Studies Text Book Illustrator
                 Ministry of Education and Culture • Kingston, Jamaica
1992       University of Technology • Lillian’s Restaurant • Kingston Jamaica
1991        Harold Morrison & Associates Architects & Engineers • Café Laguna Restaurant Negril 1989                          Jamaica Life of Jamaica Insurance Company • Kingston Jamaica
                  Springs Plaza Mosaic mural
1988         Urban Development Corporation • Coal Yard Market Mural• Kingston Jamaica
1985        United Nations Decade for Women Co-designed Art Poster
                  The International Women’s Conference • Nairobi, Kenya

Public Collections:

National Commercial Bank of Jamaica • Kingston Jamaica Southeastern University • Lakeland FL
Terra Nova Hotel • Kingston Jamaica
Wyndham Hotel • Kingston Jamaica
Donald Sangster Airport • Montego Bay Jamaica
Life of Jamaica Insurance Company Executive Office • Kingston Jamaica Bank of Jamaica • Kingston, Jamaica
National Export Bank of Jamaica • Kingston Jamaica
The Plastic Surgery Center • Kingston Jamaica
IBM Executive Center • Kingston Jamaica
Insurance Company of the West Indies • Kingston Jamaica
Pat and Ken Ramsey Private Collection Kingston Jamaica

Publications:

Morean Arts Center Celebrating 100 Years of Art and Community 2017
Image of sculpture Re-Defined
The Garden Party Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Bank of Jamaica 2001
Images of Sculptures #57 Unfolding, #58 When I See the Lily Pushing Through the Sod
Jamaica Journal Quarterly of the Institute of Jamaica 1985 18/2
“Sisterhood and Individualism” Three Women Artist Exhibition review by Gloria Escoffery with sculpture image Looking Through the Flower.
Dare to Dream: Retrospect by Ken Ramsay Image of sculpture The Mother Knot