(Tuscaloosa) The Arts Council will present an exhibit featuring the work of Rhys Greene and Linda Muñoz from July 7 – 27, 2011 at the Bama Theatre’s Greensboro Room Gallery. Comprised of quilt art portrayed in glass, photography and fabric, the vibrant display will demonstrate the fine art of the craft but in the various media the featured artists regularly express themselves. An opening reception will take place on July 7 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. during Art Night in conjunction with the “Black Belt 100 Lenses” opening at the Bama’s Junior League Gallery.
Rhys Greene and Linda Muñoz have collaborated on many public mosaic projects and taught numerous classes in the medium throughout the state of Alabama. A recent and well-known project is the iconic Kentuck Tree in the courtyard of the Kentuck Art Center in Northport, Alabama. The duo has taught classes at West End Junior High, York, AL; the Black Belt 100 Lenses Project in Selma, AL; the UA Honors Students’ mosaic wall installation, York, AL; The Alabama Folk School, Camp McDowell, Nauvoo, AL; public art projects in Mentone, Valley Head and Gordo, AL; and classes from their artist studios in York, Mentone and Gordo, AL. Both artists have been featured in Jubilation magazine, published by The Arts Council. The “Quilts Portrayed in Mosaic Art, Photography, and Fabric” exhibit has appeared at the Kentuck Gallery (2008), the Winfield Quilt Show (2009), the Collinsville Quilt Show (2010) and at the University of West Alabama (2011).
Rhys Greene
Rhys Greene lives in the rural community of Zion, near Gordo, AL where she maintains a studio located in her barn that allows her to both create her art and teach small mosaic classes. Additionally, Greene has a wet darkroom for the printing of black and white images. After participation in classes focusing on stained glass panels and mosaics, Greene combined the two techniques for glass mosaic art. During the years of 2006 – 2008, she attended classes at Shelton State Community College and began to learn basic film photography and how to print in the wet darkroom. In 2008, digital photography became an important part of her creative process, and she began editing at the Samford After Sundown program in Birmingham. Greene’s photography has been displayed at The Arts Council’s Junior League Gallery, the Kentuck Gallery and the Columbus Arts Council gallery. Her work appears in permanent collections at The Kentuck Courtyard and Gallery, Organic Vessels Gallery (Hamilton, AL), St. Michael’s Episcopal Church (Fayette, AL), Camp McDowell (Nauvoo, AL), the Town of Gordo and The Cancer Treatment Center, DCH Regional Hospital (Tuscaloosa, AL).
Artist Statement: I am challenged by both the photography and glass mosaic media, and my study is on-going.
My art is always evolving and I am often surprised by the twists and turns that lead me to a finished photo or mosaic. Seeking new and different ways of expressing myself in the two art forms is challenging and capturing the essence of familiar things in a meaningful and intriguing way is my objective. Our individual life experiences define how we view the world and how we relate to art. I hope that my work will invite the viewer to experience something based on their own personal perspective.
Linda Muñoz
Linda Muñoz has worked in the medium of glass for over 25 years, however her artistic journey began prior to her introduction to glass. Working as a Registered Nurse in a psychiatric hospital, she watched her staff nursing assistants as they pieced quilts to pass the long hours between patient checks. She found the process to be irresistible and soon had pieced her own “Lone Star Quilt.” She has since won awards for her pictorial quilt designs. Muñoz has taught stained glass mosaic art and fused glass to children and adults for the past eight years. In 2010 she was chosen to become a DANA Teaching Artist. The training she received through the Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts was designed to prepare her to integrate arts into the classroom curriculum. As a result, she has developed a unit of study called “Patchwork History” in which students study the Quilters of Gee’s Bend and then construct a mosaic quilt for a wall installation at their school. The artist’s work can be seen at Northport’s Kentuck Center , The University of Alabama Arboretum, Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, AL, at the Black Belt Garden on the campus of the University of West Alabama, at Black Belt Treasures in Camden, AL, on the wall of her studio in York, AL and on her web site at www.littleriverart.com.
Artist Statement: Vibrant patterns, textures and colors are vital elements in my glass artwork. Coming from a family in which quilting was a much loved and practiced art form, I enjoy creating mosaic and fused glass art pieces inspired by the lines, shapes and colors of the quilts I grew up with as a child. For this reason I find it important to impart my love of glass art and quilting to the children that I teach. (As a DANA Teaching Artist, I received training to integrate arts into the curriculums through a lesson plan I developed, “Patchwork History”.) This show offers a rare opportunity for me to exhibit both my glass art and my quilts.
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