The Arts & Business Council, Blackbird Media, and F&M Bank have teamed up to present the Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign. This week’s featured artist is Ruth Chase!
Ruth is a multimedia artist whose work speaks to the value of people to their community. It carries themes of belonging, visibility, and what it means to be a human. She describes her artistic practice as inquiry-based, and engaged in community bridge-building.
Ruth explains that when painting in acrylic on canvas, she is “blurring the lines with drips and intersecting patterns, shapes and edges, allowing drips to break up hard lines to impart a sense of history, memory and emotional complexity. Grey is a dominant color used to represent neutrality.”
A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, Ruth was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for Art in Action, and an individual artist grant from the Carl Jacobs Foundation. She was granted a residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts in NY, was published in Professional Artist Magazine, Catapult Art Magazine, and Huffington Post, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum.
Ruth was a featured artist on the “Dead Files” TV program, and was awarded an Artist in Residence at Nevada County Arts for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film “Belonging” screened at the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Ruth received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice award, exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute.
In addition to her intimate paintings on canvas, Ruth creates public art and videos celebrating female identity while challenging stereotypes. “[My] art film is a collage of moments that allow the viewer to connect with unlikely perspectives; finding a sense of belonging with someone they may see as ‘other’.”
To learn more about Ruth Chase and her work, visit www.RuthChase.com/painting.
Want to be featured on The Nashville Sign? Visual artists working in any medium, who are members* of the Arts & Business Council at the Basic Level ($30 annually) or above, are eligible to apply for Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign.
*Those unable to become members due to financial barriers can be granted a waiver. Contact us at [email protected] to be confidentially considered for a waiver.