Florida Artists Group

Artists Bio

Rhonda is a retired art teacher and working artist.  She has always worked as a showing artist, and still loves creating art.  She is a product of the New York City School System.  She attended the High School of Music and Art – majoring in Art – attended Boston University School of the Arts and received a B.F.A. degree in Art Education and Painting.  She completed her degrees getting an M.A. from Montclair State University in Fine Arts.  Rhonda has taught both fine and commercial art in elementary, middle and high schools.  She has taught in art school, college and university levels from New England to Florida spanning 42 years.  She currently works in her studio full time.  Rhonda is affiliated with the galleries, The Studios of Key West, FL and the Art Center Inc. Gallery in Key West, FL.  She is actively showing her  artworks in solo and group exhibits locally and across the country.  She works in her Sugar Loaf Key studio. 

Artist Statement

As an artist, Rhonda allows herself time to thank and analyze the visual world before responding.  She is a painter who uses acrylic paints and also loves working in clay.  She loves color and pattern.  She often incorporates clay forms directly onto her paintings.  Sculpture is real to her.  She believes that her works reflects an African-ness that communicates the awesome resilience of the human spirit.  She strives to capture an aspect of the human psyche and am involved with storytelling and history.  She is fascinated with the presence, body language and the suggestiveness of lips.  My interest in portraiture is still inherent in my current works.
She connects with nature, souls and ideas. Life for her is “wonderful, layered, thrilling and challenging.” 

Selected Art Awards

2011       2nd Place, Florida Artists Group Exhibition, Cornell Museum of Art & American Culture,
                West Palm Beach, Florida
2002      Best of Show, Florida Professional Art Exhibition, Orlando Museum of Art, Florida
2001      Best of Show, Florida Professional Art Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Florida
1992       Best of Show, Miami Juried Art Exhibition, Omni Art Space Gallery, Miami, Florida

Selected Teaching Awards

Selected Teaching Awards

2007       Distinguished Service in Art Education Award, Florida Art Education Association
2007       ackie Hinchy-Cipes Art Education Award, Miami-Dade County Art Education Association
2002      Florida Higher Education Art Educator of the Year Award, Florida Art Education Association
1994       Professor of the Year Award, Florida International University
1993       ACE Scholar Award, Florida Department of Education Arts for a Complete Education Program

Exhibitions:

2019
Solo Show – Glimpses: Inside Personl Space – The Studios of Key West, OXJ Gallery
Florida Cultural Arts Council Mosaic Show, traveled through Miami and Florida Keys
KWCC – College of the Florida Keys
The Studios of Key West – Annual Mango Madness Show
Through our Eyes - The Ritz Theatre and Museum, Jacksonville, FL

2018
Sistah Soul Guides – Keys Arts – Florida Keys Council of the Arts, Key West, FL
Black Muse Art Show – Sarasota Art Center, FL
The Studios of Key West - Members Show
The Studios of Key West - Annual Mango Madness Show
KWCC – College of the Florida Keys – clay masks and sculptural artworks
The Art Center of Key West – Group Show

2017
Blue Muse – Asahl Art Show Sarasota Art Center, FL
Kesha: Black Female Experience of Identity and Race - Jacksonville Main Library Gallery, FL
The Art Center of Key West – Group Show
KWCC – College of the Florida Keys – 1st place award in ceramics
The Studio of Key West  - Annual Mango Madness Show
The Key West Theatre – Group Show
Florida’s Finest Show – Sarasota Museum of Art – Group Show

2016
Through our Eyes, Sensory Perception - The Ritz Theatre and Museum, Jacksonville, FL