Sculptor
Membership Chair
2021- Present
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 Artists
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
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