Rene' A. Westbrook

Hi there! Thank you for your interest!

Artist Statement:

I am a 2D and 3D conceptual, narrative artist who experiments with all sorts of materials, mediums and genres, including acrylic on (mostly) un-stretched canvas, drawing, ceramics, found object assemblage, mixed-media sculpture and collage, with a keen interest in using all those things in site specific installation.  I largely focus on contemporary social justice concerns, women’s rights, environmentalism, immigration issues, and political hypocrisy/corruption, with personal narrative themes interwoven.

I like using found, recycled and fabricated objects to create strange realities that speak of the human experience. My aesthetic is unironic curated kitsch; comical or interesting use of materials aims to pull viewers into interacting with the work first because it’s funny and fun, but with a dawning recognition of it’s serious content. The tension between materials and message interests me. All objects have their own story, which adds a foundational narrative to my work that give deeper meaning.

Bio:

I grew up in Sparks, Nevada in the 1960s and 1970s. (Reno is so close to hell that you can see Sparks from there!) As a kid I was rambunctious, noisy, running everywhere; my superhero skill was and is Finding Things. My older sister Dona and younger brother Chris and I had the best childhood you could imagine, full of cave crawling, graveyard wandering, night sky viewing, bicycling, camping, skiing, commercial fishing, kayaking, laughing, reading, singing; Westbrooks never saw a dirt road that didn’t call to them. My parents were social justice warriors, adventurers, travelers, educators - every day I am grateful that I was raised by such progressive, smart, compassionate, funny and incredible human beings.

After graduating from high school in 1977 and plodding through an academic year at University of Nevada Reno, I moved to Yellowstone National Park, where I lived and worked off and on for 16 years. In 1990 I received a BA in studio art (emphasis in ceramic sculpture) from Montana State University, Bozeman, graduating summa cum laude. From 1990 – 1999 I worked as a traveling Artist-in-Residence for the state art agencies of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska, specializing in all-ages, large-scale collaborative installation and mural projects.  From 1990 – 1992 I was artist-in-residence in Great Falls, Montana, for a long-term collaboration with Montana Arts Council, Great Falls Public Schools and Paris Gibson Square Museum of Contemporary Art.  I have additionally taught private and art center-hosted visual arts workshops in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada and California, and collaborated with community theater groups on stage and prop design.  I am the founding Director and a participating artist of the contemporary artist collaboration The Caravan Project, a collective of 14 artists based out of Montana.  I was the production manager for Grand Canyon Music Festival from 2003 - 2008, where I co-founded the music outreach program Grand Canyon School of Rock; I currently serve on Grand Canyon Music Festival’s Advisory Board.  From May of 2009 through September 2014 I was the National Park Service Program Coordinator for Grand Canyon National Park’s innovative south rim Artist-in-Residence program.

My professional experiences include long and short-term artist-in-residencies in schools and communities, workshop designer/instructor, arts administration, curator, gallery management, exhibit curation and design, festival production, freelance writing, arts consultant, art program and project manager, visiting lecture series presenter, and comic book writer/artist. My art essays have been featured in national, regional and local publications, exhibit catalogues, and on websites.

My work has been shown throughout the United States, in juried group exhibits, invitationals, and solo exhibits.

Personal:

My husband Dan and I met at Tower Falls, Yellowstone National Park, in 1980. In 1995 we had a daughter, Annabelle, who is currently a student at Evergreen College. We three have had the great good fortune to have lived in some of our country’s most iconic landscapes; Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, Teton National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. In 2014, we moved from northern Arizona to White Salmon, WA, in the Columbia River Gorge, where Dan took a job with the Army Corps of Engineers at The Dalles dam.  After years of raising up a wonderful daughter and caring for ailing loved ones, I am refocusing on working in-studio, writing and teaching fun and experimental children’s and adult art workshops. One of these days we’re going to, along with dear friends from our Yellowstone youth, commandeer a compound for our retirement, where we’ll open a Roadside Salsa Stand and Oddity Emporium, featuring a fine fine art gallery, museum and stage, offering a Reliable Curmudgeon Experience (tm).

Drop me a note! ReneAWestbrook@gmail.com