RUTH GENESLAW

About the Artist

I grew up in Buffalo, NY, the daughter of a tailor and a seamstress. It seemed only natural that I should be drawn to textiles. I majored in art at the University of Buffalo and taught art briefly but, after moving to New York in the early sixties, I began to pursue my interest in fiber art. The seventies saw a resurgence in weaving and other textile arts, and I was a part of that renaissance. For over 20 years I exhibited my fiber constructions internationally, and completed numerous commissions for residential and corporate spaces. However, in 1988 a confluence of circumstances, interests and a new studio led to a dramatic shift in my work. I also assumed a second career as a librarian. A longtime interest in the sculpture of naive and outsider artists led to my own experimentation with woodcarving. Using knives and basswood I began to construct narrative vignettes that explored social and political themes and often included autobiographical elements. As the work developed over time it became edgier and resonated on different levels. I have sought to address the hypocrisy, ambivalence, contradiction and hubris of events that touch our lives. The human condition continues to provide endless material for my commentary. My studio is in Haverstraw, NY.

Grants/Awards/Appointments

Honorable Mention, smallWORKS, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, 2020

Art and Activism, Presenter, Second Saturday Series, Arts Council of Rockland , Garnerville, NY, 7/14/18

Honorable Mention, Studio Montclair Viewpoints 2017, aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ

1st Award for 3-Dimensional Art, smallWORKS, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, 2016

Award of Excellence, HERStory: 2016, Manhattan Arts International, online exhibition, 2016.

1st Award for 3-Dimensional Art, smallWORKS, Garrison Art Center, Garrson, NY, 2014.

Strategic Opportunity Stipend (S.O.S.), New York Foundation for the Arts, 2008

Weiss Sisters’ Prize for Sculpture, 105th Annual Juried Art Exhibition of New England/ NY, New Haven

Paint & Clay Club, John Slade Ely House, New Haven, CT, 2006

Award of Excellence, 17th Annual NJ Small Works Show, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ, 2006

Grant, Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc., 2005

County Executive Visual Artist Award, Rockland County, NY 1997

1st Prize in Sculpture, It’s Love, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY, 1995

Rockland County Arts in Public Places Committee, Appointed 1992 – 2006

New York State Craft Artists Grant, Empire State Crafts Alliance & New York State Council on the Arts, 1990

Fellowship, NJ State Council on the Arts, 1984 and 1980

Juror’s Award, Silk Works, Gayle Willson Gallery, Southampton, NY, 1984

Artpark Artist-in-Residence, Lewiston, NY, 1983

Award for Excellence, The Art in Craft, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1978

National Park Service Grant, Crafts in the Parks Program, 1974

Selected Exhibitions

smallWORKS, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, 2020

The Long View (virtual exhibition), Arts Council of Rockland, Garnerville, NY, 2020-21

The Artist Perseveres, (virtual exhibition), Marmaroneck Artist Guild, Mamaroneck, NY, 2020

Thirty-Seven, Hopper House (virtual exhibition), Nyack, NY, 2020

Fear, Volition Gallery, Bell-Ans Center of Creative Arts, Orangeburg, NY 2019

re:HUMANs, Lagstein Gallery, Nyack, NY, 2019

Figurative Language, Zakin Gallery, The Art School at Old Church, Demarest, NJ, 2019

Emancipation of the Mind, Arts Mid-Hudson Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2019

Figuratively Speaking: Feats, Foibles, Follies, Pomona Cultural Center, Pomona, NY, 2018

Cryin’ for Justice, Garnerville, Arts Center, Garnerville, NY, 2017

Studio Montclair Viewpoints 2017, aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ, 2017

smallWORKS, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, 2016

HERStory: 2016, Manhattan Arts International, online exhibition, 2016

Ruth Geneslaw: A Particular Point of View, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY, 2015

Studio Montclair Viewpoints 2015, aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ, 2015

smallWORKS, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, 2014

Artoberfest, Garner Arts Center, Garnerville, NY, 2014

Stories We Tell, Women’s Caucus for Art, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY 2013

Voices, Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY, 2013

Members’ Exhibition, Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY, 2012

It’s All About Me, Azarian McCullough Gallery, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY, 2012

Resurrection Show, Garnerville Arts Center, Garnerville, NY, 2012

Garnerworld, Garnerville Arts Center, Garnerville, NY, 2012

An Elegant Distortion, Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY, 2009

Then and Now, Azarian-McCullough Art Gallery, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY, 2008

Works in Wood, New Hope Arts, New Hope, PA, 2006

Signatures of Age, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2006

105th Annual Juried Art Exhibition of New England/NY, New Haven Paint & Clay Club, New Haven, CT, 2006

17th Annual NJ Small Works Show, Center Gallery at Old Church, Demarest, NJ, 2006

Solo Exhibition, Azarian-McCullough Art Gallery, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill, NY, 2005

Artistic Fragments: Art 2005, Tri-State Juried Exhibition, Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY, 2005

Projekt30, Juried Internet Exhibition, February 2005

The Letter and the Word, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ, 2004

Two Person Exhibition, Pomona Cultural Center, Pomona, NY, 2004

Glory Be! Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH, 2002

Solo Exhibition, Arts Council of Rockland, Spring Valley, NY, 1999

Gayle Willson Gallery, Southampton, NY, 1997

Rocklandia, Hopper House, Nyack, NY, 1997

Contemporary New York State Crafts, New York State Museum, Albany, NY, 1997

If the Shoe Fits, fao gallery, New York, NY, 1996 & Hopper House, Nyack, NY, 1997

Rockland Connection: Today, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY 1996

It’s Love, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY, 1995

X-Sightings, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 1994

Frank Miele Gallery, New York, NY 1994

Women of the Americas, Arts Alliance of Haverstraw, Haverstraw, NY 1993

Distinguished Alumni Exhibit, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 1993

New Jersey Designer Craftsmen 40th Anniversary Exhibition, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, 1990

Artists of the Hudson River Valley, America House Gallery, Piermont, NY, 1989

Fiber, Metal, Wood, NJ State Museum, Trenton, NJ, 1986

In Recognition of Excellence, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, 1986

Softly Stated Spaces, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkill, NY, 1985

Five in Fiber, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA, 1985

Silk Works, Gayle Willson Gallery, Southampton, NY 1984

Fellows and Friends, Montclair State College, Montclair, NJ 1984

Elements of Craft, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ, 1984

New Jersey Designer Craftsmen: Three Decades of Fine Crafts, Bergen County Museum, Paramus, NJ, 1982

Two Person Exhibition, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ, 1980

3rd and 4th International Exhibition of Miniature Textiles, London & extended tour, 1980 and 1978

Fellowship Recipient Exhibition, NJ State Museum, Trenton, NJ, 1980

Two Person Exhibition, Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ, 1980

Works in Miniature, The Elements, New York, NY, 1980

National Miniature Fiber Exhibition, Armory for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM and Textile Museum, Washington, DC, 1979

The Art in Craft, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1978

Contemporary Fiber Art, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, 1978

Landscape: New Views, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1978

Celebration 20, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY, 1976

Solo Exhibition, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, 1976

Commissions/Collections

Sumitomo Bank, New York, NY 1987

Temple Emanuel, Woodcliff Lake, NJ, 1987 and 1983

Abelson-Taylor, Inc., Chicago, IL, 1985

Jack Lenor Larson, New York, NY, 1984

Kaiser Foundation Hospital, South Sacramento, CA, 1984

Windsor 9, Windsor, CT, 1984

Ernst and Whinney, Newark, NJ, 1984

Smith Klein & French, Philadelphia, PA, 1984

Bell Laboratories, Freehold, NJ, 1984

Hartford Courant Skybox, Coliseum, Hartford, CT, 1983

Pacific Telephone Company, San Jose, CA, 1983

Continental National Bank, Fort Worth, TX, 1982

Dean Whitter Reynolds, World Trade Center, New York, NY, 1982

Hackensack Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ, 1981

Meridien Hotel, Houston, TX, 1980

Harwood K. Smith & Partners, Dallas, TX, 1980

National Park Service, Harpers Ferry, VA, 1974

Education

BFA – University of Buffalo, 1960, cum laude

MA – Teachers College, Columbia University, 1963

MLS - Rutgers University, 1987

Studied with Alice Adams, 1964

Publications/Media

The Rockland County Times, January 29 – February 4, 2015

The New York Times, Aug 29, 1999; Dec 26, 1993; Sept 29, 1991; Aug 19, 1990; Feb 24, 1985; Feb 17, 1985; June 3, 1984; Oct 9, 1983; Aug 14, 1983; June 5, 1981; Dec 7, 1980; Oct 19, 1980; June 29, 1980; July 30, 1978; Nov 18, 1973

Craft Horizons/American Craft, Dec 1985; Oct 1983; June 1981; Dec 1980; June 1979; Feb 1978; June 1976; June 1975

Fiberarts, Sept/Oct 1994; Jan/Feb 1986; Jan/Feb 1985; July/Aug 1984; July/Aug 1980; May/June 1980; July/Aug 1979; No. 6, 1978; No. 2, 1978; No. 6, 1977

Hudson Valley Magazine, November 2005

Buffalo News, June 10, 1994

Artists Talk on Art, Panel Discussion, Soho20 Gallery, New York, NY, March 25, 1988

State of the Arts, New Jersey Network Public Television, Studio Visit and Television Interview, July 15 and 17, 1983

Textile/Art, Driadi 14, 12/80

Artweek, 7/19/80

Fiberarts Design Book, 1980; Fiberarts Design Book II, 1983

Fiberscope, Interweave Press, 1979

Feltmaking, Beverly Gordon, 1980

Double Weave, Palmy Weigle, 1978

Fiber Arts, Diane Maurer, 1978

Creative Handweaving, Xenia Ley Parker, 1976

Soft Sculpture and Other Soft Art Forms, Dona Meilach, 1974