born in Morocco, raised in rural California, taught to make stuff from baling wire at an early age, BS from UCD in design, MFA from SAIC in fiber, works with youngsters decorating schools, makes a mean blackberry/pomegranate jam
likes to work outside with found color and with plants, is a little obsessed with spirals
photo: Meredith Heuer
contact
email
lrwr@lucyruthwrightrivers.com
gallery
Aron Packer Projects
www.aronpackerprojects.com
Chicago, Illinois
773.458.3150
lrwr@lucyruthwrightrivers.com
gallery
Aron Packer Projects
www.aronpackerprojects.com
Chicago, Illinois
773.458.3150
experience
Artist in Residence
Art classes and hands-on projects including large scale mosaic artwork permanently installed at school sites, grades K-5 at Farmington and Collegeville Schools, 10-12 grade at Vista High School; Escalon Unified School District. Annually, 2007 – 2014
Visiting Artist
-Front of outdoor stage at Hart-Ransom School covered with mosaic by Eighth Grade Students. Funded by the Hart-Ransom PTC, Modesto, California. Spring 2016
-Mosaic covered freeform bench in collaboration with Linda Fitz Gibbon and children at Explorit Science Center, Davis, California. Primarily funded by a City of Davis Art Contract grant. Fall 2005
-Mosaic covered straw bale bench project in 2002 and mosaic covered planter projects in 2003 and 2004 with sixth graders at Lisbon Elementary School, Sacramento, California. Funded by the school and Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. Collaborated with Linda Fitz Gibbon
-Various small mosaic projects with elementary students at César Chávez and Marguerite Montgomery Elementary Schools, Davis, California. 2003, 2004
-Permanently installed large scale mosaic projects created with students at César Chávez and Valley Oak Elementary Schools, Davis, California. 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003
-Mosaic Planter project with middle school students at Einstein Middle School, Sacramento, California. Funded by Very Special Arts. 2002
Lecturer
-Personal Adornment; hand constructed textiles, Department of Environmental Design, University of California, Davis, California. 1995
Teaching Assistant
-Hand Constructed Textiles, Fiber Department, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 1991
commissions
2017 Franzia Mosaic, panel mosaic for private residence, Escalon, California
2016 Zack bench and table, site specific mosaic 'skin' for 40' bench and 9' oval table at private residence, Escalon, Caiifornia
2012 Zack Mosaic, panel mosaic for private residence, Escalon, California
2007 Rose Garden Project, mosaic covered sculptural octagonal bench, City of Tracy and the Glotfelty Family, Lincoln Park, Tracy, California
2005 Dead Cat Alley Nine Lives Project, frame for historical marker, Woodland, California
2003 Pride of Sacramento Valley, embellished lion for region wide art project. California
2002 Ann’s Wall; mosaic on garden wall, private residence, Davis, California
1993-present; “the links we forge”; ongoing project creating links for a chain made of wire and beads. The chain, currently 90 feet long, with another 9’ in progress, is in a private collection in New York.
selected exhibitions
2017 "The Other Side: a Swipple Reunion, site specific installation, "bamboozled", at the Atlas Building, Newburgh, New York
2016 newFIBERS2016, second place prize for site specific installation outside student center Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan
2013, '14, '16 Oakwilde Ranch Spring Sculpture Exhibition, Valley Springs, California. 2013 Best Installation award for “grassy grass grass, tree tree tree
2012 Bead Party; solo show, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2008 Organic Abstraction; solo show, The Pence Gallery, Davis, California
2007 The Same Only Different; solo show, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2007 swipple presents: new faces and old favorites; Ford Gallery, EMU, Ypsilanti, Michigan
2007 Ill Fitting (27 sizes); Residential College Art Gallery, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2006 Exploding Head Gallery, Sacramento, California
2000, ‘01, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05 Valentine Show; Nelson Gallery, Davis, California
2003 A Twist on Thread; Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, Illinois
2003 California Fine Art Exhibit, award of merit, California State Fair, Sacramento
2003 City of Davis 3rd annual juried art show; Davis Art Center Gallery, Davis, California
2002 Threaded, Twisted and Wrapped. mixed media fiber; solo show, Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1998 Random Order; solo show, Aron Packer at Gary Marks, Chicago, Illinois
1998 Fire and Ice; Merced County Courthouse Museum, Merced, California
1997 Fantasy Tablescapes; Installation at the Design Gallery, University of California, Davis
1995 Integral Ornament; solo show, Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1995 “If I Had a Hammer”; Archival Framing, Sacramento, California
1994 Rancho Relaxo II; 1993 Lime Drawings; site specific artwork and studio shows at Wright’s Nut Ranch, Escalon, California
1994 Two person show at Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1994 Folk, Fiction, Fact, Folly; Plate and Palette International, Berkeley, California
1994 Boxes, Parcels, Containers, Vessels: The Shape of Space; Sebastopol Center for the Arts, California
1993 Fiber: Over the Edge; Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, Illinois
1992 Design Alumni Invitational; The Design Gallery, University of California, Davis
1992 California Small Works 1992; California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California
1991 Body Cover; Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1991 Glass Pond; site specific installation in the Locker at Gallery 2, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1991 The Opaque and Translucent; Aron Packer’s Apartment Gallery, Chicago, Illin
1985 You Art What You Eat; Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, California
collections
Work in private collections and public places in the U.S.; private collection in Switzerland.
2017 "The Other Side: a Swipple Reunion, site specific installation, "bamboozled", at the Atlas Building, Newburgh, New York
2016 newFIBERS2016, second place prize for site specific installation outside student center Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan
2013, '14, '16 Oakwilde Ranch Spring Sculpture Exhibition, Valley Springs, California. 2013 Best Installation award for “grassy grass grass, tree tree tree
2012 Bead Party; solo show, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2008 Organic Abstraction; solo show, The Pence Gallery, Davis, California
2007 The Same Only Different; solo show, Packer Schopf Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2007 swipple presents: new faces and old favorites; Ford Gallery, EMU, Ypsilanti, Michigan
2007 Ill Fitting (27 sizes); Residential College Art Gallery, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2006 Exploding Head Gallery, Sacramento, California
2000, ‘01, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05 Valentine Show; Nelson Gallery, Davis, California
2003 A Twist on Thread; Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, Illinois
2003 California Fine Art Exhibit, award of merit, California State Fair, Sacramento
2003 City of Davis 3rd annual juried art show; Davis Art Center Gallery, Davis, California
2002 Threaded, Twisted and Wrapped. mixed media fiber; solo show, Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1998 Random Order; solo show, Aron Packer at Gary Marks, Chicago, Illinois
1998 Fire and Ice; Merced County Courthouse Museum, Merced, California
1997 Fantasy Tablescapes; Installation at the Design Gallery, University of California, Davis
1995 Integral Ornament; solo show, Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1995 “If I Had a Hammer”; Archival Framing, Sacramento, California
1994 Rancho Relaxo II; 1993 Lime Drawings; site specific artwork and studio shows at Wright’s Nut Ranch, Escalon, California
1994 Two person show at Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1994 Folk, Fiction, Fact, Folly; Plate and Palette International, Berkeley, California
1994 Boxes, Parcels, Containers, Vessels: The Shape of Space; Sebastopol Center for the Arts, California
1993 Fiber: Over the Edge; Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, Illinois
1992 Design Alumni Invitational; The Design Gallery, University of California, Davis
1992 California Small Works 1992; California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California
1991 Body Cover; Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1991 Glass Pond; site specific installation in the Locker at Gallery 2, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1991 The Opaque and Translucent; Aron Packer’s Apartment Gallery, Chicago, Illin
1985 You Art What You Eat; Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, California
collections
Work in private collections and public places in the U.S.; private collection in Switzerland.