Author: Ruth Chase

ARTIST • MOTHER • COMMUNITY MEMBER raised in VENICE, CA. I’m on a path that I never expected. Starting out as an oil painter that led to filmmaking, creating multi-media installations that include audio, social media, video, public art, and social engagement. My focus is on energy, working with concepts that reflect what it means to be human.

‘uba seo

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THIS SATURDAY there is an exhibition that is the result of an eight month journey I’ve been on with California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), “The Story of Land, Water, and People.” 

'Uba Seo Nisenan Arts and Culture window in downtown Nevada City

In the Summer of 2023, it was so exciting to create and co-lead an outdoor experience at Sierra Friends Center/ Woolman in Nevada City, CA where the Tribal youth and elders went into the woods to create art installations with a focus on belonging to the environment.

This experience was part of a larger program to engage in Cultural practices and protocols as tools for healing, Cultural revitalization, and trauma mitigation. 

I’m deeply grateful for this opportunity
to amplify Nisenan narratives through
the Arts. This journey has instilled in me a profound
appreciation for the transformative ability of storytelling
through artistic expression.


Working with Shelly Covert, Saxon Thomas, Mira Clark, and the Tribal Elders through weekly workshops, online and at ‘Uba Seo: Nisenan Arts and Culture, has been a very powerful experience.

Using the power of art to engage in
meaningful dialogue, to heal, and to educate
the public and ourselves transform lives. 

Funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, through the Upstate California Creative Corps program and builds upon CHIRP’s Visibility Through Art initiative. It fosters collaborations between artists and Tribal culture bearers to increase public awareness and engage the community in discussions about Tribal social justice, Nisenan history, and environmental issues related to water and land.

I am a California Creative Corps Grantee through my work with CHIRP.

Saving the best for last……

The exhibition is the result of a journey the Tribe embarked on through a series of gatherings and workshops that centered on discussions about land, water, and people. The eight-month exchange resulted in the creation of paintings, drawings, beadwork, film, and sculpture. 

OPENING ART RECEPTION
Saturday, March 16th, 6- 9:30 pm

EXHIBITING
Nisenan Tribal Member Artists: Shelly Covert, Ginger Covert, Lorena Davis, Sarah Thomas, Cindy Buero, Debra McBrien, Saxon Thomas
Participating Artists: Nikila Badua, Maile Claire, Mira Clark, Ruth Chase, Jan-Michelle Sawyer
Native | Nisenan Special Guest Artists: Tiffany Adams and Deerstine Madrone Suehead

The Story of Land, Water, and People will build on the foundation of CHIRP’s Visibility Through Art (VTA) initiative. This project coordinates collaborations among artists and Tribal Culture bearers to increase public awareness and engage the public related to social justice, through the lens of environment-related issues including, land, water, and people. 

In addition, non-Tribal artists collaborated individually with CHIRP on artworks to create respectful and reflective works. These conversations come to light in this exhibition by utilizing art as the conduit. This event will promote the visibility of important Tribal social justice issues and expand conversations.

This activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, through the Upstate California Creative Corps program, administered by Nevada County Arts Council.

EVENT PAGE

Image Credits:

  • ‘Uba Seo Nisenan Arts and Culture window in downtown Nevada City,
  • Shelly Covert, Ruth Chase, me again, Mira Clark
  • Workshop at Woolman with Tribal Elders
  • Ruth Chase video footage
  • Image of video footage of interviews we did together

NEW WORK by Ruth Chase

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I’m currently immersed in a journey down a mysterious path that is asking to be born. These works are encouraging me to wonder about our majestic night skies, of the cells in our body being a mirror of the celestial body. I have about ten works in progress in the studio, with four completed. 

Cosmos Concealed
acrylic, wax on canvas, 20 x 24″

Beholden
acrylic, wax on canvas, 10 x 10″

Empathy
acrylic, wax on canvas, 10 x 10″

An Offering
acrylic, wax on canvas, 12 x 12″

PORTFOLIO
MERCH

NEXT TIME YOU’RE IN HENDERSONVILLE, TN

Schedule a Visit

CONNECT

Growing Up In V E N I C E by Jeff Cody Morris

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jeff-on-top-of-waldorf-1990-copy

 

July 4th party, around 1990, on the roof of the building I was temporarily managing. The El Dorado Apartment at 21 Westminster and Ocean Front Walk in Venice. This  became my home neighborhood for the next 12 years, which entailed a lot of different experiences, and meeting a lot of different people.

Venice is the place where my grandfather, Jimmy Wood, winter quartered to his circus in the 40’s. And where we came back to in the mid 70’s, after traveling and living all over the country. The place where we could finally make friends that would last a lifetime.

 

 

Jeff Morris Cody West of Lincoln Project copy.JPG
Painted for the West of Lincoln Project by Ruth Chase

 

A place diverse and varied in it’s people and ideas, but also like a small town that just happens to be sandwiched between the beach and a huge city. A true crossroad of the world, where my friends from around the globe come to. Where individuality is the uniform and expression is uninhibited. Where I first fell in love, and first did most things I probably shouldn’t have. When I travel, I still love to come back, because I always run into a familiar face, that makes it home for me.

Jeff Cody Morris is a third generation Venice local and artist. His work recently appeared in the Venice Art Crawl last May.

W e s t  of  L i n c o l n  Project

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August 5 – September 1

Opening Reception | Saturday, August 5, 4 – 8pm
13445 Beach Ave., Venice Marina, CA

 

Growing Up in V E N I C E by Michael Cramer

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My life back then was one long rush of surfing, skating, and drinking cheap malt liquor, bought for us by any number of street dwellers willing to trade a shard of their shaky morals for a Kool or a cold can. It was exhaling Marlboro’s by day and inhaling drugs by night. It was summer living year round, skipping school with the scent of salt air, hippy incense, and coconut oil never really washed far away. It was tar in the tides and on the soles of your feet. It was a cold forty at ten in the morning. It was a way of life all held together with Mr. Zog’s surf wax, beach cruisers, and drum circles. And it was living with sand and insanity in everything you owned. And when the sun went down… it was Venice nights… but that’s another story, for another day. Yet happily, in time, there were also many like me who made the mayhem into something good. We survived and we thrived, and now we have an indelibly tattooed spirit, a tie-dyed soul that found its heart from growing up in Venice.
 
by Michael Cramer for the West of Lincoln Project
 
 
 
 
 
 The black and white image was the last image of  Dylan taken by David Scott

W e s t  of  L i n c o l n  Project

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Passion Projects – Exhibition of work by Ruth Chase

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MACC at The Streets – Passion Projects – September 1 – 30

The exhibition is a collection of works that come from several of Ruth’s award winning and grant funded passion projects exploring themes of the human spirit and belonging. Her paintings are acrylic on canvas, blurring the lines with drips and intersecting patterns, shapes, and edges, allowing drips to break up hard lines to impart a sense of history, memory, and emotional complexity.

“The public plays a vital role in the outcome of my work, taking a journey with me that can last up to three years. Self-aware subjects with strong belief systems fascinate me and become the subjects of my work.”
– Ruth Chase

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ruth Chase is a multimedia artist born in Venice, CA, living in Tennessee. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute whose artistic practice is inquiry-based and engages community bridge-building. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for Art in Action and a grant to an individual artist from the Carl Jacobs Foundation. She was granted a residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts in NY, published in Professional Artist Magazine, Catapult Art Magazine, and Huffington Post, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum. Ruth was a featured artist on the Dead Files TV program and was awarded an Artist in Residence at Nevada County Arts for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film BELONGING screened at the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Ruth received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice, exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute, most recently her work was featured on the Nashville Sign.

MACC at The Streets
300 Indian Lake Blvd. A140
Hendersonville, TN 37075

Wed – Fri 11:30 – 7:30 PM
Sat 10 – 5 PM
Sun 1 – 5 PM
Or by appointment: 615-822-0789 EVENT

LINK: https://fb.me/e/vlw8dDMY

Open Studio for Ruth Chase

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You are invited to view Ruth’s work at her home studio 30 min outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Ruth moved to Tennessee in February of this year and is excited to introduce her work to the community. The event will be casual with many of Ruth’s past works on display.

Sunday, July 24, 2022
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
RSVP for directions

RSVP OPEN STUDIO

About The Artist

Ruth Chase is a multimedia artist working with themes of belonging, visibility, and what it means to be a human. Ruth is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute whose artistic practice is inquiry-based and engages community bridge-building. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for Art in Action and a grant to an individual artist from the Carl Jacobs Foundation. She was granted a residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts in NY, published in Professional Artist Magazine, Catapult Art Magazine, and Huffington Post, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum. Ruth was a featured artist on the Dead Files TV program and was awarded an Artist in Residence at Nevada County Arts for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film BELONGING screened at the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Ruth received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice, exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Ruth paints in acrylic on canvas, blurring the lines with drips and intersecting patterns, shapes and edges. The paintings are created by layering several thin washes of color to impart a sense of history, experience, and emotional complexity. Her art film is a collage of moments that allow the viewer to connect with unlikely perspectives, finding a sense of belonging with someone they may see as “other.”

RUTHS PORTFOLIO

Ruth Chase Exhibition Book

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Ruth Chase is a multi media artists whose work explores what it means to be a woman and the struggle to understand all that entails. She creates large intimate paintings on canvas, public art, and videos that celebrate female identity while challenging harmful stereotypes.

The 38 page exhibition book printed on luster finish archival-paper gives you the opportunity to view and share the entire exhibition of works in BLUR, signed by the artist herself.

Continue reading “Ruth Chase Exhibition Book”

BLUR

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BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between

curated Ruth Chase and Brynn Farwell

Exhibition Dates
August 6 – September 11, 2021

Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 4 PM

Art Opening
Friday, August 20, 5 – 7 PM

Artist Talk
Thursday, September 9, 5 – 7 PM

Continue reading “BLUR”

Objects Tied To Gender Exercise

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