Rachel Davis received her B.A. from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1992 and her M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997.
Rachel’s paintings have been exhibited in national venues including the Holter Museum of Fine Art, Helena, Montana; Evergreen Galleries, Olympia, Washington; and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in Madison, Wisconsin.
Rachel teaches art to 1-8 grades at Prairie School of DuPage in Wheaton, IL and preschool at Lyman Woods Nature Center in Downers Grove, IL. She is currently the Artist-in-Residence at the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville, IL. Rachel divides her time between her home studio in Downers Grove, IL and the Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago.
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Reading the Landscape, Abel Contemporary Gallery, Paoli, WI
2016
Air Travel, Rooftop Project, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL
Play is Work, Kohl Children's Museum, Glenview, IL
2009
Wetland, Schwalbach Gallery, College of Baraboo, Baraboo, WI
2008
Animals without Backbones, DeRicci Gallery, Edgewood College, Madison, WI
2007
Play, Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL
2002
Promise, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Here, Evergreen State College Galleries, Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
2001
Topophilia, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, Madison, WI
2000
Souvenir, CitiArts Space, 215 Martin Luther King Blvd., Madison, WI 1997
Family Affair, Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI (Catalog)
Selected GROUP SHOWS
2023
Galex 56, Galesburg Community Arts Center, Galesburg, IL
2022
Patterns and Pictures: Assorted Approaches, Splendid Quilts, BluSeed Studios, Saranac Lake, NY
Our Shared Future, University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Exhibition, Madison, WI
Seasonal Work, Quad City Arts, Rock Island, IL
2021
K.I.T. (Keep in Touch), Terrain and CNL Projects, Lombard, IL
Living with Dying, BluSeed Studios, Saranac Lake, NY
2019
Team Sport: Art from Collaboration, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL
2018
20/20, School of Education Gallery, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI
Visual Ensembles, Treehouse Gallery, Downers Grove, IL
Soft Goods, VAE, Raleigh, NC
2017
Draw Attention to Trees, Daley Plaza, Chicago, IL and the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL. Produced over 100 drawings for the Arbor Day installation and event
2016
Connected, Bushwick Open Studios, Brooklyn, NY
Big Ten(t) Show, Art Helix Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Scavengers, Goodman Center, Madison, WI
2010
Remarkable Women, Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2009
Giant Snail, Sundance Cinemas Madison Art Gallery, Madison, WI
2008
Mitochondria: Wisconsin Women of the Word, Madison Municipal Building, Madison, WI
Painters and Sculptors Make Prints, Crisp-Ellert Museum, St. Augustine, FL
38th Annual Pilsen’s East Open House, Chicago, IL
Thread, Rowe Upper gallery, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Workbooks, (Traveling Exhibition) Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI. Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
2007
The Book as Art, Wisconsin Book Festival, Madison, WI
37th Annual Pilsen’s East Artist’s Open House, Chicago, IL
Summer Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
8th Annual Young Painters Competition, Heistand Galleries, Oxford, OH
2006
XX Artists with Girl Parts, Ballard Work Gallery, Seattle WA
36th Annual Pilsen’s East Artist’s Open House, Chicago, IL
18th Evanston + Vicinity Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
An Odyssey: UW–Madison MFA Printmakers Return, Southern Graphics Conference, Porter Butts Gallery, Madison, WI
Scar Tissue: Fast Pain, Slow Healing, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison, WI
2005
9 x 12 Works on Paper, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, TX
Sextet, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Zg Summer Show 05, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
8th International Open, (Honorable Mention, juror, Lynne Warren) Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Sedges of Wisconsin, Steinhauer Trust Gallery, Madison, WI
2004
A Decade of Art from the Wisconsin Academy Gallery, Madison, WI
2003
As Small as Possible, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
4 Painters 4 Perspectives, BioPharmaceutical Technology Center, Madison, WI
Painting Beyond Convention, Bowman, Penelec and Megahan Art Galleries, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
Sketches, Scrawls, Scribbles and Such, Unit B Gallery, Chicago, IL
Dark Spring: Selected Works from the Open Vault, Drive-Thru Studios, Chicago, IL
2002
Artbite: Melange, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
12 x 12”, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Wallpatch, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison, WI
Artbite at the Met, Metropolitan Gallery, Dodgeville, WI
Slop Showroom Tour (Traveling Exhibition): Center of Contemporary Art, St Louis, MO; University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH; St Mary’s College, South Bend, IN; College of Visual Arts, St. Paul, MN
2001
Four Play (Traveling Exhibition):
Bluseed Gallery, Saranac Lake, NY
The Mist Grill Gallery, Waterbury, VT
113 Ludlow, NY, NY
Arts Center/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
The Pro Gallery, College of the Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas
Harvest, Adirondack Center for the Arts, Blue Mountain Lake, NY (Two person show)
Artbite: Back by Popular Demand, Porter Butts Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
All Media III Invitational International Art Exhibition, Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
2000
Abstraction for a New Millenium, Stage Gallery, Merrick, NY (Anne Ellegood, Juror)
Wendy’s Wonderland, Wendy Cooper Gallery, Madison, WI
Bad Water Book Invitational, University of Wisconsin, Parkside Library, Kenosha, WI
Signs of Wonder, Common Wealth Gallery, Madison, WI
Artful Abstractions, Center for the Visual Arts, Wausau, W
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Golda Meir Library, Special Collections, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Kohler Art Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL
Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
Union Directorate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Awards and Honors
2007
Finalist, 8th Annual Young Painters Competition, Miami University, Oxford, OH
2005
Honorable Mention, 8th International Open, Womanmade Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003
Printmaking Fellowship, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
2002
Residency/Fellowship, Montana Artists Refuge, Basin, MT
1999
Residency/Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
1998
Honorable Mention, Hand Pulled Prints VI, Parchman Stremmel Galleries, San Antonio, TX
1997
Class of 1930 Purchase Award, Wisconsin Union Directorate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
1995
Typocrafters Scholar, Typocrafters ’95, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
1994
Honorable Mention, 67th Annual Student Art Show, Porter Butts Gallery, Madison, WI
1992
Nina Winkel Scholarship for Academic Excellence, SUNY Plattsburgh
Tony Papa Award for Academic Excellence, SUNY Plattsburgh
1991
Best of Show, Multi-Focus, SUNY Plattsburgh
Omicron Delta Kappa, Honors Society, SUNY Plattsburgh
Education
1997. Master of Fine Arts, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (Printmaking)
1993. New York University, New York, NY (Studied Color Viscosity Printing with Krishna Reddy)
1992. Bachelor of Arts, SUNY at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY
Selected Professional Activities
2004
Gallery Talk, Art Alumni Reunion, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY
2003
Sole Proprietor, Art Bumble, Madison, WI
Designer, Construction Zone: a hands-on exhibit, Madison Children’s Museum, Madison, WI
2002
Interim Director, Silver Buckle Press, Madison, WI
2001
Exhibit Design and Development, Madison Children’s Museum, Madison, WI
1999
Lecturer, Printmaking, SUNY at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY
Residencies
2019
Artist-in-Residence, Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation, Big Bay, MI
Artist-in-Residence, Let's Make a Cloth Sandwich, DuPage Children's Museum, Naperville, IL
2017-2018
Artist-in-Residence, Textiles Department, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL
2016
Artist-in-Residence, Kohl Children's Museum, Glenview, IL
2008
Artist-in-Residence, Printmaking Department, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL
2006
Professional Artists Residency, Ox-Bow Summer School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2005
Arts-in-Education Residency Program, Illinois Arts Council, Chicago, IL
2004
Art Zone Artist-in-Residence, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
2003
Artist-in-Residence/Fellowship, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
2002
Artist-in-Residence, Montana Artists Refuge, Basin, MT
1999
Artist-in-Residence, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT