EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
| 1969 | Master of Fine Arts Degree (Painting), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Minor in 20th Century Art History and Criticism. |
| Professor Emeritus – College of Architecture and Urban Studies,Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia |
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
| 1984 - Present | Professor of Art (Painting Program) Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA |
| 1999-2003 | Consulting Curatorial Advisor - Museum
of American Folk Art, NYC Jacob J. Kass (1910-2000) my fathers paintings on tools |
| 1980 - Present | Founder and Director, Mt. Lake Symposium and Art Workshops.* |
| 1988 - Present | Board of Directors (founding member) and National Advisory Committee, The Folk Art society of America |
| 1983 | Guest Curator, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. (Morris Graves: Vision of the Inner Eye & catalogue essay) |
GRANTS (Artist)
| 1984-85 | 1985-84 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Artist's Fellowship |
| 1981 | National Endowment for the Arts - Individual Artist's Grant |
| 1973 | Blanche E. Coleman Award, - (Study in Europe), Boston, Mass. |
EXHIBITIONS
Selected Solo Exhibitions
| 2002 | A.V.C. Contemporary Arts, 41 E. 57th St. NYC ( Oct.16 - Nov. 16) |
| 2001 | Jordan House Center for Creative Arts, Lexington, VA, (Sept.14 Oct.27) |
| Japan Art Forum (JARFO), Kyoto, May June 2001 | |
| Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA Dec.8 Jan. 27, 2001 | |
| 2000 | Hunt Gallery, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, VA (March April) |
| 1999 | Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA (May) |
| 1998 | 650 Madison Avenue Exhibition Program, organized by Randolph & Tate, NYC, June Oct. 1 |
| Awa No Sato Cutural Pavillion, Tokushima, Shikoku, Japan (Feb.-March 15) | |
| 1997 | Horino Memorial Museum, Kyoto, Japan (Dec.-97) "Art In Machiya: 1997" |
| Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (April - Aug.) ACCOUNTS, (An ongoing series of hoonorary exhibitions by artists who have made a significant contribution to Southern cultural). New works in oil and watercolor and beeswax, accompanied by an illustrated brochure and critical essay entitled "Drawing in Place" by Susan Lubowsky-Talbott , Winston-Salem, North Carolina. | |
| 1996 | Reynolds Gallery, (March 22 - April 20) 1514 W. Main St., Richmond, VA. |
| 1995 | Franz Bader Gallery, (April 95) 1500 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. |
| Reynolds Gallery, (Jan.-Feb.95) 1514 W. Main St., Richmond, VA. | |
| 1993 | Franz Bader Gallery, (March 23 - April 10) 1500 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. |
| Hanes Fine Art Center, The Glass Gallery, (Oct. 1 - Oct. 24) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC | |
| Art Museum of Western Virginia, "Images of The Winged Earth", A Retrospective, (Sept. - Dec.) Roanoke, Va. | |
| 1991 | Seven Paintings at Shelby, Lexington Avenue, between 74th and 75th, New York, NY, Organized by Schmidt-Bingham Gallery, 41 West 57th St. New York, NY. |
| Reynolds Gallery, 1514 W Main St., Richmond, VA. | |
| 1990 | Penninsular Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA. |
| 1989 | Hewlett Gallery, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA. |
| 1988 | Boston College, Brookline, MA. |
| 1988, 84, 79 | Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C. |
| 1987 | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (May-June). |
| 1986, 81, 77, 75, 72 | Allan Stone Gallery, New York, NY . |
| 1980 | Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC (May). |
| 1974 | Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA. |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2002 | WATERCOLOR, New York Studio School, 8 W. 8th St. NYC, Oct. 15 Nov. 16, curated by David Cohen and Susan Shatter |
| From Nature: Part II (Dozier Bell, Ben Berns, Alan Bray, Patricia Tobacco Forrester, Janis Goodman, Timothy Harney, Theodore Waddell, Emmi Whitehorse) June 12 - August 17, A.V.C. Contemporary Arts Gallery, 41 E. 57th St. NYC. | |
| Curators Choice, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Wash. D.C.Jan,02 | |
| 2001 | Burn: Artists Play With Fire. Including Bill Viola, Chris Burden, Yves Klein, John Cage, Willi Cole, Ana Mendieta and others. Curated by Neil Watson, Norton Museum of Art, W. Palm Beach, FL3/31- 6/3/.(travelling exhib.) |
| Music In My Soul (John Cage, Nick Cave, Sam Gilliam, Mike Henderson, Dennis Oppenheim, Miriam Shapiro, William t. Wiley), April 19 - July 1, 2001, curated by Gayle Paul, Courthouse Galleries, Portsmouth Museums, Portsmouth, VA | |
| 2000 | "Water" by Four Artists: John Cage, Gordon Cook, Idele Weber and Ray Kass, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, 41 E. 57th St. NYC, June 7 August 14 |
| Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA, 200 Years of Virginia Landscape, (catalogue), July- Dec. 2000, travels to Art Museum of Western Virginia , Roanoke, VA - March 2001 | |
| 1998 | Reynolds Gallery, Gallery artists exhibition for the annual meetingg of SECAC (Southeastern College Art Conference in Richmond), Oct. - Nov. |
| 1996-97 | Uncommon Ground: - 10 Artists in Virginia, (Marc h 2 - May 12) Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia (color catalogue) and essay by Julia Boyd. Travelling exhibition. |
| 1995 | Re-Picturing Abstraction 21 Artists - Sponsored by simultaneous exhibits in The Virginia Museum, Anderson Gallery of VCU, 1708 and Marsh Gallery of University of Richmond (color catalogue) essays by Arthur Danto, Chris Gregson and others. |
| From These Hills:: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands ,William King Regional Art Center, Abingdon, VA, May 20 - July 16, 1995 | |
| 1994 | Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, Gallery Artist's Group Show. |
| 1993 | Mt. Lake Workshop Exhibition, Muscarelle Museum, college of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (April 3 - May 16) |
| Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Drawing Sounds", in Honor of John Cage, Curated by William Anastasi. | |
| 1992 | Arts Du Monde, Spring St., NYC, Watercolors, Peter Ydeen, Keith Crown & Ray Kass, brochure with critical essay by Dr. Howard Risatti |
| 1990 | Schmidt Bingham Galley, NYC, New York,For the Preservation of Nature, A travelling exhibition benefiting the Nature Conservancy, (May-July). |
| Mixed-Use District, P.S.I. and The Clocktower Gallery, New York, NY (September-November). | |
| 1987 | Monumental Space Variations, curated by Donald B. Kuspit, One Penn Plaza, New York, NY (September 9-January 9). |
| 1983 | Painting in the South, 1680-1980, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, a survey of 300 years of painting related to a southern context; a major catalogue and text accompanied this travelling exhibition. |
Selected Bibliography
| 2002 | Coates, Jennifer, "Watercolor - A Critical Celebration", Artnet.com |
| Harrison, Helen A., "Compositions - East-West", New York Times (LI), Sunday, July 7, Arts & Entertainment, pg. 10. | |
| "East-West: John Cage, Jiro Okura and Ray Kass at the Mountain Lake Workshop," HillwoodArt Museum, Brookville, NEWSDAY, NY,Arts & Exhibitions section, L.I.,NY, July 5, 2002 | |
| 2001 | Shingun, Japan Art Forum exhibition preview, Kyoto, Saturday, May 12, 2001, pg. 26 |
| McLeod, Deborah, Ray Kass: Watersides - Fire andWater (review of Reynolds solo-exhibiton), Style Weekly, Richmond, VA Jan. 16, 2001, Pg. 33. | |
| Schudel, Matt, FIRE WORKS ! Artists Prove They've Got Talent To Burn in Pieces On display at the Norton Museum, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach, FL, Encore, pg. 3D, Sunday, April 22, 2001 | |
| 2000 | Proctor, Roy, A Sense of Place: Not your traditional landscape paintings, Richmond Times Dispatch, Section H, pg. H7, Sunday, December 17, 2000 (illutrated article on solo-exhibition at Reynolds Gallery). |
| 1999 | Kittredge, Kevin, "Of Darkness and Light": Contemporary Landscape show a the Art Museum of Western Virginia expands horizons " The Roanoke Times, Extra section, pg 1 3. Monday, Nov. 1, 1999 |
| 1998 | The Roanoke Times, New River Valley Current, Dec. 5, 1998, Todays Best Bets, pg. 3. (KYOTO/REKWOI exhibition Armory |
| 1997 | Patterson, Tom, Winston-Salem Journal, Sunday, June 29, pg. E4, "Virginia artist captures the power and movement of water in show at SECCA" (review of ACCOUNTS exhibition) |
| Talbott-Lubowsky, Susan, "Ray Kass: Drawing In Place", (illustrated brochure) Southeastern Center of Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, NC | |
| Gutierrez,Ed, The Japan Times, Sunday, June 22, "Zen, forms of nature help designers cross cultural lines" (review of Mt. Lake Workshop at Nosso Glass Pyramid) | |
| 1996 | Boyd, Julia,Uncommon Ground: (color catalogue) Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia |
| 1995 | Roberts-Pullen, Paulette, All Natural: Paintings by a Visual Poet Marry The Concrete and The Mystical, Style Weekly, January 24, 1995, Richmond, Virginia. |
| Bullard, Ce Ce, Where Order, Chaos Collide, Richmond Times Dispatch, Jan. 18, 1995, Flair column, w/cover photo illustration, Section D 2 | |
| 1994 | Risatti, Howard, The Mountain Lake Workshop. Yancha, Nov./Dec. 1994, Kyoto, Japan, |
| Jones, Arthur F., New Art Examiner, Pg 49, Review of Art Museum of Western Virginia - 20 yr. Survey Exhibit. | |
| 1993 | Kuspit, Donald - Ray Kass - Images of The Winged Earth-Catalogue Essay - Art Museum of Western Virginia. |
| 1992 | Brothers, Leslie, A., New Art Examiner, pg 43, Review of Ray Kass' Exhibition at Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, Virginia. |
| Owen, Paula, Artpapers, Vol. 16, No. 3 - Review of Ray Kass' Exhibition at Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, Virginia. | |
| 1990 | Wolff, Theodore F., Christian Science Monitor, pg 11, How Nature Engage's, Challenges, and Inspires Artists: Review of Schmidt - Bingham Gallery Traveling Exhibition: For The Preservation of Nature. |
| 1989 | Raczka, Robert, New Art Examiner, Dec. pg 43, Review of Ray Kass' Exhibition at The Hewlett Gallery, Carnegie Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA. |
| 1981 | John Yau, Ray and Jacob Kass at Allan Stone Gallery, Art in America, NY, Summer issue, 1981,Vol. 69, No. 6, pp.130-31 |
(Selected) PUBLICATIONS (by Ray Kass)
| 2001 | Sounds of The Inner Ear, Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle, WA, pgs. 38 54 (essay on Morris Graves - notes on John Cage & Mark Tobey) |
| Klange des Inneren Auges: Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, John Cage. Essay: Morris Graves, Meditation on Nature, pgs 24 36, Kunsthalle Bremen/Foundation Beyeler, Schirmer-Mosel, Munich, (in German-some English). | |
| Bernstein and Hatch, Writings Through John Cage's Music, Poetry, and Art, Univ. of Chicago Press, 2001,(essay)Cage At the Mountain Lake Workshop, pgs. 244 - 259. | |
| 2000 | Kass, Ray, "Morris Graves Instruments For a New Navigation", Resurgence Magazine (May/June), Devon, Great Britain. |
| 1994 | Kass,Ray, "Paradise Garden and World Church of Folk Art,"Yancha, Nov/Dec. 1994 pg 11, Kyoto, Japan. |
| 1992 | Kass, Ray, The Paintings of Glenn Berry, Reece Bullen Gallery, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California Catalogue - 1992. |
| 1991 | Kass, Ray, Burton Callicott: Sharing a Vision, Memphis- Brocks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN. |
| Kass, Ray, John Cage: Mt. Lake Workshop Diary 1990, Du, Zurich, Switzerland. | |
| 1988 | Kass, Ray, John Cage: New River Watercolors, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA. |
| 1983 | Morris Graves: Vision of the Inner Eye, (George Braziller Co. NY.1983) |
Ray Kass is an artist and the founder of The Mountain Lake Workshop (1983); an ongoing series of collaborative and inter-related workshops centered in the environmental, cultural, and community resources of the Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia. The workshops have resulted in many unique, collaborative works of art that have been widely exhibited. Artists who have completed several workshops at Mountain Lake (or are currently engaged in ongoing projects) include folk-artist Howard Finster, Japanese artist & sculptor and Jiro Okura, the late avant-garde composer, writer composer and artist John Cage, waste management installation-artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles (official artist in residence of the New York Sanitation Dept.), ceramic artist, poet and author M.C. Richards (author of Centering), Colorado-based "EcoArtist", Lynne Hull, NYC East Harlem "street- artist", James De La Vega, and Paris-based sculptor and virtual-reality "light" artist, Jackie Matisse, as well as Ray Kass himself, among many others.
Kass' individual workshops seek to provide an interface between the concepts and discipline-centered activities of those of the visiting-artists. An illustrated documentary catalogue, The Mountain Lake Workshop: Artists In Locale, by Dr. Howard Risatti, with an Introduction by Donald B. Kuspit (Virginia Commonwealth Univ., richmond, 1983) is available from the Anderson Gallery, V.C.U. or by contacting the Mt. Lake Workshop (raykass@vt.edu).
Ray Kass' paintings are represented by A.V.C. Contemporary Arts in NYC and the Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia
SELECTED ART WORKS IN PUBLIC/PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
The Ospraie Fund, NYC, NY
Crestar Bank, Richmond, VA
Mastercharge, NYC, NY
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Montogomery museum of Art, Montgomery, S.C.
Art Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, Virginia.
Longwood Fine Art Center, Longwood College, Farmville, Virginia.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Ethyl Corporation, Richmond, Virginia.
Craigie Inc., Richmond, Virginia
R.R. Donelly Inc., Publishers, Chicago, Illinois
Augusta Hospital Corp., Staunton, Virginia
Proctor-Silex Corp., Richmond, Virginia
Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Hunton & Williams Law Firm, Richmond, Virginia
McGuire, Woods, Battle & Booth, Richmond, Virginia.
School of Public Health, UNC - Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Nations Bank, Roanoke, Virginia.
North Carolina National Bank., Charlotte, N.C.
Markel Inc. Richmond, VA
NYNEX, Purchase, New York.
State University of New York, Potsdam, New York.
Smith Museum of Art, Amherst, Massachusetts.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts.
Griffin Art Center, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York.
Tufts University Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts.
Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts.
Commercial Union Assurance Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
The Gillette Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
Bocour Collection, Aquatec Color Company, New York, New York.
Health Company, (HEALTHCO)Boston, Massachusetts.
Arthur Anderson Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
Brockton Art Center, Roger Dunn Drawing Collection, Brockton, Massachusetts.
Best Products, Richmond, Virginia.
Owens-Corning Fiberglass, Toledo, Ohio.
IDS Financial Services Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Kidder Peabody, New York, New York
Nomura Securities, New York, New York
Allan Stone, New York, New York, and Bar Harbor, Maine
Leonard Bocour, New York, New York
The morris graves Foundation, Loleta, CA
The Estate of John Cage, New York
The Estate of Willem de Kooning, Springs, New York
Louis Kane, Boston Partners, Boston, Massachusetts
Mr & Mrs. Robert Kogod, Bethesda, Maryland
Mrs. Elizabeth Gallatin, Kittery Point, Maine
Fralin and Waldron, Roanoke, Virginia
New York NET, Purchase, New York
David Goode, Executive Suite, Norfolk and Southern, Norfolk, Virginia