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