Bette Ridgeway - Art Web List

Bette Ridgeway is best known for her large-scale, luminous poured canvases that push the
boundaries of light, color and design. Her youth spent in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of
upstate New York and her extensive global travel filled have informed her colorful palette. For the
past two decades, the high desert light of Santa Fe, NM has fueled Ridgeway’s art practice.

Her three decades of mentorship by the acclaimed Abstract Expressionist Paul Jenkins set her on
her lifetime journey of non-objective painting on large canvas. She explores the interrelation and
change of color in various conditions and on a variety of surfaces. Her artistic foundations in line
drawing, watercolor, graphic design, and oils gave way to acrylics, which she found to be more
versatile for her layering technique. Ridgeway has spent the last 30 years developing her signature
technique, called “layering light,” in which she uses many layers of thin, transparent acrylics on
linen and canvas to produce a fluidity and viscosity similar to traditional watercolor. Delving
further, Ridgeway expanded her work into 3D, joining paint and resin to aluminum and steel with
sculptures of minimal towers.

Ridgeway depicts movement in her work, sometimes kinetic and full of emotion, sometimes bold
and masterful, sometimes languid and tentative. She sees herself as the channel, the work coming it
comes through her but it is not hers. It goes out into the world – it has a life of its own.

RÉSUMÉ
Born: Tupper Lake, New York, 1940
Currently residing: Santa Fe, New Mexico
EDUCATION
1979-2012 Mentorship under Paul Jenkins
1971-74 Private studies in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, District of Columbia
with acclaimed instructors, including William Lawrence, Edgar Whitney and
Alice Braukman
1968-69 Independent Painting Classes at The Australian National University,
Canberra, Australia
1968 Studied Art & Architecture at the University of Santiago, Santiago,
Chile with Tomas Nagel
1967-68 Studied at The Centre de Culture Albert Camus in Antanarivo, Madagascar
1961-66 New York School of Interior Design, Art Students League, New York City, New
York
1958-60 Russell Sage College, Albany, New York campus
1953-56 Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York
ARTS RELATED
2020 KSFR Cline’s Corner, radio interview by Lynn Cline, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Cancer Foundation of New Mexico, Sweetheart Auction
2019 Art World Innovators interview, UMFM radio at the University of Manitoba,
Canada
Web Design Award, Web Design and Services, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2017 Ridgeway & Roderick Art Services marketing workshop at Artists Success
Summit, Cincinnati, Ohio
2008 Taught Acrylic Master Class at Kanuga Art Workshops, Hendersonville,
North Carolina
2008 Launched Ridgeway Web Design, web design for creative professionals
1997-99 Proprietor Ridgeway Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1992-95 Proprietor Ridgeway Gallery, Tom’s Brook, Virginia
1981-86 Deputy Director of Development, Center for Strategic and
International Studies, policy research organization, Washington, D.C.
1977-81 CEO of Very Special Arts in Washington, District of Columbia; expanded
national arts programs to serve 38 million disabled young people in the
United States
1974-77 Visual Arts Specialist, Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission
Created first sports arena Art Gallery at Capital Center in Landover, Maryland
Administered Federal CETA (Labor Department’s Comprehensive
Employment & Training Act) funds granted by the National Endowment for
the Arts and Maryland State Arts Council
Developed and fundraised for the Montpelier Center for the Arts &
Education, Laurel, Maryland
1974 Best in Show award, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
1973 Best in Show award, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
1972 Chairperson Laurel Art Guild, Laurel, Maryland
Best in Show award, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
1972-75 Taught painting and organized exhibitions, Montpelier Arts Center,
Laurel, Maryland
1968-68 Taught painting in private studio, Antanarivo, Madagascar
1968 Taught painting in private studio, Santiago, Chile
1968-69 Taught painting in private studio, Canberra, Australia
1966-67 Graphic designer, Huntington Pennysaver, Huntington, New York
1958-60 Graphic artist, Reuben H. Donnelley Advertising Corp., Albany, New York
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2022 Bette Ridgeway: The Language of Light, solo exhibition, Ventana Fine Art,
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Gen-erate, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Bette Ridgeway / Abstracts, Southwest Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2021 Women Of The Faraway, Slate Gray Gallery, Telluride, Colorado
Paradigm, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Barcelona International Art Fair (FIABCN), Barcelona, Spain
2020 Shaw Gallery, Naples, Florida
Liquid Light, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Bette Ridgeway Spring 2020 Exhibition, Issu
2019 Swiss Art Expo, SBB Eventhall Zürich Main Station, Zurich, Switzerland
Women’s Essence: a concomitant juried exhibition at the 58th Venice
Biennale, Venice, Italy
Bette Ridgeway Exhibition of New Work, Hanson Gallery Fine Arts, Sausalito,
California
The London Art Biennale 2019, London, England
2018 Deck The Walls: Featured Artist Bette Ridgeway, Thornwood Gallery,
Houston, Texas
Fall Is In The Air: Featured Artist Bette Ridgeway, Thornwood Gallery,
Houston, Texas
Art Comes Alive, Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
Hanson Gallery Fine Art, Sausalito, California
McKibben Studios, Laguna Beach, California
Ric Michel Fine Art, New York, New York
Desert Mountain Fine Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
Dean Day Gallery, Houston, Texas
MAC Fine Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Gallery One, Naples, Florida
The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
Saper Galleries, East Lansing, Michigan
Gagliardi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2017 Linda Goldenstein Gallery, Sedona, Arizona
Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
MAC Fine Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Desert Mountain Fine Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
Saper Galleries, East Lansing, Michigan
New York Art Expo – booth with ADC Fine Art | Blink Art Resource
2016 Linda Goldenstein Gallery, Sedona, Arizona
The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Gagliardi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
Art Expo Santa Fe – booth with ADC Fine Art | Blink Art Resource
Saper Galleries, East Lansing, Michigan
MAC Fine Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Desert Mountain Fine Art, Scottsdale, Arizona
2015 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Gagliardi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
Signature Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2014 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
McDaniel Collection, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
Solo Exhibition, Legacy Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
Saper Galleries, East Lansing, Michigan
Gagliardi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2013 London Art Biennale
The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
McDaniel Collection, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
ACA Art Comes Alive International Competition, Cincinnati, Ohio
Art Design Consultants, Cincinnati, Ohio
Saper Galleries, East Lansing, Michigan
Gagliardi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2012 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
McDaniel Collection, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
Galerie Joyce, Palais Royale, Paris, France, collaboration with Mihara
Yasuhiro on Color of Butterfly fashion design
Art of the Mind International Competition at Chianciano Art Museum,
Tuscany, Italy
2011 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Gallery of Modern Masters, Sedona, Arizona
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
McDaniel Collection, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
2010 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Gallery of Modern Masters, Sedona, Arizona
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
McDaniel Collection, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
2009 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Gallery of Modern Masters, Sedona, Arizona
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
McDaniel Collection, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
2008 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Gallery of Modern Masters, Sedona, Arizona
Tadu Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Tadu Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Gallery of Modern Masters, Sedona, Arizona
2006 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Tadu Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2005 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Tadu Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2004 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Tadu Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2003 Impressions Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
2002 Impressions Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
2001 The Chasen Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
2000 Impressions Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
ArtMerge Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1999 Waxlander Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Ridgeway Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Millennium at Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, New York
1998 Ridgeway Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1997 Ridgeway Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1996 Waxlander Kadouri Gallery on the Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1995 Ridgeway Gallery, Tom’s Brook, Virginia
1994 Ridgeway Gallery, Tom’s Brook, Virginia
1993 Ridgeway Gallery, Tom’s Brook, Virginia
1990 Ridgeway Studio and Gallery, Tom’s Brook, Virginia
1988 FOTA Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia
1980 Kobiashi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1978 Harry’s Bar, Baltimore, Maryland
1975 Art Center Gallery, Rockville, Maryland
1971 Montpelier Mansion, Laurel, Maryland
COLLECTIONS (selected)
Dr. Salvatore Russo, Art International Contemporary Magazine, Rome, Italy
The Boro Building, The Boro, Tysons, Virginia
Embassy of Madagascar, Washington, D.C.
The Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona
The Waterstone Spa and Resort, Boca Raton, Florida
The John Deere Corporate Art Collection, Moline, Illinois
The Federal Reserve Bank Corporate Collection, Richmond, Virginia
Criterion Communications, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission, Rockville, Maryland
University of Northwestern, St. Paul, Minnesota
Stratecom Corporate Collection, Boulder, Colorado
Mrs. William Zeckendorf, New York, New York & Santa Fe, New Mexico
Kostmayer Associates Corporate Collection, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Dane Penland, Dir. of Photography, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Dr. William G. Melson, Curator Emeritus Dept. Mineral Science, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.
Mr. & Mrs. John Warren, Warren Oil, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dr. & Mrs. Michael Lederer, Richmond, California
Mr. Matthew Reese, National Democratic Institute, Washington, D.C.
Mr. & Mrs. Leonardo Abrussezi, Abrussezi Collection, Rome, Italy
Dr. Jack Kukuk, Director of Education, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Washington, D.C.
Mr. Marcello Nisi, The Nisi Foundation Collection, Rome, Italy
Ambassador Ronald Palmer, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Dr. John Syphax, Washington, D.C.
Mr. & Mrs. Philip May, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mr. & Mrs. Jary Shimer, Rancho de San Juan, New Mexico
The Emily Zantz Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mr. Dudley McDaniel, Rancho de San Juan, New Mexico
Ms. Rebecca Copeland, Johnson City, Tennessee
Mr. Charles Pabst, Scottsdale, Arizona
Ms. Jerre McGary, Kansas City, Kansas
Mr. Tim Allen, Los Angeles, California
PUBLICATIONS
2020 American Abstract Expressionist Bette Ridgeway, Artwork International Press
2011 Bette Ridgeway: Layering Light on Metal, featuring intimate and
monumental artworks in metal
Bette Ridgeway: Layering Light, highlighting work from the artist’s fourdecade career
2009 Talent is Just the Beginning – An Artist’s Guide to Marketing in the 21st
Century, Bette Ridgeway
BIBLIOGRAPHY (selected)
2023 “A Page of Life,” CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, Spring 2023
2022 “Avalanche,” Apricity Press, 2022
“Chroma,” COUNTERCLOCK, Summer 2022
“Paintings of Bette Ridgeway” and cover, Kitchen Table Quarterly, Summer 2022
“Colorful Abstracts / Bette Ridgeway,” Barzakh Magazine, Summer 2022
“Vortex,“ Arkana Literary Journal, Summer 2022
“Bette Ridgeway,” ARTUP MI Special Issue, Milan, IT 2022
“Layering Light,” Cleaver International Magazine, Spring 2022
“Romancing Blue,” Café Review, Spring 2022
“Paintings of Bette Ridgeway,” Artdose, March 2022
“Bette Ridgeway / Featured Artist,” Loupe, February 2022
“Featured Artist: Bette Ridgeway,” IT’S LIQUID, January 2022
“Web of Dreams,” selected artist, Art Folio 2022
2021 “Featured Works of Bette Ridgeway,” Woven Tale Press, December 21, 2021
“Layering Light,” Another Chicago Magazine, Winter 2021
“MAC Art Gallery to Debut in Delray Beach,” The Boca Raton Observer, November
20, 2021
“Whispers,” ArLiJo, Fall 2021
“Bette Ridgeway Feature,” The Working Artist VIII, September 2021
“Interview with Bette Ridgeway,” Ventana Fine Arts, Online, September 2, 2021
“Bette Ridgeway and Mark Yale Harris,” Inside Santa Fe, Summer/Fall 2021
“Magma Rising / High Desert Spring,” Agave Magazine, Summer 2021
“Paradigm / Bette Ridgeway,” Ventana Fine Art, gallery catalog, August 2021
“Origins,” Chestnut Review, Fall 2021
“The Paintings of Bette Ridgeway,” Trend Magazine, July 2021
“Shift,” Minerva Rising, Summer 2021
“Happiness,” cover and feature, Apero Fine Art Publication, June 2021
“Liquid Light / Art by Bette Ridgeway,” MVIBE Magazine, Issue 22.2, June 2021
“Mountain Breezes,” Singulart, France, April 2021
“The Works of Bette Ridgeway,“ Art Magazineum, UK, 2021
“Hope, Euphoria, Happiness,“ Santa Clara Review, Vol. 8, Issue 2, May 19, 2021
“A Time Before Thought,” Magazine 43, April 2021
“Women Of The Faraway,” Susan Viebrock, Telluride Inside…and Out, March 2,
2021
“Spotlight: Bette Ridgeway,” ArteryNYC, New York, interview/feature, February 2021
“Interview with Bette Ridgeway,” Monk Magazine, Winter 2021
“The True Heir of Paul Jenkins,” Salvatore Russo, Italian art critic, Rome, essay on
Bette Ridgeway
2020 “Bette Ridgeway,” ArtifactNYC Journal, Special Holiday Edition, interview, December
2020
“Emergence,” 805 Lit + Art, December 2020
“Bette Ridgeway,” Unique Homes, feature article and cover art, November 2020
“Liquid Light: Bette Ridgeway,” Inside Santa Fe, September 2020
Art Hole, feature, Fall 2020
3Elements Review, Fall 2020
“Bette Ridgeway,” Trend Magazine, feature article, Summer 2020
Oyster River Pages, feature work, August 2020
“A Curated Collection of the World’s Most Exciting Artists,” Artfolio Annual, Spring
2020
Xi Draconis Books, United Kingdom, feature article, Winter 2020
2019 Peripheral ARTeries, United Kingdom, Special Edition, Fall 2019
Contempo Annual, Summer 2019
Art International Magazine, Special Award, Summer 2019
Santa Clara Review, Volume 106, Issue 2, Spring 2019
“A look inside Tysons’ newest office tower,” Daniel J. Sernovitz, Washington
Business Journal, May 2019
CODAmagazine: Transformative Walls V, March 2019
Artists On Art: Feature Article, Issue 33, January/February 2019
Arlington Literary Journal, Featured Artist – Issue 119
2018 Art Reveal Magazine: Feature Article, 44th Edition, Winter 2018
IO Literary Journal, Winter 2018
Storm Cellar feature, Winter 2018
“Santa Fe Artist Bette Ridgeway Creates Masterwork for the Boro Tower in Tysons,”
The Connection Newspaper, November 2018
Split Rock Review, Fall 2018
Borrowed Solace Literary Journal, Fall 2018
Oyster River Pages, August 2018
Average Art Magazine, July 2018
Apéro Fine Art Catalogue: 1st Place Cover Artist, July 2018
A5 Magazine, July 2018
The Sonder Review feature, Summer 2018
Aji Magazine feature, Spring 2018
FLARE: The Flagler Review feature, Spring 2018
Foliate Oak Literary Magazine feature, May 2018
Cover, New Mexico Bar Bulletin, the official publication New Mexico State Bar
Average Art Magazine, March 2018
2017 LandEscape Art Review, London, England, Anniversary Edition 2017
A5 Zine! feature, December 2017
WotisArt Magazine feature, December 2017
Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review feature, Spring 2017
“60 Top International Contemporary Masters,” Art Tour International Magazine
2015 Effeto Arte Magazine, Italy Report on Botticelli Prize Winners, March 2015
“60 Top International Contemporary Masters,” Art Tour International Magazine
2014 Hidden Treasures Magazine, London, United Kingdom
2013 “60 Top International Contemporary Masters,” Art Tour International Magazine
Art of England Magazine, http://www.londonbiennale.co.uk/biennale2013/press
2011 International Contemporary Masters, Vol. II, ICA Publishing, New York
2010 Contemporary Masters, curated by Despina Tunberg, World Wide Books
2009 Trends – 100 Contemporary Artists, MOT Publishing, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 International Contemporary Masters, World Wide Art Books
2007 Contemporary Masters in the 21st Century, MOT Publishing, Stockholm, Sweden
2006 100 Artists of the Southwest, Douglas Bullis, Schiffer Publishing
2001 New Mexico Millennium Collection: A Twenty-First Century Celebration of Fine Art in New
Mexico
FILMOLOGY
2020 Sweet Ingredients, Hallmark Movie
2015 Wisdom Keepers, the bronze art of Star Liana York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYxwyFtn_XY&t=28s
2014 Within the Seventh Fire, a film on the artwork of Ben Wright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSXNzd08WpI&t=5s
2014 A Journey into Time and Space, the art of Antonio Arellanes, Jr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CwJVc3iuxE&t=41s
2014 The Dreamer: Bette Ridgeway, biographical film of the artist and her work,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qExrv9nQYiI
2014 Trend Magazine 15th Anniversary Celebration film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbMoiVQx9lQ
2012 Color of Butterfly, film of collaboration with Mihara Yasuhiro on fashion line,
Concept Wow Labs, Tokyo, https://vimeo.com/64284100
COMMISSIONS (selected)
2018 The Boro Building, The Boro, Tysons, Virginia
2017 Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Marshall, Toronto, Canada, painting commission
Kenn Johnson & Stan Sewell, sculpture commission
Mr. & Mrs. Philip May, Santa Fe, New Mexico, sculpture Eternity
2016 Ms. Emily Zantz, Santa Fe, New Mexico, sculpture Duality
Mr. & Mrs. Jary Shimer, Rancho de San Juan, New Mexico, sculpture Trilogy,
painting The Sound of Glass
2014 Mr. Stan Sewell, Fort Worth, Texas, triptych of disks on cell cast acrylic
Happy Birthday Hubbel
2013 Dr. Rebecca Copeland, Johnson City, Tennessee, painting Fractals of Time
2010 M. Gene Samburg, Arlington, Virginia, painting Arrival of Spring
2009 Dr. & Mrs. Michael Lederer, Richmond, California, diptych on metal Yellow
Moon
2008 Mr. Lucius Booker, Denver, Colorado, 12” disk on metal to complete Four
Seasons collection
2003 Mr. & Mrs. William Zeckendorf, New York City, New York & Santa Fe, New
Mexico
AWARDS (selected)
2022 International Paris Prize, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
Caravaggio International Prize For Contemporary Art, Museo Nazionale Scienza
Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, Italy
Leonardo da Vinci International Prize 2022, Florence, Italy
2021 Apero 1st Place, Curator E.E. Jacks, Apero Fine Art Publication, June 2021
2020 Michelangelo International Prize, Rome, Italy, November 25, 2020
International Prize Leonardo da Vinci 2020, Borghese Palace, Florence, Italy,
January 25, 2020
2019 The International Prize, Artist of the Year 2019, Mantua, Italy
WAA Award recipient, Women’s Essence: a concomitant juried exhibition at
the 58th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2018 ACA International Competition, Cincinnati, Ohio, Purchase Prize Award
2017 Named “Top 60 Contemporary Masters” by Art Tour International Magazine
2016 International Prize Leonardo da Vinci – The Universal Artist for artistic merit,
Borghese Palace, Florence, Italy
2015 Michelangelo International Prize, Palazzo Cardinal Cesi, Rome, Italy
Sandro Botticelli Prize, Casa di Dante, Museum of Florence, Italy
Named “Top 60 Contemporary Masters” by Art Tour International Magazine
2013 ACA International Competition, Cincinnati, Ohio, Second Place Award
Publishing contract with Editions Limited and gallery contract with Saper
Galleries
Named “Top 60 Contemporary Masters” by Art Tour International Magazine
2012 Art of the Mind, Chianciano Art Museum, Tuscany, Italy, Oxford University
Alumni in Tuscany 3rd Prize
1974 Best in Show award, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
1973 Best in Show award, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
1972 Best in Show award, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
REPRESENTATION
Southwest Gallery – Dallas, Texas
Ventana Fine Art – Santa Fe, New Mexico
R. Alexander Fine Art – Atlanta, Georgia
Shaw Gallery – Naples, Florida
Slate Gray Gallery – Telluride, Colorado
Jones & Terwilliger Galleries – Palm Desert & Carmel, California
MAC Fine Art – Ft. Lauderdale, Delray Beach & Jupiter, Florida
Off the Wall Gallery – Houston, Texas
Hanson Gallery Fine Art – Sausalito, California