| RIA RUSSO |
"I don’t know much about art, but I know
what I like." I used this quotation every year
for thirty-six years to start my art history
lessons at Archbishop Rummel High
School. That quotation still holds true for
me. What a changing world, this art
phenomenon. There is so much to know
and so much to discover that the task is
never ending."
I have been teaching for the past forty-two
years with the last thirty-six in Fine Arts at
Archbishop Rummel High School. I
received my B.A. for public speaking in
secondary education and my second major
in art at Tulane University via Newcomb
College. My primary field in the high school
classroom was focused on ceramics. I
studied privately with Jack Kirkland at Dukirk
Ceramic Studio in New Orleans and
continued my studies at Newcomb.
Other contributors to my art education are
classes from the University of New Orleans,
Holy Cross College, Delgado Community
College, and the New Orleans Academy of
Fine Arts. Teachers who have been a major
influence in my work are M. Douglas
Walton, Kathy Brombacher, Nikki Rue,
Patricia Pilie, Martha S. Guthrie, and most
recently Tanya Dischler.
I am member of several local art guilds
including New Orleans Art Association,
Metairie Art Guild, the Greater New Orleans
Tole and Decorative Painting Society, the
Louisiana Art Association, and I serve as
President of the Jefferson Art Guild, 2009-
2010. I continue my art education
attending workshops with nationally
acclaimed painters/instructors and continue
to paint diligently exploring new techniques
while my primary interest is in watercolor.
I still search to this day. What I truly do know
is that painting is wonderful. What a way to
discover what I want to be when I grow up.
The world between my mind and my brush
is a great place to exist. It is refreshing,
motivating, stimulating, exciting; in today’s
world, the word is ‘high’.
I've been exposed to art all of my life. I still
can't say that I know much about it. But I do
know this...I know that I like it.
what I like." I used this quotation every year
for thirty-six years to start my art history
lessons at Archbishop Rummel High
School. That quotation still holds true for
me. What a changing world, this art
phenomenon. There is so much to know
and so much to discover that the task is
never ending."
I have been teaching for the past forty-two
years with the last thirty-six in Fine Arts at
Archbishop Rummel High School. I
received my B.A. for public speaking in
secondary education and my second major
in art at Tulane University via Newcomb
College. My primary field in the high school
classroom was focused on ceramics. I
studied privately with Jack Kirkland at Dukirk
Ceramic Studio in New Orleans and
continued my studies at Newcomb.
Other contributors to my art education are
classes from the University of New Orleans,
Holy Cross College, Delgado Community
College, and the New Orleans Academy of
Fine Arts. Teachers who have been a major
influence in my work are M. Douglas
Walton, Kathy Brombacher, Nikki Rue,
Patricia Pilie, Martha S. Guthrie, and most
recently Tanya Dischler.
I am member of several local art guilds
including New Orleans Art Association,
Metairie Art Guild, the Greater New Orleans
Tole and Decorative Painting Society, the
Louisiana Art Association, and I serve as
President of the Jefferson Art Guild, 2009-
2010. I continue my art education
attending workshops with nationally
acclaimed painters/instructors and continue
to paint diligently exploring new techniques
while my primary interest is in watercolor.
I still search to this day. What I truly do know
is that painting is wonderful. What a way to
discover what I want to be when I grow up.
The world between my mind and my brush
is a great place to exist. It is refreshing,
motivating, stimulating, exciting; in today’s
world, the word is ‘high’.
I've been exposed to art all of my life. I still
can't say that I know much about it. But I do
know this...I know that I like it.