Richard Carrell (Rick) Fisher was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1943. He was introduced to art at an early age by his mother, an amateur painter, and was showing his work at local exhibitions by the age of 14. Following a BA in art at Trinity University in Texas, where he studied sculpture with Philip John Evett, Fisher earned an MA degree at the University of New Mexico. There, he worked with former WPA artist Charles Mattox and with printmakers from the Tamarind Institute. Fisher’s terminal (MFA) degree at the Boston Museum School brought him into contact with prominent national and international artists whose interests he shared.
Rick Fisher practiced the dual career of a teacher-artist, with the goal of passing on his passion for the arts and education to others and, through his curatorial work, creating opportunities for emerging artists who might otherwise have been overlooked. He taught at the University of New Mexico, Boston Museum School, Framingham State College, the College of Santa Fe, and the Institute of American Indian Arts. He now devotes full time to his art practice.
Artist Statement
Over the course of my formal study of art, my practice came to focus on art works like those created since the beginning of human history to functionally catalyze, document, and connect us to each other and to the natural cycles and processes of which we are a part. Remaining free from any one particular form or material, I have explored this common theme over the years across a diverse array of media: castings of ephemeral sand patterns from beaches and dry riverbeds, solar-aligned site-specific installations and monumental sculptures constructed from recycled industrial artifacts, paintings and prints incorporating the sacred shapes used in my sculptures to provoke meditation on larger systems.
From 1967 to 2011 I enjoyed the dual career of teacher/artist, at all levels from elementary school to graduate school. Living in a rural village in the mountains of Northern New Mexico as a young man, I also served as an Artist-in-Residence at area high schools, taught at UNM's Northern Branch colleges, and produced projects raising awareness of traditional folk artists and their culture. Later, in addition to ongoing teaching in higher education to propagate future generations of artists, I founded and directed for eighteen years The Sculpture Project, an annual public exhibition at the College of Santa Fe. The project sought to introduce and support the work of sculptors, especially those from otherwise underrepresented groups in the city’s arts scene.
The inspirations of my artistic practice also found an outlet in published works, including The Solar Greenhouse, an educational guide to constructing solar greenhouses, and a children’s book, Adventure to Eco Earth, championing the spirit of climate preservation. Having been around for three-quarters of a century (2018), I am now focusing on working through as many new ideas and forms as possible by creating smaller pieces. Though many of them touch upon important cultural and environmental issues, I‘m also having fun, commenting on every-day existence, and building on ancient and innovative wisdom.
Curriculum Vitæ
EDUCATION
1978 MFA Sculpture and Installation Art, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1972 MA Sculpture, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
1971 BFA Studio Art and Art History, University of Texas, Austin, TX
1968 BA Studio Art, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
1965 Summer Study: Studio Art and Art History, Fine Art School of Florence, Italy
1963 Summer Study: Pre-Columbian Art, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Atlantic Richfield Company
Boston University
Danforth Museum
Southwest Land and Cattle Company
Trammell Crow Company
Brother Sun Company
Yanda Collection
William Maxon
College of Santa Fe
University of New Mexico
CURATED EXHIBITIONS
2008 Shaun McGlynn, sculpture exhibition, College of Santa Fe (CSF) Fine Arts Gallery and Tishman Sculpture Courtyard, Santa Fe, NM
Convergence III, collaborative sculpture exhibition by College of Santa Fe and Institute of American Indian Arts students, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Paula Castillo Installations, CSF Visual Arts Center Courtyard, Santa Fe, NM
Recycled Forest, permanent student Earth Art Installation, CSF, Santa Fe, NM
Convergence II, collaborative sculpture exhibition by College of Santa Fe and Institute of American Indian Arts students, IAIA Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Laura E. Wilson Retrospective Exhibition, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2006 Out of Hand, BA Thesis Exhibition, Marion Center, CSF, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Robert Gallegos: Flight of Fossils, Tishman Sculpture Court, CSF, Santa Fe, NM
Convergence I, Collaborative sculpture exhibition by College of Santa Fe and Institute of American Indian Arts students, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Munson Hunt: New Sculpture, CSF Visual Arts Center Courtyard, Santa Fe, NM
1990–2008 The Sculpture Project, eighteen annual group exhibitions, CSF campus, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Governors Gallery, and Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
SELECTED GROUP AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 Anudder Coloring Book: Launch Party, Show, Op Cit Books, Santa Fe, NM
2016 Temporary Installations Made for the Environment, New Mexico Arts, Axle Contemporary
2016 Accidental Photography, Axel Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2016 The Readymade: 100 Years Axel Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2014 Currents International New Media Festival, El Museo Cultural, Santa Fe, NM
2013 The Warriors: A Love Story, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2011 Art and Environment, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Awards Exhibition, Santa Fe Civic Center Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2010 EX-EX IV, La Tienda Gallery, El Dorado, NM
2009 The Monotype, Past and Present, Santa Fe Civic Center Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2008 Collect Eight, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Painting & Sculpture, Collector’s Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2007 EX-EX III, Santa Fe, NM
2006 EX-EX II, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Collect Five, Center of Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2004 Selected Sculptors of the Southwest, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM
Ballot Box, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
1990–2004 Monothon, annual printmaking exhibition, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe Art Institute, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Tishman Studios, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Small Works, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
Duct and Cover, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Veterans Wounded for Life Memorial (co-finalist, Michael Naranjo), Washington, D.C.
2001 New Work, Santa Fe, NM
2000 Past, Present, Future, College of Santa Fe Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1997–2000 Trade Show, annual exhibitions, Greer Garson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1998 Sabbatical Exhibition, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1997 Pentecost Sculpture, Saint Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe, NM
1990–2001 Art Faculty Show, annual exhibitions, CSF Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1991 Mile of Sculpture, public art exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
Collaborative Impressions, Greer Garson Theater Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1990 Small World, New Mexico Sculptor’s Guild, Santa Fe, NM
1989 Animals and Toys, Gallery at the Rep, Santa Fe, NM
1987 Artists Against WIPP, Gallery at the Rep, Santa Fe, NM
1984 Matrix, Danforth Museum, installation, Framingham, MA
1983 Sanctuary, installation and performance, Lopoukhine-Nayduck Gallery, Boston, MA
1981–82 Animals, BostonVisual Artist’s Union Gallery, Boston, MA
1980 EcoAnimals, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Three Spaces: Three Visions, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
1979 Annual Exhibition, Boston VisualArtist’s Union, Boston, MA
1978 Interface, Cohen Fine Arts Center, Tufts University, MA
Current Charts, Chosen Lands, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
New Talent, Sunne Savage Gallery, Boston, MA
1975 Biennial, New Mexico Museum of Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
1968 Hemisfair, World’s Fair mural project, San Antonio, TX
SELECTED PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS
2015-16 Timepeace, stone and earthwork, Santa Fe, NM
2012 Solar Shrine XI, stone, earthwork, plantings, Santa Fe, NM
1989 Pacifica Sunportal II, concrete, steel, Long Beach, CA
Victoria Triad, concrete, steel, LongBeach, CA
North Star Windows, fabricated brass,Monrovia, CA
1988 Pacifica Sunportal I, concrete, steel, Long Beach, CA
Monrovia Sunshapes, concrete, earthworks, Monrovia, CA
1987 Solstice Arch, concrete, steel, Monrovia, CA
Solar Arcs, aluminum, Denny's World Headquarters, Anaheim, CA
Sunhenge Park, recycled steel and earthworks, Los Angeles, CA
1986 Zambrano Sunwheel, recycled steel and earthworks, Los Angeles, CA
Solar Tone Towers, architectural site installation, concrete, Los Angeles, CA
1985 Skylines, stainless steel, Commerce Business Park, Los Angeles, CA
1984 Sanctuary II, concrete, steel, Los Angeles, CA
1983 Eyebeam Sungate, steel and found objects, Los Angeles, CA
1982 Northlake Star Kite, fabricated bronze, Pasadena, CA
Solar Wind Quintet, recycled steel, Commerce, CA
1981 The Solar Family, recycled steel and earthworks, Los Angeles, CA
PUBLICATIONS, REVIEWS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
2017 Yet Anudder Coloring Book, Rick Fisher Art
2017 Anudder Coloring Book, Rick Fisher Art
2014 Adventure to Eco Earth: Eco Animals, co-author Lisa Gray Fisher, Rick Fisher Art
2004 Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, for service to the community
2003 “Duct and Cover,” Pasatiempo, February 5.
2000 “Past, Present, Future,” Pasatiempo, January 28.
1990–2000 Reviews of annual Sculpture Project exhibitions, Pasatiempo and The magazine
1986 “The Eve of Postpartum.” The Father’s Book, ed. Kort and Friedland, G.K. Hall & Co.
1981 “Animals Show,” Boston Globe, June 7.
1980 “Eco-Animals at Newark Museum,” New York Times, July 15.
“Three Visions,” Christian Science Monitor, April 12.
1978 “Current Charts, Chosen Lands,” Dayton Herald Examiner, March 5.
1976 The Solar Greenhouse, co-author Bill Yanda, John Muir Publications.
1975 National Endowment for the Arts, grant for educational Santeros Norteños project
1974–75 National Endowment for the Humanities, grant for bilingual book, El Valle
TEACHING
2009–2011 Institute of American Indian Arts (NM), Adjunct Professor
1987–2008 College of Santa Fe (NM), Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor,
Head of Sculpture Program (’90–’08), Tenured (’97), Acting Chair (’99–’00)
1979-84 Framingham State College (MA), Instructor, Assistant Professor
1979 Boston School of the Museum of Fine Arts (MA), Adjunct Instructor
1975–78 Mass Bay Community College (MA), Adjunct Instructor
1973–75 University of New Mexico Northern Branch (NM), Adjunct Instructor
1973–75 Peñasco, Questa, and Costilla High School (NM), Artist-in-Residence Instructor
1970–72 University of New Mexico (NM), Teaching Assistant
1967–69 Edgewood Elementary (TX), Classroom Teacher (5th and 6th grades)