Award-winning wildlife artist Neil Rizos will be an Artist-in-Residence at SUNY Potsdam for the month of September.
SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Art is proud to welcome renowned wildlife artist Neil Rizos as an artist-in-residence this month.
During his residency, Rizos will be creating art, working with students and presenting a public lecture on his work. His public presentation, titled “Neil Rizos: The Art of Exploration,” will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m., in Brainerd Hall Room 202. This event is free, and the public is invited to attend.
Rizos has gained a national reputation for his artworks, which focus on the depiction of wildlife, and birds in particular. He has pursued his love of the natural world and of art to travel the world as a natural history illustrator and ornithological researcher, working everywhere from the Arctic to the rainforest. In particular, Rizos has studied eagles, hawks and falcons in Montana with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; Harris hawks in the southwest with the University of Arizona, and migratory birds on the Alaskan tundra with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as participating in other bird studies with public and private organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has also completed artist residencies at Acadia National Park in Maine; at the Cill Rialig Arts Centre in County Kerry, Ireland; at the Airlie Center in Virginia, and most recently at the Visitors Interpretive Center in Paul Smiths, N.Y.
Rizos’ award-winning work is found in numerous private and public collections, and he recently exhibited in a one-person show at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. He works in a variety of media, including painting, printmaking and sculpture. Recently, one of his sculptures was given to former First Lady Barbara Bush, in recognition of her support for conservation. He is a member of the National Arts Club, the Salmagundi Club and Allied Artists of America.
Rizos’ etchings are featured in the book, “The American Sporting Print: 20th Century Etchers & Drypointists,” which includes works by Frank W. Benson, Carl Rungius, Ogden Pleissner and others. His work is in the permanent collection of the United States Library of Congress, the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, the Acadian Museum in Quebec, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, and in other public, private and corporate collections internationally. Currently, Rizos lives in Arizona and is the print studio artist-in-residence at the Mesa Arts Center. He continues to travel extensively to study birds—his favorite subject—for his sculptures, paintings and printmaking. To learn more, visit www.rizosart.com.
SUNY Potsdam art graduates have gone on to pursue professions in the fine arts, art administration, art therapy, digital design, K-12 and university teaching, museum curation, audio/visual administration, publishing, gallery ownership, interior design, architecture, commercial printing, pattern making, photojournalism and studio ceramics. Art students at SUNY Potsdam live and create in a unique art environment, within the context of a stimulating liberal arts tradition. For more information, visit www.potsdam.edu/art.
Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of only three arts campuses in the entire SUNY system. SUNY Potsdam’s arts curriculum offers the full palette: music, theatre, dance, fine arts and creative writing. No matter the discipline, people from all backgrounds can find their creative compass at Potsdam, with myriad arts immersion experiences available for both campus and community.
Arts & Culture