Renee Adams

Awarded 2021

I am a rural mixed-media rural artist who primarily works in sculpture and installation. I use my art to connect viewers with our natural world by capitalizing on both nature’s beauty and the perceived commonalities shared between human and plant behavior.

I grew up in a military home, splitting my childhood between Germany and Colorado. I received a BFA in metalsmithing and an MFA in sculpture and, with these backgrounds, create plant-inspired sculptures that operate as visual metaphors, didactic tools, and aesthetic objects.

In 2006, I co-founded PUNCH Gallery, an artist-run space that operated in Seattle for ten years. More recently the organization has shifted focus to our hometown roots in Ellsensburg. I continue to participate PUNCH Projects, the new iteration now operating as a rural art collective, helping mount site-specific installations and art happenings with a regional focus.

I am a three-time Artist Trust GAP Grant recipient, a finalist for the McMillen Foundation Award in 2019, and have works in numerous private and public collections including Washington State, Swedish Hospital in Seattle, and the Yakima Valley Museum. Most recently, I received funding from Ellensburg Arts Commission to create a new body of work based on weeds.

For 18 years I have worked as a gallery manager for Gallery One, a nonprofit arts center in Ellensburg, WA. When not at work in my studio, I enjoy tending to my native plant garden, hunting for mushrooms, backpacking, and exploring the wilds of our amazing planet, both near and far from home.

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