Rebecca Rutstein


Rebecca Rutstein is an American artist known for her multidisciplinary work and collaborations with oceanographers, ecologists, microbiologists, molecular scientists, and geologists. She is a full-time artist who works in her studio in Philadelphia.

Early life and education

Rutstein was born in 1971 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Lower Merion High School, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, graduating Magna Cum Laude, from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1993. She went on the earn a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 1997.

Career

Since the early 2000s, Rutstein has created painting, sculpture, interactive installation, and public art inspired by the natural world. She has been an artist in residence on eight expeditions at sea, including aboard the R/V Falkor sailing from Vietnam to Guam, the R/V Atlantis in the Guaymas Basin, Mexico and off the coast of Costa Rica, and the R/V Rachel Carson in the Salish Sea, and three deep-sea dives to the ocean floor in the Alvin research submersible. She is a collaborator on The Ocean Memory Project, a transdisciplinary group of researchers exploring ways in which the ocean and its inhabitants are an interconnected system with agency and memory. She has collaborated with oceanographers, ecologists, microbiologists, molecular scientists, and geologists. Scientists with whom she has collaborated include Samantha "Mandy" Joye, Erik Cordes, Chris German, Jody Deming, and Julia Cartwright. Through visual and immersive experiences, her abstract work sheds light on the places, systems, and processes that are often hidden from view. Her goal is to foster a deeper connection with nature, and inspire wonder, empathy, and stewardship in the face of the climate crisis.
Her work can be found in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Georgia Museum of Art, National Academy of Sciences, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, U.S. Consulate in Thailand, U.S. Department of State, Yale University, University of Washington, University of Alabama, University of New Mexico, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Microsoft and AT&T.

Talks

Awards

  • ·2022-23 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative - Ocean Memory Project Seed Grant
  • 2020-21 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative - Ocean Memory Project Seed Grant
  • 2018-2019 Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding
  • 2018 MIT Ocean Discovery Fellow, MIT Media Labs, Ocean Exploration Forum
  • 2016 Artist at Sea Residency Fellowship, Schmidt Ocean Institute
  • 2015 Science Communication Fellowship, Ocean Exploration Trust
  • 2009 Independence Foundation Fellowship
  • 2007 Pew Professional Development Grant
  • 2006 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Grant
  • 2004 Pew Fellowship in the Arts