AIE Directory

Visiting Artist - Visual Arts

Wendy Minor Viny

33799 Side Hill Road
Rutland, OH 45775
Phone: (740) 742-4523
Emails: WendyMinor@hotmail.com

I am a sculptor and a painter. I hope to bring the residency site someone who is excited about seeing the beautiful in junk, trash and the cast-offs. My goal is to inspire the students to see past an object's mundane purpose and see it as a connected piece of a larger whole, a piece of a beautiful puzzle that the student is creating. Here is where a ping-pong paddle gets transformed into a tree, a rusty rake head into a fence, and a pie plate pounded flat to represent the moon. All of these objects finds their place in larger sculptures, and the student begins to tell a story or explore their emotions through art making. I want to present the challenge of seeing the beautiful where it otherwise remains unnoticed, in the old, rusty, broken and forgotten-about pieces of our culture. It is wonderful to give new value and spirit to something that was created out of the reused and recycled. It is a lesson for our world today.

I work in a number of mediums, and I am constantly bringing new junk and cast-off items into my studio. All the individual objects have their traditional boundaries, but when placed with other interesting forms, they take on a new meaning, a new spirit. I construct sculptures and create collages from pieces of my life. I use paint, photos, digital images, fabric and found objects -- anything that helps to weave the artwork together. I strive for the art to look seamless. My work speaks of time spent in nature and relationships that have formed who I am.

I have been a professional artist for 16 years. I studied painting and sculpture at The Ohio State University and Columbus College of Art and Design. In 1994, I co-founded Standing Stone, a collaborative arts community in Amesville, Ohio. In 2000, I became Lead Studio Artist for Passion Works Studio, a collaborative arts studio offering art opportunities to adults with and without developmental disabilities. In 2001, I became an artist with the Ohio Art Council's Artist in Residence program where I teach found-object sculpture in public and private schools. I exhibit in both collaborative and solo settings, most recently showing in "Found, Mixed & Made," an exhibit at The Mary Woerner Gallery in West Palm Beach, Florida. I have been recognized for my own work as well as my work with Passion Works on radio (NPR) and television (PBS) and have been reviewed by numerous publications.