COMMUNITY ART PROGRAMMING
Besides teaching Drawing to Animation students at the School of Visual Arts, Ruth works in the Bronx, New York, particularly in her local community of Morris Park where she lives, with organizations such as:
- New York Public Library
- Morris Park Community Garden
- New York City Parks Department
- Morris Park Business Improvement District
- RAIN Inc – older adult centers
- Bronx River Art Center
- New York Botanical Garden
- Bronx Council on the Arts
- Montefiore Fine Art Program
These engagements include building outdoor art installations from Paracord using the technique of crochet. Teaching crochet, knitting and crafts using different materials to different demographics and cultures with a focus on intergenerations.
For more information on these projects and programs, please visit the HOME page and scroll down through the webposts! Also at the bottom of each page on this website you can see Ruth’s Instagram account for the most recent activity on her projects!
DESIGNING WILDLIFE WORKSHOP
In this workshop Ruth Marshall teaches how to design shapes found in animal markings and the technique of color knitting using multiple yarns.
Design: Participants are taught applicable skills on how to observe, draw and interpret the markings of an animals coat. Supplying resource materials, colored pencils and grid paper Marshall demonstrates successful methods of creating original, dynamic designs.
Knitting: Intermediate knitters are shown the unconventional intarsia and fair isle techniques of knitting that Marshall has developed over the years of researching and interpreting animal pelts from various zoos and natural history institutions. This process includes instruction on how to read knitting charts and work with multiple yarns from two or three contrasting colors of yarn.
Prerequisites: Intermediate skill level – ability to knit and purl. Students bring an average size pair of knitting needles and two or more balls of colored worsted yarn.
Goal: To design and knit a square swatch based on the markings of an animal.
Duration: 2 – 3 hours.
Group size: Maximum 20 people.
ARTIST LECTURES
Ruth is also available for guest artist talks and lectures. Topics include her textile artwork – technique and history, animal conservation, and her experiences working as an artist at the Bronx Zoo. See contact page for bookings.
About the artist: Australian born Ruth Marshall received a BFA from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia and went on to graduate from Pratt Institute, New York City with an MFA in sculpture. Marshall has become internationally known for her one-of-a-kind hand knitted textiles of endangered animals based on research conducted at zoological and natural history collections.
She continues to work as a teaching artist in the Bronx, New York City, whether it’s older adult programming, creating and managing community art programs, or with freshman animation students as a drawing instructor at the School of Visual Arts.
See Ruth’s CV HERE
RUTH MARSHALL 