Current Exhibits

photo portrait of Bill and Jean Stephens

Continuum: Artwork by Bill and Jean Stephens

to
Reception: - to

For more than five decades, Bill and Jean Stephens have been partners in life and in Art. They met in the RIT Printmaking Studio in 1972, and both later earned their degrees in the RIT MST Arts Education Program. Their teaching skills were sharpened at the AllofUs Art Workshop, then under the leadership of Luvon Sheppard, Art Professor at RIT.

Bill taught at FLCC and in the Webster CSD, mentoring hundreds of successful future artists and arts educators, until retiring a few years ago. Jean has taught classes out of her own studio and they both continue to offer classes at The Mill Art Center in Honeoye Falls. 

Across these fifty plus years, their artwork and artistic processes have continued to evolve and expand. There is a support “mechanism” built into their relationship.  I have had the honor and privilege to witness this seamless support both as a friend and colleague in past, and ongoing settings, within our profession. 

Beyond their partnership, Bill and Jean are individually exceptional artists. They enjoy a remarkable setting for their home and studio practices.  Even though the style of Jean and Bill's work differs widely, that work is highly influenced by the natural world around them. As individual artists, they have exhibited their work in the Greater Rochester region and nationally. In many cases, both have won competitions, awards and been asked to speak and present their unique techniques-processes and artistic philosophies at: galleries, workshops and university settings across their long careers. They continue to work, teach, mentor and grow...as artists and as valued pARTners. - Bob Geroux 

an abstract collage of shapes with central rectangle with an arch form above and below suggesting a shield.

Blue Moon mixed media collage. Jean Stephens

an abstract collage of shapes with central diamond shape overlaying a rectangle with bands above suggesting a shield.

Golden Shield mixed media collage. Jean Stephens

an abstract collage of blue circle shapes overlaying a series of white rectangles.

Sweet Spot mixed media collage. Jean Stephens

an abstract white ink on black paper drawing that resembles a satellite image of the earth from space.

Untitled #11 ink on paper. Bill Stephens

an abstract white ink on black paper drawing that resembles a satellite image of the earth from space.

Untitled #10 ink on paper. Bill Stephens

an abstract white ink on black paper drawing that resembles a satellite image of the earth from space.

Black and White Series #1. Bill Stephens

blank white space
blank white space
a graphic on a hot pink background 'Co-Crafting Democracy Redux'

Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism

to
Reception: - to

Official Call for Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism Entries here!

The exhibition Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism debuted in Rochester, New York – home to Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass – along with an eponymous catalogue (RIT Press, 2019). Works by the 30 artists explored how handwork probes the vulnerabilities of citizenship status, while also working toward positive social change. Over the following two years, the exhibit traveled to four additional venues in the Northeast U.S., realizing opportunities for community, conversation, and critique.

Now, the exhibition is back in an entirely new form – a “redux” that seeks to co-craft democracy. Curators Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell, in reviving their show concept, are expanding the notion of democracy to the exhibition form itself: all work that is submitted to the show will be accepted and displayed.*

The exhibition is being developed in collaboration and with the support of RIT’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion and College of Liberal Art's School of Communication. Students from RIT’s museum studies program will be involved in the creation and installation of the exhibit. For more information, please contact Dr. Decker, jdgsh@rit.edu.

*Exhibition curators Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell reserve the right to exclude submissions that are obscene or incendiary.

blank space
blank space

More Exhibitions

Upcoming Exhibition

In his first major photographic exhibition, Dr. Brian Tomaszewski, a professor in RIT’s B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, presents a compelling reflection on how both the past and present shape our understanding of identity, history, and place[...]

Upcoming Exhibition

In 2013-2014 I worked on a series in which I photographed 58 individuals for the series, Androgyny . Androgyny explored the power and complexity of gender identity through photographic portraits, short films, and a large-scale installation of a non-functioning public restroom[...]

Past Exhibition

The inaugural exhibit from the Center for Worldbuilding and Storytelling in the College of Liberal Arts inspires creativity and critical analysis, worldbuilding and transmedia storytelling for exploring real-world implications of technological and societal changes. Learn more[...]

Past Exhibition

William Snyder is an American photojournalist and former Director of Photography for The Dallas Morning News where he won four Pulitzer Prizes for his photography and editing work. Snyder has captured live music for fifty years and was the official photographer for The Who for[...]