Art in Todos Santos

Awards

Honorable Mention "Viewpoints", November 2002 Northern Westchester Center of the Arts, Mt. Kisko, NY Curator: Susan Cross (Associate Curator/The Guggenheim Museum)
Award of Excellence – Ridgefield Guild of Art Juried Show by Lisa P. Streitfeld, Ridgefield, CT. October 2003
Visual Artist Grant from the Commission of Culture and Tourism (2005)
Artist Residency, Taos, NM (2008)

Lectures & Panel Opportunities

Artist Talk: Women Past and Present, Mattatuck Museum. Waterbury CT. 2006
Artist Talk: PUSH (Peers Using Skills for Healing) 22 Haviland St. Gallery 2005
Steering committee member for Art-Focus Symposium at SGA.September 2005.
Co-event Chairman: Women Make Art Film Preview/15th WCA-CT Anniversary
Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield University, June 2005
Artist Gallery Talk, “Leaving Our Mark” January 2005
Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT
Juror: Robbin Zella, Director of the Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
Artist Gallery Talk “New Members Show”, January 2005 Silvermine Guild of Art,
Artist Gallery Talk “Known & Unknown” June, 2004 Betty Barker Gallery, Waveny Park, New Canaan, CT Curator: Cecelia Barnett
Artist Talk. “Coming Together: Women Telling their Stories” January. 2004
Innovation Center, Bridgeport, CT Curator Robin Jopp Gilmore
Panel speaker and art exhibitor Women, War & Peace, Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, Southern Connecticut State University. Oct. 2003
Artist Gallery Talk. Women's Work Exhibit (WCA-CT Exhibit), August 2003
The Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Ridgefield, CT Curator Debra Browne.

Key Accomplishments

President of the Women Caucus for Art –CT (2004-2006)
Before I became President I spent two years doing as the Public Relations Coordinator for the organization. Through leadership and motivation I have been able to increase our membership by 30 %. This year I started a Coaching Program for the professional development of our members. In the last year I was instrumental in getting a grant from The Commission of Culture and Tourism for the creation of a short film with the goal of creating awareness to the contributions of women in the visual arts. Collaborated many hours with film maker Lisa Seidenberg in the creation of the film, which is now finished. It has gotten a lot of attention from Art Centers and educational institutions, which will allow us to further our goal.

I have found venues, raised the level of opportunities for our organization to exhibit, give lectures and participate in community related events.

With a great belief in documentation I have written several articles for our quarterly newsletter.

Silvermine Guild of Artists: Guild Member, Volunteer, Gallery Committee and Teacher in their out reach programs particularly in schools of diverse backgrounds where some classes are held in Spanish.

Westport Arts Center: Member. Have volunteered as a juror for art competitions.

Ridgefield Guild of Artists: Member. Have given artists talks and volunteered in the gallery. Worked on joint programs with the WCA-CT.

Publications

The New York Times, 10/29/01 "Photos and More, at a Biennial Event" by William Zimmer. Some of the work that uses photography as one of several elements is Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz’ “Let Me Out”. It uses an unidentified black-and-white portrait visible through the glass of a display case with a prominent lock..·        
The Ridgefield Press, 1/17/02 "Aldrich Shows open on Sunday, Snapshot".·        
The Ridgefield Press, New Canaan Advertiser, The Darien Times, The Wilton Bulletin, the Redding Pilot, The Weston Forum (CT), 2/06/03 "Something New".·        
Good Living Minuteman Newspapers, 2/06/03 Must see exhibit at Westport Arts Center: "The Common Thread: Discovering Fiber Art in Contemporary Art".·        
Housatonic Living, 2/21/03 "Glorious Gloria, Transformation of two Glorias" By Jamie Ferris “I want to express what I see in an evocative way; to tell the story of the events, but to let the viewer read it and let it tell the their own story – let it speak to them”. ·        
Ridgefield Press 6/26/03 Arts & Leisure, "And now a really Big Show" ·        
Ridgefield Press, Danbury Press 8/28/03 "Women's Work" Stamford Advocate 9/07/03, "Preparing fertile ground in Ridgefield".“Her art expresses a personal vision of the metamorphosis of “Women’s Work”, from outer-directed to motivated from within, which makes her vision the most compelling in the exhibition, By L.P. Streitfeld·        
The News Times, Danbury, CT, 10/12/03 by Eileen Fitzgerald “Women War and Peace”.“The sign, Art Saves Lives, sits under a brick fireplace in the Ridgefield studio of mixed media artist Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz. It’s a glimpse of the philosophy of the artist who will take part in an exhibit and discussion on the “Impact of Art in Times of War” at Southern Connecticut State University. “The role of the artist, is to convey the pain people are feeling, to use ourselves as translators”, Ruenitz said..” I tend to work with conceptual pieces, then I decide how to embody these. I walk to a junkyard, take a photograph of someone”, she said. “The medium is another tool to convey the ideal”.·        
Stamford Advocate 1/16/05, "Silvermine welcomes new blood". , By L.P. Streitfeld “Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz, a new female voice that has risen in the region, displays two works that nicely sum up her talent in using unexpected materials from everyday life to elicit erotic connections from her personal autobiography.”·        
Arts Fairfield County Weekly by Brita Brundage. Westport Art Center’s Solo Exhibitions 1/20/05 “Sometimes an artist is more committed to concept than form, and this is certainly true for Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz and her installation “Leaving Our Mark” which consists of black and white photos of footprints in sand and a box of sand which sits on the ground for visitors to leave their own marks. What strikes a viewer here is how small certain feet are, and how fossil-like the imprints, yet how impermanent…. It’s the sort of art that leaves a lot of questions hovering behind it.·        
Hersam-Acorn Newspapers, 2/10/05 Feature Article by Susan Shultz. “Footsteps in the Sand… led to a new life for Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz. “Her words are artwork, put together to reveal human understandings that can only take form after years of deep introspection.” “Within frames and shadow boxes, inside sculptures, are the pieces of what make this artist unique”.·        
NewsTimesLIVE.com, 4/03/06 Feature article by Susan Tuz. “Artist Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz explores the world of introspection in her work. Whether it is her Latin American roots or her North American present, she combines found objects, language and images to share her deepest thoughts with her viewers”.
 NewsTimesLIVE.com, 10/30/06 Feature article by Sandra Diamond Fox. “Artist Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz is featured in Identity exhibition. Over the past few years, Ruenitz’s artwork has been displayed in more that 30 exhibits, throughout CT and NY. Most of the ideas of her pieces have been taken from her own life experiences. Universal implications aside “Shelter” just as “Life Weave” encourages consideration of how people see themselves
Culture Catch review online 4/11/07 by Dominic Lombardi. . “And Santoyo Ruenitz’s art is so wonderfully simple and symbolic as it represents love, memory, and dreams with a quiet wisdom that is both edgy and comforting.”