Second Sunday Arts: Juan Alonso-Rodriguez

A virtual monthly event where we showcase the works of a single artist, followed by an engaging open Q&A session.

Artist Bio:  Juan Alonso-Rodríguez is a Cuban-born, self-taught artist with a career spanning over three decades in the Pacific Northwest and relocated to St Petersburg, Florida in 2022. His work has been exhibited throughout the US and is included in the permanent collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Museum of Northwest Art, Microsoft, and General Mills, among others. He has created public works for Lumen Link Field, Sea/Tac Airport, King County Housing Authority, Epiphany School, Sound Transit, Chief Sealth High School, and Renton Technical College. Besides a 2019 Artist Trust Fellowship, his awards include two GAP’s, the 1997 Neddy Fellowship, a 2010 Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, the 2016 DeJunius Hughes Award for Activism, the 2017 Conductive Garboil Grant, the 2019 Governor’s Arts Award for an Individual Artist, and was selected as the 2021 Lecturer for the UW Libraries Artist Images. He has been nominated twice for the Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptor’s Grant.

For as long as he has been making art, Juan has been involved in the artistic community as a vocal advocate for the arts and artists, particularly for those with less privilege. He has been instrumental in developing and encouraging business training for artists with various local arts organizations. Juan is a former Seattle Arts Commissioner,  served four years on the city’s Public Art Advisory Committee, and serves on the board of ARTE NOIR, a non-profit that showcases artworks by Black artists.

Artist Statement:   The act of creating, particularly painting, is a necessary form of meditation and the serenity I seek. 
My work is an on-going exploration of abstraction based on forms both found in nature and those conceived by human ingenuity. Memories of sights and sounds of my Caribbean origins always play an integral part in my creativity.  I am influenced by the organized balance, pattern and symmetry found in nature as well as that of architecture that lives in harmony with the natural world.

I have had the opportunity in my career to create both studio work and public art projects. This has enabled me to challenge preconceived notions about the acceptance of art by the public and the capability of the solitary studio artist engaging in collaborative ventures. As a believer that art has the ability and artists the responsibility to inspire social well-being, I welcome the balance between the introspection necessary to formulate ideas in the solitude of the studio and the gift of sharing some of the benefits with society.

Website: https://www.juanalonsostudio.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juan_alonso_studio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuanAlonsoStudio