Rose
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Raised in Mississippi then moving to Colorado, Walsh has spent most of her life in the American West before settling in Portland, Oregon, where she now lives with her husband. Each place, Mississippi’s rooted traditions, Colorado’s sweeping vistas and mountains, and Portland’s natural beauty and cultural vibrancy shapes her palette, her imagery, and her sense of belonging. Walsh holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Colorado Mesa University. She continues to balance her studio practice with her role as an educator, teaching art to K through 8th grade students while pursuing her professional career.
As a visual artist, she spends considerable time contemplating the unseen and unknowable, and how that is expressed in art
Rose Walsh with her Archways series
Rose has a deep love of travel and has journeyed through Mexico, Central America, Europe, and the United States visiting museums and historic sites. Her career includes multiple solo and group shows and open studios. Her work is in homes across the United States and Europe as well as in the permanent collection of Colorado University.
In Colorado, Walsh was a Galleriest and also co-owned a guitar shop specializing in handmade instruments.
These things combined with her studio practice, continues to deepen her creative practice within a vibrant community of makers.
Her influences include the meditative grids of Agnes Martin, the distilled essence sought by Constantine Brancusi, the layered abstractions of Ian McKeever, and the psychoanalytic insights of Jacques Lacan. Together, these references as well as many others ground her work in a lineage of artists who probe the subconscious and the ineffable.
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Artist Statement
My current body of work deals with the delicate process of remembering something of value. Process is paramount, and these pieces are created in layers like memories are layered one over the other. This journey began for me with the experience of not being able to recall my mother's face. I have spent considerable time contemplating the phenomena of memory, the unseen and sometimes the unknowable, and how that is expressed in art. Materials used such as house paint, gold, and metal leaf, and reflective mylar, in my paintings and bronze and the lost wax technique in my face sculptures have symbolic meaning relating to my childhood home, or church I attended, as well as, people some of whom I can’t quite remember. I am always coming close to and then encircling something that I can never quite reach. As a result, I often create work in a series. This body of work has a spiritual, meditative, and reflective quality and it is my intention to slow time and give the viewer a moment of reflection.
Curriculum Vitae
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Shows and Exhibitions
Solo:
2023 Rose Walsh Open Studio, Lake Oswego, Oregon
2018 Exploration, Triangle Gallery, Grand Junction, Colorado
2018 Neighborhood, Roasted, Grand Junction, Colorado
2017 MoonWalk, Open Studio, Rose Walsh Studio, Ridgway, Colorado
2016 Faces and Places, Art by The Park, Ridgway, Colorado
2016 Open Studio, Art by the Park, Ridgway, Colorado
2015 Cool Clear, Coldwater Gallery, Ridgway, Colorado
2014 MoonWalk, Open Studio
Two Person Exhibition:
2017 2 Blossom, Ridgway Library, Ridgway, Colorado
Group Exhibitions:
2020 Convergence, Gallery Co 620, Grand Junction, Colorado
2018 Juried Show Critique Night, Western Slope Art Center, Grand Junction, Co.
2018 Skin Tones, Triangle Gallery, Grand Junction, Co.
2017 Juried Student Show, Western Slope Art Center, Juror Courtney Lane Stell
Publications
2025 Studio Visit Magazine, p. 74, Maggie in Contemplation, Acrylic
2025 Beka Museum w/ Art New York Magazine, Rose Walsh Profile
2020 Studio Visit Magazine, p. 187, Rising Above, oil and mixed media
2018 The Literary Review, p. 69,70 Untitled, mixed media
2017 The Ridgway Plaindealer, p. 3, Artist Interview for 2 Blossom
2015 The Literary Review, p. Black Canyon, mixed media
2008 Ouray County Newspapers, Artist Interview
Education, Travel, Community Involvement
Bachelor of Fine Arts: School of Art and Design, Colorado Mesa University, Cum laude
2020 - 1975 Extensively traveled in USA, Europe, Mexico, and Central America Puerto Rico
visiting Art Museums and Historic Sites
2013 PMC Jewelry Certification, Rio Grande, Denver, Colorado
2010- 2005 Art Partners, Senior Partner
2007-2005 Board Member, Weehawken Creative Arts
2005 – 2003 Board Member, Ouray County Arts Association
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Professional Experience
Present – 2000 Professional Artist
2020 – 2000 Freelance Graphic Design
United States Forest Dept. Interpretive Panels
2012 – 1982 Cimaron Guitars, Co-Owner, Ridgway, CO
2012- 2014 Art By The Park, Co-Owner, Ridgway, CO
2010 – 2009 Voyager Youth Program, Site Director, Ridgway CO
2010 – 2006 Coldwater Gallery of Fine Art, Owner, Ridgway, CO
2006 – 2004 Mountain Arts Studio, Co-Owner, Ridgway, CO