ABOUT

As an artist, curator and collector for over five decades, the craft I’ve honed, beyond any other, is an ability to see. To perceive stories emerging from brushstrokes, to notice artists whose talent and vision demand our attention, and to envision a future where art shapes the way we understand the world and the people in it.

Now I’m on a mission to help others see: by sharing artists I’ve shown in museum exhibitions, creators I’m following closely today, pieces I’ve collected and lived with, and intimate stories from a life immersed in the visual art world.

The perspective of RSC is personal, but the vision is far-reaching: to bring extraordinary art to anyone, anywhere.

Because art isn’t about what you see, it’s about what you make others see.

Daniel Wheeler GULP #055 (32°50' 36.77"N 117°51' 42.30"W 10:28 am), 2007. 54"×54"

FOUNDER STORY

Reesey Shaw is an accomplished curator, artist, and educator with a BA and MA in Fine Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Reesey worked as an art historian and lecturer at Morgan State University and had a studio in downtown Baltimore before moving to California where she lectured at Claremont University, UCSD, and San Diego State.

As an artist, Reesey’s work was best known for its connection to the complexities of society. As art critic David Hickey once said about Reesey’s works, “It is the artist’s task to fill out the hand that civilization has dealt us, metaphorically reminding us of hard truths and making visible the invisible options … we too often ignore.” It is this deep connection to hidden narratives that makes Reesey’s works so impactful.

Reesey has held key leadership roles, including Gallery Director at the Felicity Foundation (1987-1991) and Founding Director and Vice President of the California Center for the Arts Museum (1991-1997). She went on to found the Lux Art Institute (1998-2018), California’s first LEED-certified museum, that blended sustainability with creativity and allowed people to see the artistic creative process firsthand.

Education has been central to Reesey’s career, particularly through projects like the Valise Project, a traveling museum she created to take art directly to young audiences. Inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s La Boite-en-valise, the project allowed artists to fill suitcases with miniature, sculptured exhibits that were then brought to schools, libraries, and community centers. The project reached over 8,500 students annually, introducing them to the power of art in unexpected ways.

Julie Heffernan, Self-Portrait in a Coral Sea, 2008. Oil on canvas.

REESEY SHAW CURATORIAL

Reesey Shaw Curatorial was founded in 2019 to transform how art is shared, learned, and experienced. Today our projects include: a living and breathing digital gallery that showcases a rich tapestry of artists from all backgrounds; a collection of stories about artists and the world they create; and a visual archive of exhibitions I’ve curated, artists I’ve hosted, catalogs I’ve produced, and pieces in my personal collection.

Ben Crase, That Day at Wise River, 2023, oil, oil stick, pigment stick, oil pastel on canvas, 48 x 60 x 1.5 in