1982 Master of Fine Arts, Cranbrook Academy of Art
*Milles Scholarship Award, American Scandinavian Foundation
*Ford Foundation Tuition Scholarship
1978 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kent State University
Blossom International Art Program
1979 Chautauqua Institution, *Logan Scholarship Award
FELLOWSHIP
1982 Fulbright Fellowship, Bolivia, South America
2018 Creative Renewal Fellowship Award ,ASC
GRANTS & AWARDS
2019 Arts and Science Council Regional Artist Grant
2018 Charlotte Lit’s 4X4CLT Series
2015 Arts and Science Council Regional Artist Grant
2013 Arts and Science Council Regional Artist Grant
ArtPop Billboard Program,Adams Outdoor & A& S Council
1995 Governor's Award in the Arts and Humanities, North Carolina
1994 Neighborhood Matching Grant, City of Charlotte,NC
1994 North Carolina Arts Council and NEA Artist Grant
1990 Return To Industry, CPCC College Faculty Grant
1989 Savannah College of Art 20th Anniversary Commission,Georgia
1988 Emerging Artist Grant, Arts and Science Council
North Carolina Print and Drawing Society
1985 Springfest Grant, Urban Visions Billboard Project
2003 Historic Charlotte Preservation Award
Numerous exhibition awards and voted “Best Artist” 2 times/Charlotte, NC
RESIDENCIES
2019 The Arctic Circle Expedition Residency, Svalbard archipelago
2018 Casa Na Ilha Art Residency Program, Brazil
2018 The Arenui Underwater Photography seminar, Raja Ampat,indonesia
2016 15th Underwater Photography Seminar, Cozumel ,Mexico
2013 Heron Island Research Station Artist Residency, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
2011 Everglades National Park Artist in Residence Fellowship, Florida
2000 Moving Poets Dance Theatre, Set Design/Irony of Sex
1989 Virginia Western College, Roanoke, VA
1986 NC Print and Drawing Society Residency Award, Winstone Press
Artist in Residence, Bemis Project/Alternative Work site, Omaha, NE
1982 Visiting Artist, University Settlement, Ohio Arts Council, Ohio
Chautauqua Institution Painting Residency, Chautauqua, New York
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2010-present Art Consultant/Curatorial Services,Owner,X Foundation Artist Studios
1988-91 Adjunct Professor, Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC
1988 Educator, Community School of the Arts, Charlotte, NC
1988, 85, 84 Adjunct Professor, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
1987 Visiting Lecturer, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1986 Adjunct Professor, Winthrop College, Rock Hill, SC
1983-84 Head of Painting Program,Chautauqua Institution
Educator, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
1980-82 Assistant Preparator, Cranbrook Museum Of Art, MI
1979 Director, Bonfoey Gallery, Tucson, AZ
1978 Director, Kent State University Gallery, Kent, Ohio
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2019 Odyssey , Hidell Brooks Gallery,Charlotte,NC
Organisms , The Yard, NYC Curated by Site Brooklyn
2016 Sightings, Hidell Brooks Gallery
Atonement,University of South Carolina,Upstate Gallery
2015 Turchin Visual Arts Center,Appalachian State University,Boone,NC
2014 Oceanic Alchemies,Hickory Museum Of Art,NC
2012 Murmurs of the Land, Artifact Gallery, New York, NY
2012 North Carolina Museum Of Natural Sciences,Nature Gallery, Raleigh ,NC
2011 Song of Ten Thousand Islands,Hidell Brooks Gallery,Charlotte,NC
2010 Ruth Ava Lyons, Aaron Gallery , Washington, DC
2009 Biotikos, Spiers Gallery, Brevard College, Brevard, NC
2003 New Work, Center of The Earth Gallery,Charlotte,NC
2000 Ruth Ava Lyons, Tyndall Gallery,Durham,NC
1997 Recent Work, Owen Patrick Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1994 Life in the Nineties, Blue Spiral I Gallery, Asheville, NC
1990 Arts and Science Council,Charlotte, NC
1989 Big Noise, Davidson College Art Gallery, Davidson, NC
Recent Drawings, Virginia Western College, Roanoke, VA
1988 New Works, Albany Museum Of Art, Albany, GA
1986 Miss X, Limbo Gallery, Charlotte, NC
Maker, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, NC
Residency, Bemis project,Omaha,NE
1985 Eternal Moments, Waterworks Gallery, Salisbury, NC
Recent Works, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
1982 Ruth Ava Lyons,Thesis show, Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1978 Wanderings, Kent State University, Kent, OH
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Art and Light Gallery,Greenville,NC
2018 No Longer Supported, Sara Nightingale Gallery, Sag Harbor,NY
2017 Creative Climate,Human Impacts institute/Taiwan Embassy/NYC
Ocean Plastic, Expo 216, Wilmington ,NC
The Errant Eye, Harwood Museum of Art.NM
2016 Color Matters, The Painting Center, NYC
Blue Marble,San Luis Obispo Museum Of Art,California
McColl Center for Contemporary art
2015 Creative Climate Awards, Human Impacts Institute/Taiwan Embassy,NYC
2014 Gallery 17,Greenville,SC
Women In Abstract, Hidell Brooks Gallery,NC
Cavellini, White box Gallery,NYC,NY
2013 Suzanne Connors Gallery,Jacksonville,FL
Beyond The Curve, Civic and Cultural Arts Center, Pineville, NC
2012 Art in Embassy Program,U.S Department of state,Embassy of Moldova.
Democratic National Convention Headquarters,NC Artists
Bemis Art Center,Auction Exhibition Invitational,Omaha,NE
2011 Miniature Perspectives, Ferst Center for the Arts,Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA
Art in the Everglades, Everglades National Park Coe Gallery,FL
R Roberts Gallery, Jacksonville,Florida
Superheroes, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, Bronx,NY
Lab Ad, Beca Foundation Albuquerque, NM
A Book About Death: Life,Elizabeth Harper Gallery, Presbyterian College,Clinton, SC
2010 Abstract Thinking, Hidell Brooks Gallery, NC
New York, New York, Swirth Art Advisory, NYC,NY
95 Artists, Umbrella Arts Gallery, NYC,NY
Small Works Invitational, S.H.E Gallery, Boonton, New Jersey
Signature Power-Legends and other Myths, Micro Museum ,Brooklyn, NY
Lineage Of Noda, Adam Miller Gallery, , Concord , NC
2009 The New Boom Collective, Helac & Wirth Advisors, New York, NY
Fall Show , Aaron Gallery, Washington ,DC
Finally …Spring, Aaron Gallery, Two Person Show, Washington, DC
2008 Metaphoric Sunrise/Sunset, Micro Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Bemis Project Invitational exhibition, Omaha, Nebraska
String Of Pearls, Upstairs Artspace, Tryon, NC
Art Now Fair, Art Basel,Miami,FL
2007 Footprints, two person show, Drew Deane Gallery, Brevard, NC
A Landscape for All Seasons, Upstairs Artspace, Tryon, NC
2002 Fayetteville Museum of Art, The Artists of Charlotte, Fayetteville, NC
Summer Invitational, Blue Spiral I, Asheville, NC
2001 NC Painting 2000 Green Hill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC
INTERIORS: A Look Within, Blue Spiral I, Asheville, NC
2000 Fall Exhibition/ Gallery Artists, Gallerie Dorita, Atlanta, GA
New Artists, Tyndall Gallery, Durham, NC
Functional Follies, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
1999 Residual Value: Tryon Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
Agitating Utopia, Craft and Folk Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Poetics of Space, Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, NC
1998 Fayetteville Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC
More than a glance, Blue Spiral I Gallery, Asheville, NC
Gallery Artists Owen Patrick Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1997 Land and Body, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, traveling to University of
Central Florida, Orlando, FL
The Object of My Affection, Weber State University, Ogden, UT
1996 Summa Composite - Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
Images of Faith, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
Commonwealth Collects:Reaching Across Our Borders, Center for the Arts, VI.
1995 Hans & Walter Bechtler Gallery, Charlotte, NC
Winter Invitational - Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC
1994 Chiaroscuro: A Contemporary Study of Light and Dark, Montgomery Museum, Montgomery,AL
1993 Reflections: Women Looking At Women, Furman University, SC
Regional Painting Invitational, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Acme Art, Wilmington, NC
1992 Contemporary Print Exhibition, Elon College, Elon, NC
Images of Faith, Blue Spiral I Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina
1991 Picolo Pictura, Owen Patrick Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Somar Invitational, Waterworks Gallery, Salisbury, NC
Taking a Stand: Art and Social Vision, Green Hill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC
1990 Artists Against Aids, Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC
Selections: Here and Now 1990, Danville Museum of Art, Danville, VA
Syncopated Visions, Delaplaine Art Center, Frederick, MD
Two Views, Paul Sires/Ruth Ava Lyons, Wilson Art Center, Wilson, NC
1989 Images of Faith, Kentucky Museum, Northport, AL
Signs of Life, Lyons and Sires, Danville Museum of Fine Arts, Danville, VA
North Carolina Invitational, Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC
Neo-Expressionism, Southeastern Cntr for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
1887 In Pursuit of Excellence, Center Gallery, Carrboro, NC
1986 Positive/Negative, Carroll Reece Museum, East Tenn.State University, Johnson City, North Carolina Print and Drawing Society National, St. Johns Museum, Wilmington, NC
Visual Arts: The Southeast, Securities Center, Georgia St. Univ, Atlanta, GE
1985 Drawings, Invitational, Knight Gallery, Charlotte, NC
New Figurative Painting: Harsh Images on Canvas. Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
May Show, Artists of the Western Reserve, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Artists Choose Artists, Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC
Focus International: American Women in Art: American Album, Nairobi, Kenya,
Maryland College of Art, Black Mountain College, Buffalo, NY,
Richland College, Dallas, TX, WARM National Conference, MN
1984 Salon D'Hiver, 1984 Invitational, Spaces, Cleveland, OH
May Show, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
1983 Group Show, Rockefeller Gallery, State University of New York, Fredonia, NY
1982 New American Talent, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX
1982 Invitational, Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Michigan Artists 1982, Birmingham Art Gallery, Birmingham, MI
1981 Tunnel Vision, Detroit Cultural Gallery, Detroit, MI
Tunnel Gallery, Windsor, Canada
Paperwork Now, Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI
All on Paper, Associated Artists Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1980 Four Corner States Biennial, Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ
Biennial Painting Exhibition, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Mid West Painting National, Owensboro Museum of Art, KY
United Nations Conference on Women, NY Carlsberg Glyptotek, Denmark
Contemporary Vessels, Bonfoey Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Five Arizona Artists, Kiosko Del Arte, Mexico
Gallery Artists, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI
1979 Women’s Art 1979, Artreach Gallery, Columbus, OH
Beck Cultural Arts Center, Lakewood, OH
National Painting, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Art in Ohio, Columbus Fine Arts Center, Columbus, OH
1978 Visions Western New York Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
New Directions, American Institute of Architects, Cleveland, OH
Thesis, Kent State School of Art Galleries, Kent, Ohio
SELECTED REVIEWS & PUBLICATIONS
What keeps these 5 artists sharp,Charlotte Observer May 2018
Ambassador to the Natural World,Ruth Ava Lyons , Arts and Science Council Blog
Color Matters Catalogue,The Painting Center,NYC 2016
Pattern Pulp January 2016, Color Matters Show,NYC 2016
Sightings of Global warming and Nature, Artplantae december 2015
Contemporary American Art,Art in Embassies Exhibition Catalogue.US
ArtPlantae Today
“Something in Particular”,A Documentary/Creativity in the south 2012
Knight Arts “Lyons and Ace encourage contemplation” 12/2011
BronxInk ,”Superhero” at Casita Maria Center,2/2011
“Ecos” Des de Miami, Fifth Season Magazine, Adrinan Bianco, Dec 08
Winston-Salem Journal, Pushing the Boundaries Aside, Tom Patterson,August 2000
Sculpture Magazine, May Issue 1999
The Orlando Sentinel, The Landscape Beyond, Philip Bishop, October 1997
Charlotte Observer, Every Detail... by Tom Patterson, October 1996
Creative Loafing, An Eye for Harmony by Jane Grau, October 1996
Montgomery Museum of Art, Chiaroscuro Invitational, 1995 catalogue
Woman’s Voice, Artist Finds Beauty, Jo Minchew, January 1994
Art Vu, An Uncertain Future, Summer 1992
The Arts Journal, Taking a Stand, March 1991
Green Hill Center for N .C. Art , Taking a Stand/Art & Social Vision, 1991
Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Somar Invitational, 1991 catalogue
Art Papers, Images Of Faith, W. T. Dooley,
ART KUNST 1990 catalogue
BREAK magazine, Her Art Speaks With Many Voices, February 1989
New Art Examiner, Ruth Ava Lyons, Summer 1989
HERESIES, Issue #22, Art In Unestablished Channels
Times Outlook, Featured artist Ruth Ava Lyons Nov 1989
The Albany Sunday Herald, Art and Artists, April 17, 1988
The Spectator, Neo-Expressionism, July 1987
Buffalo Courier, Paper Comes of Age, 1986
The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum Of Art 65th May show 198
SELECTED PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
BlackArch Partners
Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks,US Dept of Interior
Heron Island Research Station , Australia
Presbyterian College Art Collection
InterSouth Partners, Durham, NC
Booz, Allen & Hamilton
Fennebresque, Clark, Swindell & Hay
Philip Morris Headquarters USA, NY
Moore and Van Allen
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
Mint Museum of Art
Greenville County Museum of Art
Cranbrook Museum of Art
North Carolina Print and Drawing Society
City Of Charlotte Convention Center
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, LLP
St. Johns Museum of Art
New Gallery/Bemis Project: Alternative Work Site
Kent State University, Michener Collection
The Ohio Arts Council
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Davidson College Art Collection
University of North Carolina, Asheville and Charlotte
Hearst Corporation
Bank of America
MCF Foundry
Hilton USA
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Pneumafil Corporation
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
SAS Institute
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
UNC Women and Children’s Hospital
Boddie-Noell Corporation
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
City of Pompano Beach
Bechtler Foundation
Mercury Mill
Crescent Properties
SELECTED PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
Charlotte Douglas International airport
Four Mile Creek Trailhead,Parks and Recreation ,City Of Charlotte
City of Pompano Beach, Signal box enhancements
Functional Follies, 50th Anniversary Commission, Savannah College of Art and Design
Charlotte Area Transit Authority/Blue Lynx Line, City Of Charlotte
Plaza Central Identity Project, Plaza Midwood Partners,Charlotte, NC
Boddie-Noell Corporation, Commission, Chapel Hill, NC
