About Ruth Banta

Ruth Banta has a BFA in painting, a BS and a MA in Art Education from the University of Cincinnati.

At Hebrew Union College Museum, she researched and described ritual textile antiquities. This led to creating new works of art involving, weaving, crocheted sculpture, and fabric collage. Her work in fiber and crochet has been exhibited regionally and nationally including the Cincinnati Art Museum Biennial, The Museum of Contemporary Art the Store, Chicago; Columbus Museum of Art; also galleries in New York, Chicago, Madison, Louisville and Cincinnati. Her work is included in many private and corporate collections.

She is author of a children's book "How would you act?" (1962), Rand McNally, and has been published in "Fiberarts" magazine and "Fiberarts Design Book Three".

Recently her work consists of repurposed clothing and fabrics combined with items rescued from Thrift Stores.

Ruth Banta
Cincinnati, OH (picture above 1985)

Education
BFA, BS in Education, Art, University of Cincinnati, 1969 MA in Art Education, University of Cincinnati, 1992

Exhibitions
"Bizarre", C.A.G.E. Gallery, Cincinnati, 1990, '91
"Sports on TV", Design Arts Gallery, Cincinnati (solo exhibition), 1990
"3DUC", Tangeman Fine Arts Gallery, University of Cincinnati, 1990
"Craft Guild of Greater Cincinnati Annual, 1975-90 (award 1982)
"Dolls", C.A.G.E. , 1989
"77th Annual Columbus Art League Exhibition", Columbus Museum of Art, 1987
"The Best of 1987", Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Columbus, OH, Miami University, Oxford (OH), 1987
"Fine Arts Exhibit", Ohio State Fair, Columbus, OH, 1979, '83, '84, '86 (award 1979)
"Surface Design", Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery, Cincinnati, 1984
"Art at Home", Portnoy-Goodman/Jordan-Volpe, Amagansett, NY, 1982
"Contemporary Lace", The Louisville Art Gallery, KY, 1982
"Biennial", Cincinnati Art Museum, 1981
"Hats", Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 1981
"Needle Expressions," WCET-TV Gallery, Cincinnati, 1980
Cincinnati Summerfair, Fine Arts Exhibit, 1979, '80 (award 1979)
Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati Annual, 1975-78

Institutional and Corporate Collections
Health Department, City of Cincinnati
Cincinnati Bell Telephone
Kahn's Meats
Alex Fries and Sons
Corson Hirschfeld Photography

Gallery Affiliations
Chenoweth Square Gallery, Louisville, KY, 1991-93
Design Arts Gallery, Cincinnati, 1990-91
Show of Hands, Cincinnati and Columbus, 1987-90
Rebecca Cooper, Soho, NY, 1981-89
Art Bank, Cincinnati, 1986-87
Park Gallery, Louisville, KY, 1984-87
Gayle Wilson Gallery, Southampton, NY, 1982
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Store, Chicago, IL, 1981-3
Madison Art Center, Gallery Shop, Wisconsin, 1981-83
Joy Horwich, Chicago, 1981-82
Artisan Shop and Gallery, Wilmette, IL, 1981

Publications
Fiberarts Design Book Three ( 1988), Asheville, NC: Lark Press, p. 177
Fiberarts, (Sept/Oct 1981), Fedders, P. "Crocheted cream puffs? What you see is not what you get", pp. 16 -17
How Would You Act? (1962), Author, New York: Rand McNally

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio ... Chicago, Illinois ... Denver, Colorado ... Knoxville, Tennessee ... Boca Raton and Miami Beach, Florida ... Atlanta, Georgia ... Huntington Woods and Detroit, Michigan ... Charleston, West Virginia ... Los Angeles, San Francisco and Mill Valley, California ... Covington and Louisville, Kentucky ... Kansas City, Missouri...Kansas City, Kansas ... New York, New York ... and others.

REVIEWS
Fiberarts Design Book Three (1988). Asheville, N.C.: Lark Press, p.177.
Fedders, P. (1981). "Crocheted cream puffs? What you see is not what you get", Fiberarts, September/October, pp.16-17.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCES
Design Arts Gallery, Cincinnati. Gallery assistant, sales, display. 1990-1993.
Arrowmont College, University of Tennessee, Gatlinburg. Felt-making Workshop. 1990.
Regional Scholastic Art Exhibit of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Judge. 1973-1976, 1987-1988.
A Show of Hands (Ohio Designer Craftsmen), Cincinnati. Sales, consignment. 1987.
Art Bank (cooperative gallery), Cincinnati. Gallery assistant, sales, bookkeeping, graphics. 1986-1987.
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. "Craftsummer". Workshop Instructor, "Crochet: a non-traditional approach". 1985.
Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati. Leader of one-day workshops in fiber and crochet. 1979-1980.
Fiber Workshops with Diane ltter (design and color), Michael James (quilting: design), Alma Lesch (embroidery, applique, design), Terry Mangat (quilt making), David Walker (quilt making). 1977-1991.
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. "Craftsummer". Crochet Workshop with Renee Adams. 1978. Hebrew Union College, Library and Rare Book Room. Manuscript restoration and binding. 1973-1978 (part-time).