Caol ‘Ait
(thin places) a residue of experience

Lisa Rasmussen is a painter, art advocate, envorimental artist, and educator. She was born in Wisconsin and has her roots in Scandinavia and Ireland. Early on she developed a thirst for travel and distant cultures. A key conceptual element of her artistic process is the study and travel to ancient cultures and sacred sites around the world. Some of her travel adventures include Nepal, Peru,Ireland, and Brazil. She has also lived and taught English in the mountains of South, China, as well as she had studied antiquities, the Art of the Renaissance, and Ceramics in Florence, Italy.

Lisa’s BA was in Sculpture and one can see the three dimensional deeply reflected her textural canvas’s. For her painting is a very visceral and physical process. Rasmussen’s paintings have been called abstract expressionism, with a spiritual twist. Her paintings reflect her holistic worldview and her deep connection with the natural world. For Rasmussen, art making is a transcendental experience. When she paints, Rasmussen taps into a force greater than herself; a force that creates through her. Each painting is a product of her dance with divinity. Through her process she hopes to invoke in herself and the viewer a deeper connection to the world within and around us through reflection and inspiration.

Rasmussen was named “Graduate Student of the Year” during her MFA commencement exercises in recognition of the strength of her paintings and her use of her artistic gifts to transform the lives of victims of abuse.
Rasmussen is the co-founder and co-director of the ArtCart and of Art Break Day 2011, the mission of both these projects is to build community and positive social bonds, by offering a space on sidewalks for residents to create art together for free.

Rasmussen’s work has been featured in numerous media outlets.
Currently she lives in Santa Monica with her three cats

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Broken Drum, San Rafael, CA 2011-present
JFKU Gallery. Caol Ait (Thin Places) Berkeley, CA 2008
JFKU, Dreaming the Earth, Berkeley, CA 2008
Color Graphics, Corporate Exhibition, San Francisco, CA 2008-2010
The Red Door Gallery, Portals, Oakland, CA 2008
Gallery Representation

Terra Firma Gallery, San Rafael, CA, 2011-present
ROOM Gallery, San Rafael, CA 2010-2011
Studio 333, Sausalito, CA 2007-2009
Selected Group Exhibitions

LAUSD, Save the Arts Benefit Auction, Los Angeles, CA 2011
JFKU Gallery, Alumni Exhibition, Berkeley, CA 2010
Gallery Route One, 24th Annual Juried Show, Juror: Jeremy Morgan, Point Reyes, CA 2009
The Red Door Gallery, ART and the Body Poltick, Oakland, CA 2009
The Red Door Gallery, Myth, Magic, and Mystery, Oakland, CA 2009
JFKU Gallery, Graduate Exhibition, Berkeley, CA 2008
JFKU Gallery, 2x2 Exhibition, Berkeley, CA 2007
JFKU Gallery, Dreaming Mind with NIAD, Berkeley, CA 2005
Association for the Study of Dreams, International Art Exhibition, Boston, MA 2002
Permanent Public Collections

Alameda County Family Justice Center, Oakland CA
Community Art Projects

Take 5: ARTbreak Day, Co-Director and Co-Founder, San Francisco Bay Area, 2011-present
ARTcart, Co-Director and Co-Founder, San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, 2009-Present
The Red Door Gallery and Collective,, Co-Managing Director and Co-Founder, Oakland, CA 2008-2009
The ART of Transformation, Youth Art Fundraiser, Co-Director and Founder, Sausalito, CA 2007-2010
1000 Hearts and Hands, Director, Curator, and Art Facilitator, Oakland, CA 2009-2010
Lincoln Child Centers At risk-Youth Photography Program, Founder, Oakland, CA 2010
Festival of Hope, Youth Art Exhibition, Oakland, CA 2007-2010
Youth Eco Trail, Founder and Director, Oakland, CA 2010


Selected Curated Exhibitions

The Red Door Gallery, Insights of Life from the Shadows of Death, The Red Door Gallery and Collective, Oakland, CA,
The Red Door Gallery, Myth, Magic, and Mystery, Oakland, CA, 2009
The Red Door Gallery, Small Works in a Big Space, Oakland CA, 2009
The Red Door Gallery, Lineage, The Red Door Gallery, Oakland, CA, 2009
The Red Door Gallery, Art and the Body Politic, Oakland, CA 2009
The Red Door Gallery, Portals, CA, 2008
Professional Art Experience

2010-present

Take 5, ART break Day, Co-founder, Director, Event Organizer, Manager, Fundraiser, and Art Facilitator, San Francisco Bay Area.

ART break Day is a free community ART reach event that encourages cultural exchange, communal bounding through the act of making art for free in public space with free and abundant art supplies. Communities and 1000's of individuals from all walks of life and continents take a break in the daily routine with the creative process. Take 5: ARTbreak Day participants who leave Take 5: ARTbreak Day’s free art making sites were filled with joy and pure gratitude for having such an amazing opportunity to create, connect, and be inspired by their own imagination and the fellowship of humanity. Event will expand to SoCal in 2012. http://www.artismovingnow.com/artbreakday.html

2008-present

Art is Moving, Co-founder, Director, Blogger, and Art Facilitator

In collaboration with one other artist, I take part in both online and in public community art projects focused on cultivating the public to become more empowered through art. Also, I have facilitated the art making process with thousands of adults, children, and elders in public spaces, festivals, art walks, and private events with the ARTcart. http://artismovingnow.com

2011

ARTcart LA at the Wake Up CA Rally, Art Advocacy Art Facilitator, http://www.artsforla.org/news/parents-and-teachers-rally-support-education

2006-2010

Lincoln Child Center, Oakland, CA Art/Activity Therapist,

Pioneered Transformative Art Program-.Inclusive of creating own expressive art therapy curriculum and build bridges into the wider community through youth public art installations and gallery fundraising exhibitions
Worked with Severely Emotionally Disturbed (SED) kids. Developed therapeutic curriculum and mentorship program
Developed special projects to build links between the children and the larger community.
Led efforts to display students’ art in professional galleries and public spaces.
Founded the Phil Harley Youth Professional Gallery on campus
2009

MFA Graduate Program JFKU Berkeley, CA Graduate Mentor

2008-2009

The Red Door Gallery and Collective, Oakland CA Co-Founder, Curator, Management Team, Community Outreach Gallery Executive Manager and Curator. Gallery promotes community dialogue and provides a space for struggling artists, disadvantaged youth, the elderly, and others to exhibit art

National Institute of Arts and Disabilities at The Red Door
“Lineage” collaborated with Art with Elders, Bay Area at The Red Door
What does art Mean to you?” Lincoln Child Center children’s art“1000 Hearts and Hands” Fundraiser for art program for at-risk youth, ALC and Lincoln Child Center Oakland
2005-2006

Art with Elders, Transformative Art Teacher, Union City, CA

2002-2003

Visiting fellow,

2004

Art Teacher/Mentor for At-Risk Teens, Teen Art Explosion Substance Abuse Program, Alternative High School, Rogers, AR

Developed and implemented a transformative art curriculum.
Used art mentoring as a tool for transformation to empower at-risk youth.
Cutting-edge work with kids made the cover story of Dreamtime, the official magazine of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.
Summer 2002

ESL Teacher, Guangzhou Practical English and French School, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

Taught beginning and intermediate English immersion to persons ranging from business professionals & young adults to teens and children.
2001

Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Dreams and Dreamwork: Dream Group Leadership instructed by Prof. Jeremy Taylor, Graduate Theological Union

1997-2005

Fine Arts Consultant, Spirits in Stone Galleries, Sausalito, CA,Merrill Chase Gallery, Chicago, IL Franklin Bowles/Modern Masters/Dyansen Galleries, San Francisco

Provided excellent client service, developed collector relations, served as educator to the public
Studied, exhibited, and sold the works of Rembrandt, Max, Dali, Chagall, Picasso
Publications and Reviews

2011, Article, Diverse group embraces open offer to create art: Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/02/BAOG1KVJN2.DTL#ixzz1XD24WQop
2011, Article, Forget your coffee break! Take an art break instead Steven E.F. Brown, San Francisco Business Times http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2011/09/02/forget-your-coffee-break-take-an-art.htm
2011, Article, Art Break Day: A chance to take a moment to create: Mary Ellen Hunt, San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/31/NSJL1KRCBV.DTL#ixzz1XD3x7GkI
2011, Newspaper Photo Credit,http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/31/NSJL1KRCBV.DTL#ixzz1XD3x7GkI
2011, Article, Take 5' and make some art: By Jennifer Modenessi,Oakland Tribune http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18788439?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
2011 Article, ARTcart LA at the Wake Up CA Rally, http://www.artsforla.org/news/parents-and-teachers-rally-support-education
2011, Blog Photo Credit http://www.artsforla.org/news/parents-and-teachers-rally-support-education
2011, Video, Artist Spotlight at ROOM Gallery, San Rafael, CA http://blip.tv/episode/5227676
2010, Article, “Arkansas Artists in the Spotlight” Leslie Peacock, The Arkansas Times, http://www.arktimes.com/EyeCandy/archives/2010/07/13/arkansas-artists-in-spotlight
2010 Radio Interview with E-Marie, Engaging Children with ART, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/e-marie-robertson/2010/06/05/engaging-children-with-art
2009 Radio Interview with Amy Conger of Straw into Gold,http://www.blogtalkradio.com/strawintogold/2009/09/23/art-that-moves-the-power-of-art-in-community
2009, Article, Kristin Bender reports on the ARTcart! Project-Oakland Tribune, http://artismoving.blogspot.com/2009/09/artcart-spotlights-neighborhoods.html
2009 Article, Dewitt Cheng reviews- Insights of Life from the Shadows of Deathhttp://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/berserkers/Content?oid=1370768
2009 Radio KPFA Interview on Against the Grain (Jan. 20th)http://artismovingnow.com/soonginterview.wav
2009 Article,Dewitt Cheng review Art and the Body Politick*http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/rear-view-mirror/Content?oid=1176174
2008 Review Portals, Cameron Thrash, http://treeshrines-artistlisarasmussen.blogspot.com/2010/03/art-review.html
2008 Video, Help them Soar, LCC feature about my Transformative Art and Healing Program, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj9qP7iBYXw
2003, Featured Artist and Cover artist, International Association for the Study of Dreams, Dream Time Magazine
2003 Featured Artist, Meaning of Dreams, UK, http://www.realmeaningofdreams.com/lisamarierasmussen.html
2003, Cover artist, Electric Dreams, http://dreamgate.hypermart.net/ed-covers/ed10-1cov.jpg
2002, ART and Project featured, Artistic Contributor in the Book, Shadowboxes and Shrines, Rockport Publishers http://www.amazon.com/Making-Shadow-Boxes-Shrines-Cano-Murillo/dp/1564968952/ref=cm_rdp_product_img


EDUCATION

B.A. Studio Arts, Sculpture: The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
MFA; Coursework in Transformative Art: John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley, CA
Coursework in Art History & Ceramics: Lorenzo de Medici, Florence, Italy



AWARDS

Selected Inspirational Artist for the International Peace Project Traveling Exhibition, 2011 http://www.thewhole9.com/thepeaceproject-home.php
Nominated for Oakland Indie Awards 2010
http://artismoving.blogspot.com/2010/03/viva-la-art-cart.html
ARTcart grant, Koreatown Northgate, Oakland 2009
Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year: John F. Kennedy University Graduate Program: Holistic Studies (2008)
International exposure and sacred site travel includes travel to Peru, Nepal, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Singapore, France, China, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Guam, Irealnd,Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina & other places.

I am passionate about the power of art, I am great transformative art teacher,