Amanda Carmer Rainey

I grew up in the midwest and studied Art Education at Purdue University graduating in 2006.  In 2008, after a lonely stint teaching elementary art in rural Indiana, I moved to Chicago to study photography at Columbia College Chicago. In 2011 I entered the MFA program at Kendall College of Art & Design, Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI, joined a small but thriving community arts organization called the Avenue for the Arts, and opened a small collaborative exhibition space called Craft House. In 2014, I graduated from the MFA program at KCAD and am now working as an admissions officer for the College. I continue my own creative practice in photography and mixed media.

Exhibitions

2018          This Is Not A Landscape, Madcap, Grand Rapids, MI, solo
                   Sacred Surface, The Avenue for the Arts, Grand Rapids, MI, group

2016          Unimportant Spaces, The Avenue for the Arts, Grand Rapids, MI, group

2015           N. an exhibition of people, places and things, The Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, group

2014           MWSPE Conference Scholars, Madison, WI, group
                   Expressions: Contemporary Portraiture, Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA, group                                  
                   Portraiture: Through the Lens, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR, group
                   Balancing Point, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck, MI, group
                   Plural, Calvin College 106 Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI, solo
                   First Person, Plural, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Kendall College of Art & Design, Grand Rapids, MI, solo

2013           Annual Juried Art Show, Portland Community Arts Council, Portland, MI, group
                  A/Political, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, group
                  A Closer Look, Craft House: Collaborative Exhibition Space, Grand Rapids, MI, group
                  Studio Practice, Helen Miller Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI, group
                  Live Coverage!, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, group

2012          Those Audacious Few, Craft House: Collaborative Exhibition Space, Grand Rapids, MI, solo
                  Digital Works, Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts & Sciences, Loveladies, NJ, group
                  Mega: Michigan Emerging Graduate Artist Juried Exhibition, Grand Rapids, MI, group

2011           Annual Juried Exhibition, Chicago Union League Civic & Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL, group
                  BFA Thesis Exhibition, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL, group
                  Annual Juried Exhibition, Morpho Gallery, Chicago, IL, group

2009         Revision/Revisit, Patty and Rusty Reuff Gallery,West Lafayette, IN, group

Awards, Grants, Fellowships

2011-14      Graduate Fellowship Award, Kendall College of Art & Design, Grand Rapids, MI

2014          New Leaders Grant, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs

                  Presenter, Southern Humanities Council Conference, Richmond, VA

                  MWSPE Graduate Student Scholarship to the National SPE Conference, Baltimore, MD

2013          MWUX Scholarship to the Midwest UX Conference, Grand Rapids, MI

                  Start Garden Grant, Grand Rapids, MI

2011           Weisman Grant Award, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL

2007         Artist-in-Residence at Cumberland Elementary School, West Lafayette, IN

2006         Ralph Beelke Award for Excellence in Art Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN