Bio
Vanessa Jo Bahr, originally from Chicago, Illinois, received her BFA from Regis University in Denver, Colorado in 2011 along with a minor in education. In 2012, she received her teaching license and has taught art in schools, universities and art centers in Colorado, Oregon and Ohio. In 2022 she completed her MFA from Ohio University’s printmaking program along with an arts administration certificate. Presently she resides in Ashland, Oregon where she recently founded the community printmaking studio, Scavenger Studios, which hosts various classes, workshops and open studios.
Artist Statement
My work encourages viewers to confront their interactions with the environment by reconsidering their relationship with nature. Acknowledgment of past ecological digressions can inspire a revision of our impact on the land and all its inhabitants. Art is a form of activism and land stewardship that fosters mutualism and intimacy facilitated by the reciprocal act of printmaking. I aspire to evoke deep reverence for the inherent ecological bond with our plant and animal kin before they fade into distant memories due to human negligence.
My most recent work exposes my ritualized obsession with collecting, organizing and illustrating my personal archive of found natural artifacts. Time spent intimately harvesting and working with natural materials not only bonds me to the local environment, it brings intention to the art of collecting. By reproducing these reclaimed remains in copper, I immortalize, preserve, multiply and perpetuate their existence through printmaking.
CV
Vanessa Jo Bahr
Ashland, Oregon
Printmaker, Artist & Educator
Founder – Scavenger Studios – Ashland, Oregon – 2022
Master of Fine Art – Ohio University – Athens, Ohio – 2022
Bachelor of Fine Art – Regis University – Denver, Colorado – 2011
Organizations
- Ashland Gallery Association – Working Studio since 2023
- Mid America Print Council – Member since 2019
- Southern Graphics Council International – Member since 2019
Panel Talks
- “Speculative Archiving” – SGCI – Southern Graphics Council International (Madison, WI) 2022
Awards
- “Rural” – Honorable Mention – Umpqua Valley Arts Association (Roseburg, OR) 2022
- “3rd Annual Juried FPG Print Exhibition” – Honorable Mention – Fresno Print Guild (Fresno, CA) 2022
Exhibitions
- “Motley Multiples” – Invitational Exhibition – Paradigm Gallery (Philadelphia, PA) 2023
- “Engulfed” – Juried Show – Artworks Center for Contemporary Art (Loveland, CO) 2023
- “Connect: Collect” – Juried Show – Oklahoma City University, Hulsey Gallery (Oklahoma City, OK) 2023
- “Next of Kin” – Solo Exhibition – Central Art Gallery (Medford, OR) 2023
- “Contemporary Linocuts” – International Survey of Linoleum Block Printmaking Today – Kingsborough Art Museum (Brooklyn, NY) 2022
- “Transcending the West” – Juried Show – Artworks Center for Contemporary Art (Loveland, CO) 2022
- “3rd Annual Juried FPG Print Exhibition” – Fresno Print Guild (Fresno, CA) 2022
- “Juried Print Exhibition of the Americas” – Full Court Press – Art Center of Corpus Christ (Corpus Christi, TX) 2022
- “Bobcat Print Club Presents: two exchanges organized by Ohio University Alumni” – ArtsWest (Athens, OH) 2022
- “Life is Fucking Weird Exchange” – Columbus Printed Arts Center (Columbus, OH) 2022
- “Rural” – Juried Show – Umpqua Valley Arts Association (Roseburg, OR) 2022
- “WILD LIFE” – Juried Show – Los Angeles Printmaking Society / Citizens for LA Wildlife / Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles, CA) 2022
- “Vestiges” – MFA Thesis – Ohio University Art Gallery (Athens, OH) 2022
- “Paper & Clay” – International Juried Exhibition – Utah State University (Logan, UT) 2022
- “Foraging Ahead” – Juried Show – Pittsburgh Print Group / Brew House Association (Pittsburgh, PA) 2021
- “Small Works Show” – Juried Show – Labyrinth Studios (Tampa, FL) 2021
- “Litho-Lino-Mono-More” – Juried Show – Dayton Society of the Arts (Dayton, OH) 2021
- “Women of Appalachia” – Juried Show – Dairy Barn Art Center (Athens, OH) 2021
- “Silver Lining” – 2nd Year Graduate Exhibition – Ohio University Art Gallery (Athens, OH) 2020
- “Breaking Ground” – Juried Show – Wild Goose Creative (Columbus, OH) 2020
- “Precipice” – 1st year graduate exhibition – Trisollini Gallery – (Athens, OH) 2020
- “Imbricated” – Group Show – Arts West (Athens, OH) 2019
- “Reincarnation”– Solo Show – O’Sullivan Art Gallery (Denver, CO) 2015
- “Six Degrees of Separation” – BFA Thesis Show– O’Sullivan Art Gallery (Denver, CO) 2011
- “Mile High Rock Poster and Art Expo” – Aloft Hotel (Broomfield, CO) 2011
- “Divine Interventions of Nature” – Installation purchased by Regis University’s Chemistry Department – Permanently installed in Felix Pomponio Science building (Denver, CO) 2011
Publications
- “Fire Season” – Artist Book – 2nd edition – 2022
- “Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation” – A United Plant Savers Publication – 2022
- “Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation” – A United Plant Savers Publication – 2021
- “The Hand Magazine” – Issue 32, April 2021
Exchange Portfolios
- “Connect: Collect” – Invitational Exchange – Oklahoma City University, Hulsey Gallery (Oklahoma City, OK) 2023
- “Found, Reclaimed, Reformed” – Invitational Exchange – MAPC Mid
America Print Council (Kent, OH) 2022 - “Life is Fucking Weird” – Invitational Exchange – Columbus Printed Arts Center (Columbus, OH) 2022
- “Seams – Falling Apart” – Curated between Ohio Univ., N. Illinois Univ., Univ. of Iowa – 2022
- “Ohio University Alumni Exchange Portfolio” – In honor of Art Werger’s Retirement – 2021
- “Remote Contact” – University of Tennessee – Printmaking Symposium (Knoxville, TN) 2020
- “Heart’s Desire” – Dead Matter Press (Portland, OR) 2019