RAiR | 1971

Francie Rich

In 1969 Francie Rich (b. 1947) graduated with a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, Minnesota, her place of birth. She received her RAiR Grant after studying at the Reitveld Academie in Amsterdam, Netherlands and obtaining her MFA from the California College of the Arts and Crafts in 1970. Francie moved to Louisiana in the mid-1970s and worked at various colleges and universities, notably as a director of European art tours. Known for her satirical, semi-fantastical portrait drawings and paintings, Francie’s work is held in the collections of, amongst others, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Ewing Gallery of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"I was a print-maker.  I minored in painting without ever having painted a painting and now am a painter.  I did a lot of drawing and writing in Roswell.  We would all lie/lay outside and watch the stars and a lunar eclipse.  My skin was super dry.  I rode my bicycle on the highway. My work used to be narrative.  I am not a fan of Billy Joel but it doesn’t stop me from painting him - like my paintings of dictators.  I draw on my phone, which reminds me of drawing on copper."