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Renee Balfour is an award-winning painter and woodworker from central

Virginia who has been exhibiting nationally and internationally in group and

solo exhibitions, for over 30 years. She is co-author of The Virginia Visual

Arts Resource Directory and is a past president of McGuffey Art Center,

downtown Charlottesville, where she maintains  a studio.

 

Renee is also owner of Possum’s Store, will be exhibiting her work in the

gallery this September. A painter turned woodworker, Renee's sculptures are

rooted in nature and are made from cherry or walnut sourced near her studio

in Criglersville, Virginia. Each sculpture is carved to reflect the wood's grain

and highlights the intrinsic qualities found in the warmth of the wood. The

sculptures are wall mounted and cast elaborate shadows of shifting grays that become an extension of each piece.

 

Washington Post art critic, Mark Jenkins, has said about Renee’s work: “The sinuous shapes are artfully shaped and smoothly polished, and fit together in ways that emphasize the artist's control over her material."

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Balfour’s work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions in the United States and abroad.

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Ms. Balfour is a gifted teacher and arts advocate. In 2010 she established Art With Heart, and raised funds for the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital through the sale of children’s artwork. She founded  Community Art Works, (formerly Art with a Mission Charlottesville)  an organization dedicated to the empowerment of children through the arts, working to establish sustainable arts programming for children in Rwanda. In 2013 she traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, to teach art to children in orphanages and youth headed households, and spearheaded the exhibition (Gukiza) and sale of their work to support financial, mental and emotional health of vulnerable children.

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