Beth Rundquist: Fauna, September 30 - October 8, 2023

Beth Rundquist

September 30- October 8, 2023

KMR Arts presents Beth Rundquist, “Fauna”, an exhibition at The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens (1 Green Hill Road, Washington Depot, Ct. 06794). Join us for the opening with the artist on Saturday, September 30, from 3 to 6 pm. KMR Arts and the Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens will host an artist talk on Sunday, October 8, at 3pm. Fauna will be on exhibit from September 29 through October 8, 2023.

Rundquist created this group of paintings with a desire for magic and fantasy. In these paintings, we see animals at play, as the artist combines the animals together in unexpected ways, and in whimsical scenarios. Behaviors and characteristics within the animal kingdom are reimagined, as the artist explores the connections within nature: the anatomy of the squirrel and the brown hare are similar, the pig skull feels bovine, the tortoise head snakelike. As the viewer experiences these works, the notion of interconnectedness resurfaces again and again. This interconnectedness can be as simple two beings sharing a similar shape or form, or as complex as symbiosis or competition.

Rundquist says, “My intention is to pay tribute to some of the animals in nature that we tend to overlook, and sometimes even dishonor.  I am lucky to live and paint in peaceful environments where nature abounds. I am constantly considering the symbolism: including elegance, patience, and wisdom.”

KMR Arts owner says, " ‘Fauna’ showcases Rundquist's curiously playful ideas within the animal world. This whimsy is rendered in the artist's refined and enlightened painting style. It is a true revelation to see these ideas on the canvas."

If you, too, dream to be born again


as a bird, wouldn’t you want to be


a great blue heron, rare vagrant 


wintering in the Azores and coastal Spain,


snacking on shrimp while wading


on long, beautiful legs? And if



you loved your life as a human who


sheltered in a small house by a lake, you


could summer there again, nesting


in the white pine, fishing on the shore


in the blue Zen of stillness when early


morning ambers the eastern sky.

by Margaret Hasse

After receiving her BA in art from Smith College, Rundquist studied drawing and painting at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Connecticut and L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. Sculpture courses at The Sculpture Center and Sculpture Studio in NYC led the artist to enroll at the Repin Institute of Russia. Rundquist is the recipient of the Richard and Mary Schroeder Portrait Award, the Bryan Family Foundation Award from the Copley Society in Boston, Massachusetts, among others. Beth Rundquist teaches painting at The New York Academy of Art in New York City and her paintings are in international public and private collections.

If you would like more information, please email kathy@kmrarts.com.