Perdido Key’s Gila Rayberg part of international exhibit
Perdido Key’s Gila Rayberg part of international exhibit
Perdido Key based artist Gila Rayberg’s (below) portrait “Forward Thinking” was selected for inclusion in the Glass Arts International 2023 exhibition series to be held at the CEPA gallery in Buffalo through September.
Already a successful freelance musician (trombone) and educator, Rayberg’s ever evolving journey into visual arts and mosaic portraiture has been guided by her strong sense of intuition and love of experimentation. She exhibits regularly throughout the United States, has been published in several art books, and has won numerous awards for her expressive mosaic portraits.
After graduating from Arizona State in 1989 with a master’s degree in music, Gila traveled all around the world before settling into a teaching gig at the University in Borneo in East Malaysia.
Upon returning to the states, she settled in New Orleans and a gig playing with Deacon John & the Ivories until hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Gila and her partner Mark evacuated to a friend of her partner Mark on Perdido Key and she decided to quit music and concentrate on her art.
“We would go to the beach every chance we got. After Katrina hit, we decided to move to Perdido Key because we knew we didn’t need to live in New Orleans anymore. While I was evacuated during hurricane Katrina, I decided to quit music full-time and started making mosaic art full-time.
“As I was transitioning from music to mosaic, I received and accepted an invitation from an artist I’d come across online, to join her Portrait Party (JKPP), an International online group of artists, creating portraits of each other. At that point I had only done a few small mosaic portraits, and little to no drawing. JKPP changed all that,’’ she added. “I started drawing on a daily basis, experimenting with any and all art materials I could get my hands on. From pencil to watercolor & Etch-A-Sketch to mosaic, I created portraits daily. Little did I know how much this group would influence my artistic direction and fuel my passion for portraiture.”
In the summer of 2018, Gila was one of nine artists, from seven countries, invited to participate in the Contemporary Mosaic Art Symposium in Ploaghe Sardinia.
The Buffalo exhibition is a partnership between the Society of American Mosaic Artists and the Stained Glass Association of America, and its goal is to spark a dialogue about the mediums and how artists aspire to aid community healing and renewal.
