Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, "Seattle as Collector; Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs 40th Anniversary Exhibition"
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, "Not So Still Life"
Ken Saunders Gallery, Chicago, IL, "Seattle Reigns" *
2010
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec, Canada, "Anna and Joe Mandel Collection" *
Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle, WA, “Umbrella for the Arts: 40 Years of Bumbershoot Artwork”
Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA, "Women in Glass: Innovators and Visionaries"
Koganezaki Glass Museum, Shizuoka-ken, Japan, "Technique and Expression IV, Colors in Glass Art"
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn, AL, "American Luster: Select Examples of Contemporary Studio Glass"
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, "A Glass Act: First Rate Glass from RAM's Collection"
Experience Music Project Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, Seattle, WA, "Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock 'n' Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash"
2009
Hokkaido Modern Art Museum, Seto City, Japan, "The Finest Glass Works - from Galle to Today", traveling museum exhibition throughout Japan - Seto City Art Museum, Hitachi City Museum, Notojima Glass Art Museum and the Hatsukaichi Art Gallery
The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, "Voices of Contemporary Glass: The Heineman Collection"
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH, “Outside the Ordinary: Contemporary Art in Glass, Wood, and Ceramics from the Wolf Collection”
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, "Go Figure! The Human Form in RAM's Collection"
William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA, "Inspiration"
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, "Hot Stuff from the Hothouse: Floral Images from RAM's Collection"
Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI, "37th International Glass Invitational Awards Exhibition"
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, "Contrasts: A Glass Primer"
2008
Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, "The Body In Glass"
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, "Eye Candy: Objects of Wonder and Delight"
The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL, "Glorious Glass: Translucent and Opaque"
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, "Contemporary Glass"
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AK, "Hot Color, Cool Glass"
Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland, "Permanent Exhibition of Contemporary Glass Art" *
The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL, "Behind the Glass: Creativity and Collaboration" *
2006
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, "Contrasts: A Glass Primer"
Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art (SOFA), Chicago, IL
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, "Light of Day: Contemporary Prints and Studio Glass from the Permanent Collection"
Koganezaki Glass Museum, Shizuoka, Japan, "Implied Messages of Glass–Irony X Satire" *
Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle, WA, "A Transparent Legacy: Studio glass Gifted to the Seattle Art Museum from the collection of John and Mary Shirley"
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, "Let’s Enjoy a Laugh: Humor and Whimsy in RAM’s Collection"
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, "Glass: Material Matters"
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington D.C., "Women’s History Month Exhibition"
2005
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI, "Magnificent Extravagance: Artists and Opulence"
Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA, "Well Hung: Chandeliers Revealed" *
Museum of Art and Design, NYC, "Dual Vision: The Simona and Jerome Chazen Collection"’*
William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA, "2nd Annual World Glass Exhibition"
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, "Fur, Fins and Feathers, Glass from the Rifkin Collection"
Koganezaki Glass Museum, Japan, "Glass Works of Women Artists"
Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA, "Dorkbot-People Doing Strange Things with Electricity" *
2003
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Il, "Flora"
University of Michigan, Dearborn, MI, "Five from Ten"’
Toledo Museum of Art, "Contemporary Directions" *
Riley Gallery, Kirkland, WA, "The Waterford Crystal Artist Residency Series"
William S. Fairfield Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI, "American Studio Glass: A Survey of the Movement"
Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, FL, "Fire and Form: The Art of Contemporary Glass" *
2002
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, "Selections from the Wm Block Collection" *
2001
City Space, Seattle, WA, "Northwest Masters"
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, "Some Assembly Required" *
Shanghai Art Museum, China Millennium Monument, "Contemporary Glass Exhibition" *
American Craft Museum, NYC, "Memories of Murano-American Glass Artists in Venice" *
Cheongju City, Korea, "2nd Cheongju International Craft Biennale" *
Susan Duval Gallery, Aspen, CO, "Gaia" *
Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NYC, "Objects of Desire"
2000
Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NYC, "Glass: a Celebration"
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL, "Splendor in the Glass" *
Musee des Arts Decoratif, Lausanne Switzerland, "Verre" *
Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Pittsburgh, PA, "Glass"
Sephora, NYC, "Aromatic Jewelry" *
Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery, Louisville, KY, "Millennium Glass" *
1999
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, "Treasures from the Corning Museum of Glass"
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ, "Selections from the Gerard S. Cafesjian Collection of Contemporary Studio Glass"
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, "Clearly Inspired: Contemporary Glass Art and its Origins"
MH de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA, "The Art of Craft: Works From the Saxe Collection" *
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, "Reflecting the Past: Contemporary Glass In Context" *
1998
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, "Group Glass Exhibition"
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, "Favorites:(Selected by Dale Chihuly)"
Smithsonian Institution SITES and USIA "American Glass Masters of the Art" *
1997
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, "Recent Glass Sculpture: A Union of Ideas’*
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, "Glass Today by American Studio Artists" *
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, "Glass Today: American Studio Glass from Cleveland Collections" *
Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, "The Renwick at 25"
Hsinchu Cultural Center International Glass Festival, Taiwan
Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Lausanne, Switzerland, "Artistes Verriers Contemporains"
Ebeltoft Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark, "From Venice to Ebeltoft" (tours to Varberg, Sweden)
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL, "Embracing Beauty: Aesthetic Perfection in Contemporary Art" *
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, "Calido!: Contemporary Warm Glass" *
Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, "Masters of Contemporary Glass: Selections from the Glick Collection" *
Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art (SOFA), Miami, FL and Chicago, IL
St. Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, MO
1996
Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, WA, "Glass Evolutions"
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, "Studio Glass in the Metropolitan Museum of Art" *
Meyerson/Nowinski Art Associates, Seattle, WA
Museo Correr, Venice, Italy, "Venezia Aperto Vetro" *
1995
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, "Garden of Delights"
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK, "National Ojects Invitational Biennial" *
American Craft Museum, New York, NY, "Breaking Barrier:
Recent American Craft" * (national tour includes the American Craft Museum, New York, NY; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Madison Art Center, Madison, WI; Albany Art Museum, Albany, GA)
1994
American Craft Museum, New York, NY, "Form and Light, Contemporary Glass from the Permanent Collection"
Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, "The Beauty of Painted Glass"
China Times, Taipei, Taiwan, "Taipei International Glass Exhibition"
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, "Wunderkamme" (curated by Maria Porges)
1993
Linda Farris Gallery, ArtFair Seattle, Seattle, WA
Bentley Tomlinson Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, "Contemporary Realism"
Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH, "Tell Me A Story" (tour in Southeast Asia from 1993-1996, sponsored by USIA)
Tarble Art Center, Eastern Illinois University, "Material Vision: Image and Object" *
The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, "Umbrella Project"
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, "Tiffany to Ben Tre"
Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL, "Glass From South Florida Collections"
1992
Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL, "The Pet Show"
Morris Museum of Art, Morristown, NJ, "Glass: From Ancient Craft to Contemporary Art" *
Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA, "Clearly Art: Pilchuck's Glass Legacy" (national tour 1992-1996: Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH; Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA; Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ; Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN; Brunnier Gallery, IA, State University, Ames, IA; Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN; Museum of Art, Washington State University, Pullman, WA; Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, WA) *
Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian, Washington, DC, "American Crafts: The Nation's Collection"
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA, "Works By Southern Women"
New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Newark, NJ, "Contemporary Glass Sculpture: Innovative Form and Expression"
Habatat Galleries, Detroit, MI, "20th Annual International Glass Invitational Exhibition"
Betsy Rosenfield Gallery, Chicago, IL, "May 1992 Group Exhibition"
1991
International Exhibition of Contemporary Glass, Rouen, France, "Le Verre"
Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA, "Masterworks, Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Now"
Espace Duchamp-Villon, Rouen, France, "Contemporary Glasswork Art 1991"
Security Pacific Gallery, Seattle, WA, "Celebrations and Ceremonies"
Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, WA, "Group Show of New Artists"
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Heal the Bay Surfboard Art Invitational"
Monica Borgward Gallery and Glassmuseum Immenhausen, Bremen, Germany and Lobmeyr, Vienna, "New Glass-Lampworked" *
Blum Helman Gallery, New York, NY, "Artists for Amnesty" *
High Art Museum, Atlanta, GA, "By the Hand: Twentieth Century Crafts"
Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, Yokahama, Japan, "Glass Now '90" *
American Craft Museum, New York, NY, "Explorations/The Aesthetic of Excess" *
Heller Gallery, New York, NY, "Glass America"
1989
Musée National du Louvre, Paris, France, "Craft Today USA." * (tour of twelve European museums, 1989-1991; organized by the American Craft Museum, NY, NY)
Heller Gallery, New York, NY, "Painting on Glass"
High Museum, Atlanta, GA, "Tradition/Studio Expression"
American Craft Magazine, ‘Field of Dreams,’ Ben Marks, June/July, 1990
Landscape Architecture, ‘Playing with Public Art,’ Deborah E. Ryan, May, 1990
La Revue de Céramique et du Verre, ‘Ginny Ruffner,’ Carole Andrearin, Spring, 1990 (cover)
Seattle Times, ‘Glass art features many dimensions,’ Deloris Tarzan Ament, 3/14/90
Sculpture, 'Profile: Ginny Ruffner,' Jan Castro, March, 1990
New York Post, ‘Major Patron,’ 2/6/90
Fame, ‘The New: Ginny Ruffner,’ February, 1990
The Rock Hill Herald, ‘Outrageous,’ 1/18/90
The Charlotte Observer, ‘Giving Meaning To Glass,’ Richard A. Oppel Jr., 1/6/90
Pacific Northwest Magazine, ‘Absolute-ly Ruffner,’ Julia Coffey, January, 1990
1989
Better Homes and Gardens, ‘Ginny Ruffner: A Glass Menagerie,’ Mike Butler, Winter, 1989
Detroit Free Press, ‘Ruffner's Sculptures are Funky and Personal,’ Marsha Miro, 12/15/89
Apartment Life, ‘Torch Bearer,’ Mike Butler, November,
Blick für die Frau, ‘Lebenslustige Glas-Objekte,’ 10/27/89
Seattle Times, ‘By the People, For the People,’ Terry Lawhead, 9/29/89
Glass Line, ‘Ginny Ruffner,’ June, 1989
Washington, ‘Laughing Glass: The Work of Ginny Ruffner,’ Susan Biskeborn, May/June, 1989
The World and I, ‘Ginny Ruffner, Provocative Glass Sculptor,’ Bonnie J. Miller, May, 1989
New York Times, ‘Delicate and Bold Glasswork Designs,’ 1/5/89
The Atlanta Journal, ‘High Museum's Craft Exhibition,’ Laura C. Lieberman, 1/3/89
Neues Glas, ‘New Glass Review 10,’ 1989
1988
Art Today, ‘Craft Art 1989,’ Barbara Mayer, Winter, 1988/1989
Glass Art, ‘This is Lampworking?’ Shawn Waggoner, December, 1988 (cover)
Pacific Northwest Magazine, ‘Taking Care of Business,’ October, 1988
New York Times, ‘Art, Fine and Applied,’ Ruth J. Katz, 9/15/88
American Craft, ‘Public Domain,’ Jenny Dixon, August/September, 1988
New Work, "Ruffner," Jessica Maxwell, July 1988
Atlanta Journal, "Studio Glass Poses Novel Possibilities," Virginia Warren Smith, 5/28/88
Seattle Times, "Ruffner's Lampworks Will Turn You On," Deloris Tarzan Ament, 3/18/88
U.S. News and World Report, "Handcrafted Investments," Miriam Horn, 1/18/88
1987
Sculpture, "Events," July/August, 1987
American Craft, "Portfolio: Ginny Ruffner," June/July, 1987
Arts and Antiques, "Sketchbook," May, 1987
Reflex, "Ginny Ruffner," Randy Gragg, January, 1987
Neues Glas, "New Glass Review 8," 1987
1986
American Craft, "NEA Visual Artists Fellowships 1986," December, 1986
Art in America, "Report from Seattle," Bill Berkson, September, 1986
Vogue, "New Trends in Glass," Barbara Plumb, Summer, 1986
Neues Glas, "Standards of Excellence," C. Edward Wall, Spring, 1986
1985
New Work, "Sculptural Glass," Karen Chambers, Fall, 1985
New Glass Review 6, Corning Museum of Glass, 1985
1981
Studio, "Glass South," Summer, 1981
New Glass Review 2, Corning Museum of Glass, 1981
Books
Ruffner's work is included in the following books.
(Note: all exhibition catalogues are listed under Solo and Group Exhibitions)
Return to the Viewer; Selected Art Reviews, Matthew Kangas, 2011
Secrets of Self-Starters, 48 Amazing Stories to Ignite the Self-Starter in You, Dr. Julie Miller, 2011
Outside the Ordinary–2009, Contemporary Art in Glass, Wood and Ceramics from the Wolf Collection, Amy Miller Dehan, 2009
Penland Book of Glass, Lark Books, 2009
Viva Vetro! Glass Alive! Venice and America, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2007
Contemporary Glass Art, Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts, 2006
500 Glass Objects, Lark Books, 2006
25 Years of New Glass Review, Tina Oldknow, 2005
Sculpture, Glass and American Museums, Martha Drexler Lynn, 2005
American Studio Glass, Martha Drexler Lynn, 2004
Artful Jesters, Nicholas Roukes, Ten Speed Press, 2004
Through American Eyes, Two Centuries of American Art from the Huntington Museum of Art, 2003
International Glass Art, by Richard Yelle, 2003
Formed by Fire, B.S. Dunham, 2003
Women in Glass, Lucartha Kohler, 2003
The Sculpture Reference, Arthur Williams, 2002
Sculpture Beginnings, Arthur Williams, 2002
Contemporary lampworking: a Practical Guide to Shaping Glass, Scott Bandhu Dunham, 2002
Contemporary Glass: Color, Light, and Form, 2001
Object Lessons, Beauty and Meaning in Art, The Guild, 2001
Artists in Their Gardens, by Valerie Easton, Sasquatch Press Seattle, WA, 2001
Glass Art from Urban glass, Richard Yelle, NYC, 2000
Secrets of Aromatic Jewelry, by Annabelle Green, Flammerion, France, 1998
Koganezaki Glass Museum: Contemporary Glass Collection, with an introduction by Kyohei Fujita. Koganezaki Crystal Park, Komomura, Japan, 1997
Contemporary Lampworking, Bandhu Scott Dunham, Salusa Glassworks, Prescott, AZ, 1997
Neuropsychology: The Neural Bases of Mental Function, by Marie Banich. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, MA, 1997
Glass Art, Peter Layton, University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 1996
Pilchuck: A Glass School, Tina Oldknow, Pilchuck Glass School in association with the University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 1996
Why Not?: The Art of Ginny Ruffner, Bonnie J. Miller with an introduction by Arthur C. Danto. Tacoma Art Museum in association with the University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 1995
Modernism and Beyond: Women Artists of the Pacific Northwest, MidMarch Arts Press, 1993
Material Vision: Image and Object, Matthew Kangas, Tarble Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, 1993
Clearly Art: Pilchuck's Glass Legacy, Lloyd Herman, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA, 1992
A Field Guide to Seattle's Public Art, Seattle Art Commission, Sasquatch Books, Seattle, WA, 1992
Out of the Fire: Contemporary Glass Artists and Their Work, Bonnie J. Miller, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, 1991
The Beauty of Contemporary Glass, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, The Hokkaido Shimbun Press, Japan, 1990
Prism of Fantasy - From the Glass Collection of Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, The Hokkaido Shimbun Press, 1990
Artists at Work, Susan Biskeborn, Alaska Northwest Books, 1990
Contemporary Glass, Dan Klein, Rizzoli Publishers Inc., New York, NY, 1989
Expressions en Verre, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1989
Glass Fantasia from Art Nouveau to the Present Day, Kyoto-shoin Publishing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1989
Contemporary Glass: A World Survey from the Corning Museum of Glass, Susanne K. Frantz, Harry Abrams, New York, NY, 1988
Contemporary American Craft Art, Barbara Mayer, Peregrine Smith Books, New York, NY, 1987
Education
M.F.A. summa cum laude, University of Georgia, 1975 (Drawing and Painting)
B.F.A. cum laude, University of Georgia, 1974 (Drawing and Painting)
Public Art
Commission, The Urban Garden, corner of Seventh Ave. and Union Street in downtown Seattle, WA - Kinetic water feature, steel - completed in July, 2011.
Commission, Detroit Symphony Hall, Donor’s Lounge, 2003, bronze stainless steel and glass sculpture, 6’8"h x 5’w x 15" d.
Artist on the design team, Bellevue Convention Center, Bellevue, WA, in collaboration with Kohn Pederson Fox Architects, New York, NY. Commissioned by the City of Bellevue, WA. A 112' x 44' sculpture of bronze and steel on the east facade responded to the essential nature of a convention center: communication. Visible from the adjacent expressway, the artwork addressed the vehicular viewer as well as the pedestrian. Project not built due to funding and postponed until 1996. In 1996, the project was to resurrected and redesigned. It now consists of two 30' tall aluminum heads engaged in conversation with each other and with the street. Unrealized to date.
Machan School, Phoenix, AZ, a commission from the Phoenix Arts Commission. A barren playground was provided with an "oasis" including shade, seating, drinking water, a sundial and elements that acknowledge and celebrate the bilingual make-up of the students, faculty and neighborhood. Completed 1993.
Artist on the design team, Security Pacific Gallery, Seattle, WA, in collaboration with NBBJ Architects, Seattle, WA. Commissioned by Security Pacific Bank for a non-commercial gallery space in downtown Seattle. Responsible for facade redesign as well as artwork which included 3 - 16' x 8' bronze wings on the facade at various elevations and 6 - 16' x 2.5' laser cut aluminum panels forming a frieze across the front of the building. Completed in 1990, removed in 1997 due to building sale.
"Love and War," an outdoor experimental opera. Composed by Pete Leinonen, designed by Ginny Ruffner. To be performed in an exposed wall of underground Seattle, 4 stories high, 1 block long. Unrealized to date.
Artist on the design team for the redesign of South Park Community Center, Seattle, WA. In collaboration with ARC Architects. A One-Percent-for-Art project of the Seattle Arts Commission. Art includes: a 25 foot high steel portal, a site game consisting of 1000 different bronzes set in a 400 foot long sidewalk, and two locker room tile murals. Completed 1989.
Outdoor chalk installation (mural), funded by Cornerstone Development and Harbor Development, Seattle, WA. The mural is 150 feet long and 30 feet high. Completed 1987, destroyed in 1988.
2011 Glass
2010 Glass
2009 Glass
2008 Glass
2007 Glass
2006 Glass
2005 Glass
2004 Glass
2010 Metal
2009 Metal
2008 Metal
2007 Metal
2006 Metal
2005 Metal
2004 Metal
Urban Garden
Machan School
Security Pacific Gallery
South Park Community Center
Guerilla Art
Other Proposals
Aesthetic Engineering
Flowering Tornado
Pause
Beauty of the Creative Process
Mind Garden
Large Conceptual Narratives
Concocting a New Kind of Beauty
Perception of Beauty
Shaping Beauty
Beauty Trap
Possession of Creativity
Pursuit of Beauty
Mixoglossia
7 Stations of Intimacy