NEW YORK, NY.- The Garment District Alliance announced the latest in its ongoing series of public art exhibits, showcasing 14 mixed-media paintings titled Coming Full Circle, created by New York-based artist Rita Wilmers.
Located inside the Kaufman Arcade building on 139 W 35th Street, the free exhibit is accessible to the public through August 31st. Coming Full Circle is part of the Garment District Space for Public Art program, which showcases artists in unusual locations throughout the year and over 17 years has produced more than 200 installations, exhibits and performances.
“We’re so proud to present this colorful exhibit as part of our series of public art installations,” said Barbara A. Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance. “As folks walk the hall of the Kaufman Arcade, they will learn making mistakes is an important part of the creative process and often results in beautiful works of art. We encourage all to stop by when visiting the Garment District this summer.”
By using movement, texture and color, Wilmers explores creating with no boundaries, demonstrating how mistakes can often lead to joyful surprises. Coming Full Circle unfolds several themes, including meditation, nature, the environment, cityscapes, time and the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilmer says that she always dreamed of becoming an artist, and her professional journey began as a children’s wear designer in the Garment District. Twenty-five years later, she has come full circle through her latest exhibition in the neighborhood’s Kaufman Arcade.
Wilmers is a mixed-media and visual artist who works in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink. Each of her paintings and drawings tell a story and express her life experiences and thoughts as she unfolds a visual diary. Wilmers has exhibited a multitude of solo and group exhibitions across the Tri-State area, including Manhattan Theatre Source in New York, Shelter Rock Art Gallery in Manhasset, Art Lab Galley at Snug Harbor on Staten Island, Promenade Art Show in Brooklyn, and more. Her works were showcased during two episodes of the hit TV series Gossip Girl, and she has also exhibited internationally at the Jinzhijian Museum of Art in Beijing, China. Wilmers is a member of the National Art League in Douglaston and recipient of numerous awards including the Momms Merit Award, Drawing Show Merit Award, Small & Big Works, and more. She studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and at Art Lab Snug Harbor alongside artists Sal Busacca, Dan Werner, Herman Zagge. Wilmers also participated in the Lincoln Center Institute’s National Educator’s Workshop. Currently, she is part of an art cooperative, “The Art Loft,” working in her studio space in Port Washington, New York.
The Garment District is home to diverse business sectors from technology to hospitality and includes thousands of people working in the creative economy, including fine and performing artists, designers, architects, photographers and more than a hundred theaters, galleries, performance spaces and studios.
