Rip Woods Studio Project

About

As the daughter of the late Roosevelt “Rip” Woods, I want to pay homage to one of the most creative geniuses that Arizona’s art community has experienced. Rip Woods was born in 1933 in Idabel, Oklahoma and moved to Phoenix, AZ as a child. His strong passion for art led him to a unique special interest program at Carver High School (all Black high school). There he flourished under the wings of Dr. Eugene Grigsby. His education and experiences ultimately led him to ASU’s School of Art where he taught painting and drawing for 27 years, culminating as Professor Emeritus. His honors, commissions and exhibitions are countless.

Deeply inspired by and rooted in African folklore, my dad’s work is easily recognized by his signature, satirical nature and abstract use of animals and masks. Many of his silk screens and paintings deal with paradoxes like restriction and freedom, which he represented visually as color and shape. Once Rip was asked, “What is the purpose of your art?” He responded, “To justy living, to extend living to remind others they are living” * – Senina Woods Harris

Credit To Diane Bond - Photographer

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Education

  • B.S. 1956 Arizona State University
  • M.A. 1958 Arizona State University

Experience

  • 1992 Arizona State University Professor Emeritus Artist/Educator
  • 1977 Trip to Nigeria for FESTAC (The Pan African Arts Festival)
  • 1965-1992 Arizona State University School of Art Tempe, AZ Professor of Painting And Drawing
  • 1967 Colorado College, Colorado Springs Summer Assistant Professor of Painting
  • 1962-1965 Maryvale High School Art Department Chair, Phoenix, AZ
  • 1959-1962 Camelback High School Art Instructor, Phoenix, AZ

Awards & Publications

  • American Negro Art, Cedric Dover, Publisher New York Graphic Society
  • Who’s Who in Black America
  • Art and Ethics, Dr. Eugene Grigsby, Jr., Wm. C. Brown
  • Who’s Who in Art, Jaques Cattrell Press
  • Who’s Who in American Art
  • Contributions of Afro-Americans to the Visual Arts, University of California, Berkeley
  • The Humanities, A Quest for Meaning in the 20th Century, Robert Frazier, Arnold Hotwich, Lewis Marquardt, Kendell Hunt Publisher
  • Afro-American Artisits, University of Southern Alabam
  • International Who’s Who in Art and Antiques
  • Chants of the Centuries, Beverly Jeanne Davis, W.S. Benson and Company, Austin, Texas
  • Waiting to Exhale, work shown in movie
  • The Art of Medicine, WRS Publishing, Waco, Texas
  • Black Art, Ancestral Legacy, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Texas
  • The Majical cover of The Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog

Facts

  • Built his own studio: Visual Dynamics
  • Passed up a chance to be professional football player to pursue masters of art and provide for family
  • Had a son, my late brother, Roosevelt: "Rip" Woods, and another daughter my late sis , DeeDee Woods. DeeDee was also an artist/photographer/culinary artist. She birthed the idea and concept of the RWSP (rip woods studio project). Rip's wife of 50 years was Wanda Woods, she is soon to be 90 years old.
  • Had sabbatical in Lagos Nigeria in 1972 (Festac '77)highly influenced the obivious folklore, mask and mystical expressions.
  • 1st Black/African American to have one man show at Phoenix art museum
  • Taught at Camelback high and West High prior to ASU, continued to mentor and influence to many students beyond adolescence.
  • Taught him self to play guitar and made his own guitar
  • Had over 15 one man exhibitions in his career and numerous group exhibitions
  • Co-founded ABC/AZ (Artist of the Black Community)
  • Won awards and honors in more than 20 shows
  • Attended Northern Arizona State University and Palo Verde J. C., Blythe, California
  • He loved pigs and had a collection of maybe 500 or so
  • He wrote down his daily activities in a planner ie: who he had lunch with, what they ate, bike rides, events.

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