Rochele Royster

CHICAGO (IL). South Side Community Art Center.
Urban Renewal.
April 6-May 11, 2007.
Exhib. cat. Group exhibition of alumnae and students from the SAIC. Included: Rochele Royster. Scheherazade Tillet, Margaret Burroughs, et al.

2002-2004, Facilitated a weekly Open Art Studio for survivors of domestic violence, rape and incest.

2008, Teaching Literacy through Art (Workshop teaching parents art activities that promote literacy. Workshop was given during Family Literacy Night at John B. Drake Elementary in Chicago.)

1998, One Woman Show at Meredith Gallery at Virginia State University. A culmination of Rochele Royster's artwork. The show is an introspective look at race, gender, and age and how these factors have affected the life and times of a young black woman in America.

I was born in the city of Washington D.C. but was raised in the rural south. The Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia were the backdrop of my childhood home which was nestled in a forrest of cedar, white pine and red oak trees. As a child, I had an active imagination and spent hours making dolls out of old socks, yarn and mismatched buttons. I learned how to grow my own food, harvest produce and can it for the winter. In the summer, my brother and I would dirty our knees tasting honeysuckles and prick our fingers picking the sweetest blackberries for the tastiest pies. My love for creating grew into a love for the fine arts. I studied studio art in college and later received my graduate degree in Art Therapy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As an art therapist intern, I worked with rape and incest survivors, women and children affected by homelessness and domestic violence, and refugees from Cambodia and Kenya. Art therapy provides an avenue for those hurt by trauma to express themselves and find peace through the artistic process. I believe in the artististic process and its ability to offer awareness. Art heals. My respect for nature, hard work, and culture has inspired my imagery.

"Whoever wants to know something about me - as an artist which alone is significant - they should look attentively at my pictures and there seek to recognise what I am and what I want."
Gustav Klimt

I believe in the power of the artistic process. Art is life and is the gateway to all knowing.

1998, Best in Show
1998, First Place in Senior Exhibit
1998, Most Promising Graduate, Virginia State University

2000, This workshop introduced educators and students to the healing properties in art. Rochele aided participants in creating visual imagery through their medium of choice. Workshop participants became familiar with guided imagery and meditation and were given ways to use these tools to reduce stress, emotional turmoil and physical ailments. Workshop was facilitated at Virginia State University to a group of educators and graduate students. Rochele presented this workshop along with her thesis and is loosely based on the book Art and Healing: Using Expressive Art to Heal Your Body, Mind, and Soul by Barbara Ganim

Rochele Royster's work was accepted in the 3rd Annual Emerging Artist Show at Morpho Gallery in Chicago, Illinois. Rochele has three pieces in the exhibition located in historical Lincoln Park. Morpho Gallery is located at 5217 North Damen, Chicago IL. The exhibit will continue until July 31, 2009.

The 3rd Annual Emerging Artists Exhibition at Morpho Gallery highlights emerging artists in the Chicago area. This cozy and trendy gallery is located in Bowmanville at 5216 North Damen, Chicago IL. The exhibit opened on July 10, 2009 and closes July 31, 2009.

Morpho Gallery presents Winter Emerging Artists Show on January 11, 2013.