BIO
Adair Freeman Rutledge is an artist based in Seattle, WA. Originally from small town Alabama, her photography work often questions enduring traditions and underscores tensions between cultural practices and modern realities. Through a curious and feminist lens, she explores how American customs influence expectations for our youth, impact gender roles, and reinforce racial stereotypes.
Adair’s photography has been commissioned Amazon, John Deere, Brooks Running, and Lands' End, among others. Her fine art work has been featured on NPR, Fraction Magazine and Lenscratch, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including First Place in CENTER Santa Fe's Editor's Choice Award. Most recently, she was selected a a finalist for the Seattle Art Museum's 2019 Betty Bowen Award. Her "Nashville Cardinals" and "Azalea Trail Maids" series will be on view at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (WA) through February 2020.
CV
Education
Post Baccalaureate Certificate, Photography, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Auburn University
Honors/Grants
2019
Seattle Art Museum, Betty Bowen Award Finalist
Photographic Center Northwest's "22nd Juried Exhibition" Honorable Mention
2018
International Photography Awards, 1st Place Winner, “Field Sports” Category
International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, “Deeper Perspective” Category
CENTER’s Editor’s Choice Award, 1st Place
Critical Mass, Photo Lucida, Top 200 Finalist
CDS/Honickman First Book Prize Finalist, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke
The FENCE, National Winner
Review Santa Fe Scholarship Recipient, CENTER Santa Fe
American Photography 34, Selected award winner
2017
Critical Mass, Photo Lucida, Top 200 Finalist
American Photography 33, Selected award winner
Review Santa Fe, Top 100 Artists
2010
Arts at the Airport Honorarium
Exhibitions
2020
"Azalea Trail Maids," (solo) Bellevue College Gallery, Seattle, WA (forthcoming)
"Female in Focus," Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO (forthcoming)
"2020 Pacific Northwest Drawers," Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
"Feminine/Masculine," PH21 Photography Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2019
"Face First," Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge, WA (through spring, 2020)
"Women's Stories, (Untold)," Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS
"22nd Juried Exhibition," Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
"Picture Your Story," A collaboration between Central Arts Sanctuary & The Do Good Fund, Mobile, AL
2018/19
“Currents 2018,” Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
"22nd Juried Exhibition," Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
“The Fence: A Public Art Exhibit,” United Photo Industries, Traveling Exhibition:
Brooklyn, Boston, Atlanta, Santa Fe, Durham, Denver, Calgary, Houston, and Sarasota
“Full Circle: 2018 CENTER Award Winners,” Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Boone, NC
2006-2010
“The Arcade Project,” Arts at the Airport - Flying Solo Exhibition, Nashville Internat'l Airport
“The Arcade Project,” Group show, The Rymer Gallery, Nashville, TN
“Tennessee Art League ASMP Photo Exhibition,” Nashville, TN
“Alabama Photo Book Project,” Traveling Exhibition
“Emerging Nashville Photographers,” The Arts Company Gallery, Nashville, TN
Selected Clients and Publications
ABC Networks, Amazon, American Songwriter Magazine, APhotoEditor, Brooks Running, Buzzfeed News, Country Weekly, Fraction Magazine, Hospital Corporation of America, John Deere, Lands’ End, Lenscratch, Oxford American, Sunset Magazine, UVA Children’s Hospital, Weight Watchers