Rachel Simmons teaches foundations, printmaking, book arts and environmental art courses at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.  Since 2000, she has created collaborative community art projects which teach students to be responsible citizens as well as accomplished artists.

Rachel’s mixed media work focuses on climate change, marine pollution and ecotourism and has been exhibited nationally and internationally.  She traveled to Antarctica in 2008 to conduct research for her work, returning again in 2009 as the leader of a group of faculty colleagues.  She recently presented her research on appropriate scale in Iceland with colleagues from the environmental sciences at the International Conference for Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Rachel's work is included in the Jacqueline Bradley and Clarence Otis, Jr. Collection.  A selection of her exhibitions from last year include:

• International Artists Biennale Miami, Nina Torres Gallery, Miami, FL, December 2010
• The US Arts Biennial, Broadway Gallery, New York City, NY September 2010
• 59th Annual All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL Summer 2010
• Positive Negative, Slocumb Galleries, East Tennessee University, Johnson, TN 2010
• Without a Trace: Artists Contemplate the World Without Us, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL 2010

Rachel's recent presentations include:

• Iceland: A Visual Study of Appropriate Scale, International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii, January 2011.
• TEDx Orlando, Green Art: Making Art That Makes a Difference, November 2010 (click here to watch her presentation)

She explored of the effects of oil spilt from the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico and the accident in the larger context of oil exploration to create the mixed media artist’s book, The Oil Book.

For more information on Rachel Simmons' work, online galleries and blog visit www.rachelsimmons.net/