Rachel McDonnell CV
http://www.rachelmcdonnell.com
Education
1996-7 City & Guilds of London Art School, Foundation Course in Fine Art
1998-2001 St Anne’s College, Oxford, BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 2:1, and a scholarship for distinction in Preliminary Exams
Solo Exhibitions
2004 The Mill Gallery, Lyme Regis
2005 Bell Gallery, Belfast
2006 54 The Gallery, Shepherd Market, London
2008 54 The Gallery, Shepherd Market, London
2009 James Wray & Co, Belfast
2012 Menier Gallery, London
2013 Glenarm Castle Walled Garden
2022 Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
2023 Prema Arts, Uley
2024 Woodland, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Group Exhibitions
2003 Society of Women Artists, London
2007 Prelude, Spitalfields Market
2007 Christmas Exhibition at The Cavehill Gallery, Belfast
2008 Christmas Group Show, James Wray & Co., Belfast
2008 Christmas Exhibition at The Cavehill Gallery, Belfast
2009 Exhibition of Important Irish and British Paintings and Sculpture, James Wray & Co., Belfast
2010 Ludlow Open, Ludlow
2014 Site Festival Open Studios, Stroud, Gloucestershire
2015 Royal West of England Academy Open, Bristol
Site Festival Open Studios, Stroud, Gloucestershire
2016 Royal West of England Academy Artist Network Exhibition, Bristol
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Stroud Valleys Open Studios Taster Exhibition
Site Festival Open Studios, Stroud, Gloucestershire
The Other Art Fair, Arnolfini, Bristol
National Open Art Competition, London - Winner Be Smart About Art Award
Royal West of England Academy Open, Bristol
Walking the Land Group Show at The Old Passage, Arlingham
2017 NOA room at ArtRooms Art Fair, London
Pay & Display Prize, at Centrespace Gallery, Bristol
Drawn, RWA Bristol
Perception, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Site Festival Open Studios, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Longlisted for Jackson’s Painting Prize
Bath Open Art Prize, 44AD Gallery, Bath
Shortlisted for Sunny Art Prize 2017
Royal Ulster Academy Annual Open Exhibition
RWA Open 165, Bristol
The Other Art Fair, London
Black Swan Open, Frome
2018 Walking the Land Group Show, Arlingham
Truth & Reality, John Street Gallery, Stroud
Bath Open Art Prize, 44AD Gallery, Bath
Site Festival Open Studios, Stroud
BEEP Painting Prize, Swansea
Rodmarton Reimagined, Rodmarton Manor
Derwent Art Prize, London
Wells Art Contemporary, Wells
2019 A Sense of Place, Yellow Arch, Sheffield
Incendiary, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
Confluence, Museum in the Park, Stroud
Bath Open Art Prize, 44AD Gallery, Bath
RA Summer Exhibition, London
Greystone Industries Summer Show 2019, Curated by Graham Crowley
Walking the Land Group Show, Arlingham
Mixed Show, Studio 18, Stroud
2020 BEEP Painting Prize, Swansea
Mixed Show, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Open ISO, Old Lockup Gallery, Derbyshire
Group Exhibition of Artists contributing to Artshelter, Studio 18, Stroud
2021 Open ISO, Old Lockup Gallery Derbyshire
Shortlisted for Jackson’s Painting Prize
Bräcklig, Irving Contemporary, Oxford
Landlinks, part of Groundworks and SIT Select
Part of Walking Talking Place, a Walking the Land project
Selected for Wells Art Contemporary, Wells
Cupola 30, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Paragon Gallery, Cheltenham
Watermarks, a Walking the Land Project
Discerning Eye Exhibition - winner of the Landscape Prize
2022 Into the Woods, Spring Gallery, Cheltenham
Paragon Gallery, Cheltenham
Co-Lead Artist, We are Mycelia, a Walking the Land
ProjectEmplacement, a Walking the Land Project
Art Cotswold, Chipping Campden
Open Exhibition & Autumn Exhibition, Old Lockup Gallery
Black Swan Open, Frome
Wells Art Contemporary, Wells
RWA Open 169
The Old Lockup Gallery, Cromford
Ebb & Flow, Lansdown Gallery Stroud, With Anna Simson
2023 Reflections Upon Water, Art Cotswold, With Rod Nelson
Paragon Gallery, Cheltenham
Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Ebb & Flow, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud, with Anna Simson
Bath Society of Artists Annual Open, Bath
RWA Artists’ Network Exhibition, Bristol
Wells Art Contemporary
RWA Open 170
Tree of Life, Old Lockup Gallery, Cromford
2024 BEEP painting prize shortlist
Group shows, Gallery 54, Shepherd Market, London
Site Festival Open Studios
Cupola Gallery Sheffield
Paragon Gallery, Cheltenham
Residencies
Artists Residency in Motherhood, 2017
Shift Gallery, Cardiff, June 2019
Rough Bank Reserve, Gloucestershire, with other Walking the Land artists, 2020
Workshops, Public Work & Interactive
Assisting monthly with drop in art sessions for primary school children, RWA, Bristol through 2018,
Interactive Installation “Child’s Play” part of Sculpture Lab RWA, Bristol, 2019
Working with children from Chalford Hill Primary School to make work for Confluence, Museum in the Park, Stroud, 2019
Workshop for 6-11 year olds, part of Confluence, Museum in the Park, Stroud, 2019
Talk on the influence of Motherhood on my work, RWA Bristol
Artshelter - Bus stops reimagined, with Ruth Hickson, Brimscombe, Glos., 2020
Oil painting for Y12 students at Bristol Grammar School
Workshop for Bristol Refugee Artists Collective with the RWA
Co-organiser of Convergence/Divergence, a Walking the Land Weekend Conference, 2023
Co-Curator, Stroud Valley Arts Open Studios Taster Exhibition
Co-Lead artist, majorDEFRA/Cotswold National Landscape funded Growing Places project with Walking the Land, 2024/25
Workshop delivery, Growing Places, 2024/25
Leading Walking the Land’s First Friday Walks, 2023 - present (around once or twice a year)
Writing
Selected to be a part of Mother’s Day, edited by artist Lenka Clayton,(I also recorded my account to be a part of Lenka’s contribution to Upkeep, Arts Club of Chicago, 2020)
Projects
2025-present - Walking in Pairs, a Walking the Land Project
2025-present - Deep Encounters, a Walking the Land Project
Collectives & Networks
RWA artist network member
Core Group Member, Walking the Land Artists’ collective