Bette Ridgeway
Biography
Pushing the boundaries of light, color and design, the artist is celebrated for her large-scale, luminous poured canvases, which have garnered the artist international recognition. Bette Ridgeway was born in Tupper Lake, a small village in the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York state a few miles from the Canadian border. Inspired by the pristine and expansive beauty of this six million square mile natural habitat, she began drawing and painting as a young child. At thirteen, she enrolled in watercolor painting and figure drawing classes at the Albany Institute of History and Art, in Albany, NY, where the Hudson River School artists, the Impressionists and the work of Pablo Picasso captivated her young imagination.
Messages, 2025. Acrylic on Canvas, 157.48 x 121.92 cm.
Ridgeway went on to study the visual arts with an emphasis on graphic design at Russell Sage College in Troy, NY. At the same time, based on her portfolio submission, she was hired as a professional commercial artist at the Reuben H. Donnelley Advertising Corporation. Her employers did not know she was only nineteen. She discovered that the Donnelley Corporation could offer, with its on-the-job training, far more substantial instruction than any art school. “This was my art “boot camp,” says the artist. Ridgeway also attended classes at the New York School of Interior Design Art and the Art Students League, in New York City. She then struck out across the globe - studying, painting, teaching and exhibiting her work, while simultaneously immersing herself in the customs and colors of the diverse cultures of Africa, Australia, Europe, Asia, Mexico and South America. She studied and taught painting during lengthy stays in Antananarivo, Madagascar; Canberra, Australia, and Santiago, Chile.
Monsoons, 2023. Acrylic on Canvas, 132.08 x 223.52 cm.
Ridgeway’s formal art studies provided her the basic tools in the use of materials and a variety of techniques. Her unique style was a long time in development. Returning to the United States, Ridgeway continued to study painting privately with accomplished professionals, while also focusing on raising her young family. In 1973, she was hired as visual arts specialist for the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission, where she administered a federally funded CETA program, which provided young artists with studio space. She also created the first art gallery in a sports arena at Capital Center in Landover, Maryland.
Tango with Red, 2023. Acrylic on Canvas, 147 x 196 cm.
In the mid-1970’s, she was instrumental in the design and funding of the Montpelier Center for the Arts & Education in Laurel, MD, where she developed an arts festival for disabled young people. This festival garnered the attention of Eunice Kennedy Shriver who had given the opening remarks. She introduced Ridgeway to her sister, Jean Kennedy Smith who had just launched a program, an educational affiliate of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which focused on developing arts activities including music, art, dance and drama throughout the US for disabled children and youth. Mrs. Smith hired Ridgeway, initially, to grow the program. Within a year, Ridgeway was made Executive Director and CEO.
Haiku with Red, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 172.72 x 127 cm.
Through her work with Very Special Arts, Ridgeway was introduced to Paul Jenkins, the acclaimed Abstract Expressionist painter. He had donated a work of art as a poster to raise funds for an international art festival for disabled youth at the Kennedy Center. Jenkins became a good friend and mentor, encouraging the artist to work large, eliminate subject matter, and focus on color, space and time. He once jokingly referred to his paintings as “chaos” and Ridgeway’s as “controlled chaos.” She shared her work with Jenkins for nine years before he finally declared, “You are ready for a show.” That was a turning point in the artist’s career. In 1988, she had her first major solo show at FOTA Gallery in Alexandria, Va. Her large, colorful canvasses drew an enormous crowd and sold out. This was the beginning of a long and successful career.
Haiku with Blue, 2025. Acrylic on canvas 172.72 x 132.08 cm.
When in 1996, the artist decided to move to Santa Fe, NM, the third largest art market in the US, Jenkins encouraged her saying, “They will love you there.” Jenkin’s work had been represented by Ailene Lapides Gallery in Santa Fe, and he completed his famous Meditation Mandala sculpture at Shidoni Foundry in 1986.
Under Jenkins’ mentorship and encouragement, the artist has spent the last 40+ years developing and refining her signature technique. Though at ease with oil paint, she shifted to acrylic because she found it more versatile for her technique. She applies many layers of thin, transparent acrylics on unstretched linen or canvas to produce a fluidity and viscosity similar to traditional watercolor. She calls this technique “layering light.” She is represented by scores of prestigious galleries. Her work is in many private collections aroung the globe. Her work is sought after or commissions, both public and private.
Happiness, 2022. Acrylic on canvas 121.92 x 106.68 cm.
Artist Statement
My paintings are a spontaneous occurrence, born out of the experience, but maturing reflexively in the process of creation. My technique is controlled improvisation. Gravity is my medium. Images are caught with intent.
A Deeper Reflection, 2022. Acrylic with gold, bronze, copper and silver on canvas, 127 x 213.36
Exhibitions
Ridgeway has had 85+ gallery and museum shows. Noteworthy recent exhibitions include Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York, NY; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK; ArtOnScreen at Big Screen Plaza, New York, New York; Ocean Galleries, Stone Harbor, New Jersey; Anticus Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ; Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Southwest Gallery, Dallas, Texas. Her film "Romancing Color" received previews in Dubai and Beijing.
Publications
The international recognition that Ridgeway’s work has received in recent years includes publication in, among others, "Songs for the Spirit" / "Canciones para el espíritu," by Robert Giron, published by Gival Press, Fall 2023, winner Best Book for Spiritual Bilingual Award, National Association of Book Entrepreneurs; Abstract: Contemporary Art; Modern Renaissance; About Place Journal; Contemporary Art Collectors Magazine; LandEscape Art Review, London, UK; Trend Magazine; Magazine 43: Berlin, Hong Kong, Manila; MVIBE, Athens, Greece; Artwork Gallery Contemporary Art Magazine, Kyiv, Ukraine; Sage Magazine, Yale School of the Environment; Art Magazenium; ArtifactNYC Journal; and ART UP MI, Milan.
The artist has written many books, the most recent is "My Romance With Color" published by SNAP Collective in Copenhagen. Art Celebrity Magazine has devoted the September 2025 issue to her art. Her book, "Talent is Just the Beginning - an Artists Guide to Marketing in the 21st Century" is still a best-seller on Amazon.
Dancing with Time (4 panels), 2025. Acrylic with gold, silver and bronze on canvas,167.64 x 528.32 cm/
Awards
Recent notable awards include the 2025 International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci, Milan, Italy; 2024 Future of Art Global Masterpiece Award by Contemporary Art Curator Magazine; 2024 International Prize Velázquez & Goya, Barcelona, Spain; 2024 Sandro Botticelli International Prize, Florence, Italy; Collectors Art Prize 2023/Contemporary Art Curator Magazine; and Harmony for Humanity: The Global Consciousness Art Prize, Contemporary Art Collectors, 2023.
Please Don't Break My Heart, 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 162.56 x 132.08 cm.
