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You might ask, how did I get to this point in my career as an artist? (Take a ramble down memory lane, or go directly to the CV or to the Bi0, below.) Early days: It started in the third grade, as it often does for arty types. From having a paper doll concession (busily drawing paper dolls for my friends in the back of the classroom), to being the official class Santa Claus painter, I was well on my way to a life of art at an early age. Art school: I attended the Art Students League in New York City. For five years I studied figure drawing and painting with Gregory d'Alessio, Robert Beverly Hale, Robert Brackman, Frank Mason, Sidney Dickinson, Robert Angeloch, Richard Mayhew and Vaclav Vytlacil. But it was in John Groth's composition class that I discovered my life's main interest: the Fulton Fish Market. An assignment to bring back an action painting led me to that storied place at the South Street Seaport. I found plenty of action for my painting, and was hooked (sorry) on the place instantly. After art school, while building a life as a painter in Maine and Nantucket (cost of living was low in one, opportunity to show and sell in the other), I never lost sight of the fish market. Fulton Fish Market: When I was lucky enough to live in New York City again, I gathered up my easel and paints, and headed for Fulton Fish Market. In 1984 I opened my studio-gallery, Art in the Afternoon (fish in the morning). I shared space with the Meyer & Thompson Smoked Fish Company at 146 Beekman Street. They sold fish from 3 to 11 a.m. and I set up my art display and painted from noon to 6 p.m. every day. In 1997 I moved my studio into the Tin Building, a landmarked 1907 wholesale fish market, and happily painted until 2005, when the fish market moved to the Bronx. I stayed at the South Street Seaport where I paint today in my studio overlooking the East River. Construction: In the early 1980s, I became interested in painting construction sites, and even had my own hard hat (a pink one). I documented several projects with my watercolors, including the building of the Cross Bay Boulevard Bridge in Queens, rushing to the site whenever a new phase started. To this day, I cannot resist the sight and sounds of concrete and cranes. Trains, planes, automobiles, and water: I have a soft spot in my heart for machines. In Maine, I painted railroad yards and locomotives. I learned to fly and painted those wonderful machines, as well. Tractors and cars also found their way into my paintings. While Picasso had his Blue Period, I had my Corvette Period. New York City's waterfront is eminently paintable, and I have spent time admiring and painting tugboats, bridges and the unique features of the city's shoreline.. Remembering Fulton Fish Market: All good things end, it is said, and so it was with my nocturnal sketching trips into Fulton Fish Market. Gone was the pleasure and excitement of walking through quiet city streets at 2 a.m. to a boisterous and bright scene, and of being swept up in market life, its vitality infusing my work. The market left in 2005, and every November, the anniversary month of its move from South Street to the Bronx, I exhibit my work at the Seaport, to bring back the spirit of the fishmongers for a just a time. They should not be forgotten. New horizons: While I still have a keen interest in the fish market, I look to New York City for broader inspiration. I will take a fresh look at watercolors, do more drawing and explore new materials.
Naima Rauam – Curriculum Vitae EXHIBITIONS (*solo show) Estonian Art in Exile, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia, 2010-11 Eye on Wall Street, New York City, 2009 *Remembering Fulton Fish Market Annual Exhibition, New York City, 2006-11 South Street Seaport Museum, 2006 Museum of American Finance, New York City, 2006 CultureFest, New York City, 2001-2006 *Farewell to the Fulton Fish Market, New York City, 2005 Changing Tides, Urban Center, New York City, 2005 By the Gladness of the River: Creativity at the Seaport, 1950s—Present, Seaport Museum, NYC, 2004 National Arts Club, New York City, 2002 *While the City Sleeps, South Street Seaport Museum, New York City, 1999 Little Bites From the Big Apple, Stolen Buick Studio, Chicago, 1998 Still-Zinsel Gallery, New Orleans, 1996 Galeria Frazao, Salvador, Brazil, 1995 In the Grand Tradition, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, 1994 The League at the Cape, Provincetown, MA, 1993 Union League of Philadelphia, 1992 *American Merchant Marine Museum, Kings Point, NY, 1991 Golden Age of Flight, National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC, 1984 *James Hunt Barker Galleries, Nantucket, MA 1972-1982 *Owls Head Transportation Museum, Owls Head, ME 1981 ESTO '80, Stockholm, Sweden, 1980 *Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC, 1978 *Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, ME, 1976 BIBLIOGRAPHY Downtown Express, August 25, 2011 (feature) Palisade Magazine, Winter 2010/2011 Downtown Express, November 10, 2010 (feature) Harbor Voices (Walton), 2008 Northeast Boating, January 2008 (feature) New York Times, December 4, 2005 (feature) New York Newsday, August 3, 2005 (feature) The New Yorker Magazine, June 27, 2005 The Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2005 John Montone’s New York, 1010WINS Radio, September 2004 (feature) New York Newsday (website video profile), May 2004 By the Gladness of the River: Creativity at the Seaport, South Street Seaport Museum, 2004 New York Voices: On the Waterfront (PBS-TV) 2003 Marine News, March 17, 2003 (feature) Tokyo Broadcasting System, Evening News, December 30, 2002 Secrets of New York City, Silver Lining Books, 2002 (feature) Offshore Magazine, October 2002 New York Times, January 27, 2002 (feature) Brigitte Magazine, Germany, June 2000 Watercolor Magazine, Fall 1999 (feature) Going Places: New York City, PBS-TV, 1999 New American Paintings, June 1997 (feature) Art in America, January, 1996 (review) Corvette Fever Magazine, September 1995, July 1997 (feature) New York Construction News, June 18, 1990 (feature) Private Pilot Magazine, 1990 (feature) Official Fulton Fish Market Cookbook (cover painting), 1989 History of Flight, National Air & Space Museum, 1988 On the Road with Charles Kuralt, 1985 (feature) New Yorker Magazine, July 22, 1985 National Fisherman, February 1985 (feature) New York Times, November 2, 1984 (feature) Downeast Magazine, November 1981 EDUCATION / AWARDS Art Students League, New York City, 1964-69 Artists Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, 1998 COLLECTIONS National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC American Merchant Marine Museum, Kings Point, NY Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, ME New York City Police Museum, New York City National Arts Club, New York City Veterans Administration, New York City Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC Tishman Construction Company, New York City Morgan Stanley, New York City John E. Osborn P.C., New York City Yonkers Contracting Company, Yonkers, NY Bank of America, New York City Harbour League, Camden, NJ Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, Bangor, ME JE Brenneman, Camden, NJ Weeks Marine, Inc., Cranford, NJ Dominican College, Orangeburg, NY Pfizer Inc., New York City Naima Rauam is recognized for her watercolors of the Fulton Fish Market, which she has documented with her artwork since the early 1980s, and the South Street Seaport historic district. Naima's fish market paintings have become known for their luminous light: During the fish market's nocturnal hours, it is thrilling to walk along dark streets and suddenly encounter oases of light among the old and well-worn buildings of the seaport neighborhood. This is a rich environment of color and texture, a splendid foil for light's mystery and drama. I'm particularly drawn to light at night, and am eager to explore it and find what secrets it holds...The watercolor medium is ideal for expressing light's elusive qualities. Brush strokes of wet pigment coax sensuous luminosity from ordinary white paper, allowing extraordinary moments of light to linger forever. – N.R. From 1984 to 1997 she shared space with a wholesale smoked fish company, living and working in the same building where cod was smoked and sold. The ground-floor sales area became her studio-gallery, Art in the Afternoon (fish in the morning). When the fishmongers, who operated in the early morning hours, left each day, Naima set up her art display and started painting in the afternoons. The art gallery was dismantled each evening to make way for fish again the next night. The building was sold in 1997, ending the unusual arrangement. Scenes of the New York waterfront also figure prominently in Naima’s work. Hitching rides on tugboats is her favorite way of getting close to nautical subjects and obtaining interesting views of the harbor. Her studio at the South Street Seaport overlooks the East River and the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, a source of never ending inspiration for her. While exploring the harbor, Naima developed an interest in painting construction sites. She documented the progress of several projects, including the North Channel Bridge across Jamaica Bay, Queens. A series of watercolors of this bridge, done over a two-year period, is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Naima exhibits in solo and group shows in the United States and abroad. Her work is in private, corporate and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution, National Air & SpaceMuseum, American Merchant Marine Museum, Farnsworth Museum, Pfizer, and the Bank of America. She also lectures, teaches, and curates art exhibits.
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