Andrew (Andy) Rush is a uniquely American artist whose storied career has crossed two centuries, rendering him a master of a multitude of mediums, including printmaking, sculpting, painting, tilemaking, illustrating and montage
Born in Detroit, Michigan on September 24, 1931, Andy grew up quickly when his father died prematurely, and his mother sought work to support a family with three young children. At fourteen, Andy traveled to Colorado to work as a ranch hand where he learned the ways of the cowboy and created youthful artwork that is still on display at the ranch today. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1953 where he studied under printmaker Lee Chesney. After a military tour of duty in Korea, Andy returned to study intaglio printmaking under his mentor Mauricio Lasansky at the University of Iowa where he earned his MFA in 1958.
Andy’s love affair with the American West has been manifested in Tucson, Arizona, where he has called home since 1959. His unique style as an artist and printmaker draws heavily upon his intimate life in Tucson and in Europe where he studied printmaking and drawing, first as Fulbright Fellow and during subsequent visits over the years.
Andy met artist Charles Littler in the Sixties when he was an associate professor of art at the University of Arizona. Their visionary friendship was a major catalyst in the establishment of Rancho Linda Vista, the longest continuously operating residential artists’ community in the United States. In 1970 Andy resigned from the university so that he and his second wife, writer Ann Woodin, could devote themselves to developing the unique communal setting for artists at Rancho Linda Vista and engage in the national conversation on consciousness and community. To this day, Rancho Linda Vista welcomes visiting artists to experience the “two-way power of art as a community endeavor.”
Over the next fifty years, Andy’s prolific body of work has been celebrated in galleries, public projects and private collections throughout the United States. He has received many accolades over the years, including nominations for the Arizona Arts Award by the Tucson Community Foundation in 1996, the Arizona Governor’s Arts Award 2003 and a Special Lifetime Achievement Award by the Tucson Pima Arts Council in 2006. A major exhibition of his intaglio prints was held at University of Arizona Museum in 2003-2004.
Never content to confine his prodigious creative energy to the artist’s studio, Andy expanded his commitment to art and community by creating The Drawing Studio with artist colleagues in 1992. An Artist Cooperative which includes a printmaking center, The Drawing Studio’s mission is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to embrace art practice as a pathway to personal growth and healthy community. It offers instruction and fellowship to artists and art students, bringing together thousands of people of all ages each year in classes, workshops, labs and exhibits.
A natural born teacher, Andy has spent time a visiting artist/educator at printmaking centers and colleges (Colorado College, University of Denver, University of Arkansas, University of California at Santa Barbara, Ohio State University, to name a few). He has conducted workshops in experimental art learning at Rancho Linda Vista as well as programs sponsored by Arizona Commission on the Arts, Lakeside Studios and Prescott College. Today, Andy organizes and teaches courses at The Drawing Studio, taking immense pleasure in mentoring upcoming young artists who he inspires to carry forward his vision for integration of art and community.
