Laura Rendlen

Laura Rendlen’s aesthetic and style for mosaic art is representational. She creates environments that capture the essence of a place. Through vivid color and soft expression she conveys the intangibles in nature, particularly wind, light and movement. Laura teaches her style with Master Workshops in contemporary mosaics nationally and internationally.
Laura Rendlen earned her BFA in Sculpture from Kansas City Art Institute and spent 25 years as a scenic painter. Laura has been published in several books, blogs and magazines including Mosaic Fine Art Portraits and Mosaic Art Now magazine. She has also been included five times in the Mosaic Arts International exhibitions, and in 2012 she received the prestigious MAI Jurors’ Choice award.

Employment
2015 – Founder Kansas City Mosaics – Traditional and Contemporary Art Studio and School, Kansas City, MO
2013 –Present Mosaic Master Workshops Tacoma WA, Washington DC, Austin, Houston and San Antonio TX, Tuscan and Phoenix AZ, Highland Park, IL, Philadelphia PA, Berekley CA Boston MA, Madison WI, San Diego CA, Detroit MI and Tel Aviv Israel
2015 and 2016 – Instructor- Mosaic Course Kansas City Art Institute Continuing Education, Kansas City MO
2015 – Instructor – Communiversity, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO
2010-2017 – Society of American Mosaic Artists – Vendor Market Director –
Coordinating National and International Vendors during the annual
conference. Chicago IL, Austin TX, Lexington KY, Tacoma WA, Houston TX, Philadelphia
2009- 2012 Chicago Mosaic School – Instructor – Basic and Introductory mosaics courses and
Community projects
2004-Present Laura Rendlen Fine Mosaics – Self-employed, Commissioned custom interior
Mosaics, fine art mosaics. Chicago IL
1997-Present Laura Rendlen Fine Decorative Arts -Self employed, Custom Painting residential
and commercial including murals, scenery, faux finishes and Trompe l’oeil. Chicago IL
1997- 2007 Oakbrook Academy of Music and Art – Set Painter for musicals and plays.
1997-2006 Scenic workshops with Children. – Productions for Oakbrook Academy Summer
workshops, Elmhurst Children’s Theater, Glen Crest Middle School.
1984-1997 Goldblatt /Rendlen Fine Decorative Arts – Partner in custom painting business,
commercial and residential including murals, Television, film sets, window
dressing, faux finishes, trompe l’oeil. Kansas City MO, Mission Hills KS, Chicago

Education
1978-1982 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City MO
1984 Sotheby’s 19th and 20th Century Decorative Arts, London England
2007 Matteo Randi”s Hammer and Hardy Workshop Gary Driscoll’s Indirect Method Workshop,
Matteo Randi’s Hammer and Hardy Workshop – Assistant, SAMA Convention
2008 Kim Emerson’s Cracking the Code, workshop on creating mosaics for public works.
2008 Ilana Shafir Spontaneous Mosaics Workshop, Chicago Mosaic School, Chicago IL
2008 Sculptural Forms for Mosaics with Sherri Warner-Hunter, Chicago Mosaic School
Ravenna Style– byzantine method with Matteo Randi
2008 Listening to the Rocks with Bill Buckingham and Sophie Druin,
Smalti’s Next Level: B Cuts with Sue Giannotti
2009 Pebble Mosaics with Gwyn Kaitis- Chicago Mosaic School Chicago IL
Tilemaking for Mosaics with Karen Ami, Chicago Mosaic School, Chicago IL
2009 Certification to Teach Mosaics, Chicago Mosaic School, Chicago IL
2010 Concrete Carving, Elder Jones, Wit’s End Mosaics Pulaski Wisconsin
2010-11 Mosaic Drawing, Byzantine mosaics, Ravenna Method, Textures Workshops,Undulation Workshop, Matteo Randi, Chicago Mosaic School. Chicago IL
2013 Faux Bois – Ferrocement with Donald Tucker
2016 Outdoor Sculpture with Sherry Warner Hunter
Exhibitions
2017 Solo Exhibition Christ Community Church, Kansas city MO
2017 The Art of Glass, New Visions Gallery, Marshfield WI
2017 ARTSKC Now Showing, Blue Koi
2016 Mosaic Arts International, Women’s History Museum, San Diego CA
2016 Solo Exhibit Imagined and Reimagined, Institute of Mosaic Art, Berkeley CA
2016 ARTSKC Now Showing, Fleishman-Hillard, KCUR, TK Architects Kansas City MO
2016 Contemporary Mosaic Art, Group Exhibition, Thorndike Gallery, Southern Oregon University, OR
2015 Solo Exhibit- Missouri Bank, Crossroads, Kansas City MO
2014 Mosaics Arts International, Williams Tower, Houston TX
2014 Ross Contemporary Gallery, Chicago IL
2013 Solo Exhibition, Dene Gallery, Geneva IL
Transitions- Ciel Gallery, Charlotte, NC
ArtPrize, Grand Rapids MI
2012 Jurors Choice Award Mosaics Arts International, Lexington Art Center and Museum, Lexington KY
2010-12 Contemporary Mosaic Gallery, Smith Museum of Stained Glass, Chicago IL
2010 Mosaic Arts International, Navy Pier, Chicago IL
2009 Reveal- Four women retrospective, Contemporary Mosaic Gallery, Chicago, IL
2009 Mosaic Arts International, Museum of Man, San Diego CA
2008-2011 Various group shows Chicago Mosaic School Gallery including, landscapes exhibition, student exhibition, faculty invitational, and portrait exhibition.

Community Projects
2017 – Mosaic Mural, Rockhurst College Occupational Therapy Dept. Kansas City MO
2015 – Ronald McDonald House Garden Angel Sculpture, Donor recognition. Chapel Hill, NC
2015- Mercy and Truth Clinic Mosaic Mural- Collaborative mural with students and the community, Kansas City KS
2012 After School Matters, Working with teens from Lakeview High School, teaching career readiness through designing and creating a collaborative mosaic mural.
2011 St Charles East High School, St Charles IL. Riverscape, a 12 foot mosaic mural incorporating sheet glass, donated tile and elements created by the ceramic students at the school.
2010 /2011 St. Charles Arts Festival Mosaic booth, St. Charles IL. Advocating and educating the public about mosaics and the future mural for the High school donated by P-ARTS. Partners of the Arts
2010-2011 Mosaic Mural for Grace Lutheran Church. Glen Ellyn IL – Design and layout. Tutorial for the Church members who executed the mosaic.

Publications
Kansas City Star Magazine KC HOME 0ctober, 1989
Glen Ellyn News Artist Helps create Movie Magic July, 2002
Glen Ellyn News Artist Fashions a Colorful Career July, 2006
Mosaic Yearbook 2008
Mosaic Art Now Magazine 2008 Edition
Mosaic Yearbook 2009
Mosaic Art Now magazine 2009
Groutline Newsletter, Society of American Mosaic Artists 2009
The Reader, Color Photo on the front page of the gallery section Oct. 2009, 2013
Mosaic Renaissance by Laurel Skye 2009
Mosaic Fine Art Portraits by Pam Givens & Irit Levy 2010
Profitable Glass Quarterly Fine-Art Stained Glass Mosaics-Making the Cut Summer 2010
Bonnie Fitzgerald’s Guide to Mosaic Techniques – 2015
Surface Magazine- Cover Photo, France – 2016