Photo by Sarah Blanchette
ABOUT
Vanessa Viruet is a Chicago based fiber artist of Puerto Rican descent. Vanessa Viruet creates monumental scale artworks to examine complex histories rooted in textiles, like identity, cultural heritage, gender and class. She’s had solo and group exhibitions at venues including New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, Roots and Culture, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Circle Contemporary, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and Bridgeport Art Center. Viruet has also exhibited in conjunction with Chicago Textiles Week, Surface Design Association, and the First Annual Lowrider Festival in Pilsen. Residencies include ACRE, Lilstreet Art Center, and the Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Viruet holds a BFA and an MA in Teaching from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She is an art instructor for Chicago Public Schools, and a Lecturer in Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also works with students in the Low Res MFA program.
Someday she hopes to have her own scholarship for artists of color.