Raised in the deep South, Raina’s experience with the living past through storytelling and reenactment is extensive. Whether it is through painting, installation, video, writing, sound, or collaborative projects, her work investigates narrative through a poet’s lens. Raina Benoit received her BA from Louisiana State University in Liberal Arts and minored in Creative Writing (1999). After living and working in New York City she continued her studies in France at the Atelier des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (2001) where she studied in painting and drawing. She completed her MFA (2006) at the University of Arizona and for close to a decade has lived and researched along the South Eastern U.S coastline. She lives between France and Louisiana where she currently works on the project space, The Creative Refuge
Selected exhibitions and performances include Mass Moca (North Adams, MA), 1134 Gallery (New York, NY), Ad Hoc Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Platform Gallery (Tucson, AZ), Deland Museum of Art (Deland, FL), 911 Media Art Center (Seattle, Washington), The Morean Art Center, C. Emerson Art Gallery (St.Petersburg, Fl), Antenna Gallery (New Orleans, La), and various other international and national entities.
EDUCATION
2006 Master of Fine Arts, University of Arizona, Summa Cum Laude,Tucson, AZ, Painting/Drawing
2001 Atelier des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France, One Year Study Painting/Drawing
1999 Bachelor of Arts, Louisiana State University, Magna Cum Laude, Baton Rouge, LA, Liberal Arts Painting/Drawing
SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS (Selected * solo/two person)
* The Weight of Water, Montalivet, France 2022
* The Tree Army, Mattie Kelly Arts Center, Niceville, FL 2015
* The Seeker, Shaw Center for Arts, Louisiana State University
* A Search for Balance, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA 2014
* Tourist: A Visit through Local Voices, Amelia Center Gallery, GCSC, Panama City, Fl 2012
* Serene Chaos, Platform Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2005
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)
New Member Show, The Front Gallery, New Orleans, La, 2023
Remember Earth, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, La 2022
Numero I, Creative Refuge, Moulis France 2019
Flora, Fauna, and Entrails, Antenna Gallery, New Orleans, La 2017
Personal Space, Florida Craftsman,, St. Petersburg, Fl
Man & Nature, Southeastern University Contemporary Art Gallery, Hammond, La
Florida: Paradise Lost and Found, Morean Art Center,St. Petersburg, Fl
Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful & the Sublime, C.Emerson Fine Arts, St. Pete, Fl 2011
'Pete and Repeat', Re-Registering Grafik, New Prints from U.S.”, Carl Larsson House, Sundborn, Sweden
Hero Worship: A Graphic Tale, C. Emerson Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Fl 2010
COLLECTIONS/ART FAIRS
Gulf Coast Exploreum, Children’s Museum, Mobile, Al
Science & Discovery Center, Children’s Museum, Panama City, Fl
Les Meslusines, Grand Poujeaux, France
Scope New York, Courtesy C. Emerson Fine Arts, New York, NY 2011
Aqua Miami, Courtesy of C. Emerson Fine Arts, Miami, Fl