Martha Russo VACS

In 1984, while vying for a spot on the United States Olympic Field Hockey Team, she suffered a career-ending injury. After recovering from surgery, Russo was attracted to the physical nature of sculpture and ceramics.

She began studying studio arts in Florence, Italy in 1983 and continued studying ceramics at Princeton University with Toshiko Takaezu. In 1996, she earned her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Russo exhibits her sculptures and installations nationally at venues such as the Allan Stone Gallery in New York City, Denver Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver, Miami Project, and The Santa Fe Art Institute.

Her work was the focus of a 25-year survey at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in 2016. Russo’s work is in many private and public collections including the Denver Art Museum.

Another facet to her studio practice is through the socially and politically-based art collective, Artnauts, Russo has shown her 2-dimensional works in 280 exhibitions in 22 countries.

She has been the collective coordinator for the last 12 years.

In addition to her studio practice, Russo is a lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Art and Art History Department and the College of Engineering.

Prior to that appointment, she taught at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver for 18 years.

She lives in the mountains northwest of Boulder, Colorado with her husband, Joe Ryan and they have a daughter, Odelia, and a son, Henry.