I am interested in the intimate bond African American's have to the natural world - not in our capacity as laborers (though prolific) - as environmental stewards. This relationship pre-dates our existence in this country and illuminates how we continue to adapt and move in the world. I use color as a language to mark the intertwining of aesthetics, ecology, spirituality and history. Abstraction offers a fluid non-linear space to bear witness. I call this Speculative Ecologies the Intimate Bond of Freedom and Green.

artist bio

Renée Elizabeth Neely-Tanner is a self-taught visual artist and archivist. She is a 2024 Artist Research Resident of the Museum of The Rhode Island School of Design and the 2023 Heimark Artist in Residence for the Ruth J. Simmons Center, Brown University. Neely-Tanner grew up in the 1960-70s Black community of Berkeley, near Norfolk, VA. The culture and kinship of that community has shaped her worldview as an artist and as a person. She honors her mother Allison Virginia Tanner Neely, an ever present witness to her life and work, by adding Tanner to her name.

2025-26 Do You Feel Like Shouting? Featured in the Rhode Island 250th Celebration Exhibit: Owning Our History at the State House Gallery. The painting centers the voices of the named and unnamed women, children and men enslaved by the founders of the First Unitarian Church of Providence.

2024 Glory commissioned by The Leadership Alliance, Brown University to visually and spiritually commemorate the achievements of 1000 Doctoral Scholars mentored through their programs. The celebration was held at the former Kennedy Center.

Exhibitions: The Rhode Island 250th Celebration, The Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, The WOMXN Project, Dreamscape Archive, The Granoff Center for Creative Arts, Centro Cultural das Mulheres da Mare Bahia, Brasil, AS220 Project Space Gallery, The WaterFire Arts Center, The First Unitarian Church Providence, The Ruth J. Simmons Center, Arts Connect International Boston, Providence Public Library, The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Brown University and Studio Hop Gallery.

Neely-Tanner has an AB in English Literature and Cultures, Brown University and an MLIS in Library and Information Science/Archives Management, Simmons University.