Biography
Neil Rizos was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His spent his first five years in Manomet, a small community on Cape Cod. From a home perched on the bluff overlooking the sea, his consciousness of the natural world began. The happy synergy of a receptive spirit and a place of light, water, birds and forests set the course for his life.
As a student of art, foreign languages and literature he traveled throughout Europe and into Africa, living for extended periods in San Jose, Costa Rica; Seville, Spain; Paris, France and Quebec, Canada. Upon graduation from the State University of New York, he pursued his love of the natural world and art, working as a natural history illustrator and ornithological researcher from the arctic to the rain forests. He has studied eagles, hawks and falcons in Montana with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; Harris hawks in the southwest with the University of Arizona; migratory birds on the Alaskan tundra with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and participated in other bird studies with public and private organizations in the U.S. and Canada.
In the Spring of 2004, he was awarded a residency at the international retreat for artists in County Kerry, Ireland. Rizos was the Visiting Artist at the Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smiths, New York during the Summer/Fall of 2004. From 1997 - 2000 he was the Artist-in-Residence at Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia. He is a member of The National Arts Club, The Salmagundi Club, Allied Artists of America and Artists For Conservation. In 2008, he was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor by the Allied Artists of America for his etching, ‘DeWinton’s Pool’. Rizos’ etchings are featured in the book, The American Sporting Print: 20th Century Etchers & Drypointists,which includes work by Frank W. Benson, Carl Rungius, Ogden Pleissner and others. His work is in The United States Library of Congress Permanent Collection, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art and other public, private and corporate collections internationally.
"For me, my work is a record of my intellectual, emotional and spiritual experience of nature and an exploration of the materials I use to record that experience. For others, I hope my work reflects and amplifies their own experience of nature and invites them to continue the exploration of the inner and outer world."
Selected Exhibitions
2006- 2012 The Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
2000-2012 Burwell Morgan Mill, Annual Exhibit, Millwood, VA
2000-2012 Allied Artists of America, New York, NY
2008- 2010 Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT
2008 The National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY
2008 The National Arts Club, New York, NY
2004 *Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center, Paul Smiths, NY
2000-2006 Lake Placid Lodge, Lake Placid, NY
2000-2004 Aldie Mill Annual Exhibits, Aldie, VA
2003 Virginia Land Trust Exhibit, Upperville, VA
1995 & 1998 *Acadian Museum of Québec, Bonaventure, Québec, Canada.
1997 & 1998 *Airlie Center, Warrenton, VA
1996 Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, West Palm Beach, Fl
1994 & 1995 Perry House Galleries, Alexandria, VA
1994 & 1995 The Annual Airlie Art Show, Airlie Center for Environmental Studies, Warrenton, VA. Roger Tory Peterson, featured artist.
1994 * The Arts Club of Washington, Washington, D.C.
1993 & 1994 * La Galerie Sherbrooke, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
1993 Museum Le Chafaud, Perce, Québec, Canada
Public Collections
United States Library of Congress
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art
University of Maryland
United States Forest Service
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks o Museum Le Chafaud, Québec, Canada
Acadian Museum of Québec, Canada
Corporate Collections
Airlie Foundation, Warrenton, VA
The Bank of Nova Scotia, Québec, Canada
Molson Breweries, Montreal, Canada
Devoncorp, Montreal/Toronto, Canada
C. Thierron & Company, Brussels, Belgium
Feltner Community Foundation, Winchester, VA
Publications
The American Sporting Print, 20th Century Etchers & Drypointists By John T. Ordeman, Book Published 2007
Artist Residencies and Awards
2009 Acadia National Park, Mt. Desert, ME
2004 Adirondack Park Interpretive Center, Paul Smiths, NY
2004 Cill Rialaig, Ballinskelligs, Ireland
2000 Humblestone Inn for the Arts, Warrenton, VA
1997-2000 Airlie Center, Warrenton, VA
1989 A.W. Sherwood grant of $15,000 to pursue painting and printmaking.
Professional Membership
The National Arts Club, New York, NY
The Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
Allied Artists of America, New York, NY
Clarke County Historical Association Scholarship Committee, Berryville, VA.
Bird Research and Related Projects
1993 Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Expedition Artist, Hudson Bay Research Project
1989 University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Harris’ Hawk Research Project. Collected habitat and behavioral data. Research published.
1988 US Forest Service, Gorham, NH. Forest Service Officer. Public Relations and Interpretive Exhibit Design.
1987 US Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK. Camp Leader, North Slope Bird Habitat Study, Colville River Delta. Led crew of four in remote field camp to collect bird habitat and behavioral data. Data used to mitigate oil and gas development. Research findings published.
1987 Daily Banner, Cambridge, MD. Wrote weekly column about bird watching on Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore.
1985-86 US Bureau of Land Management Dillon, MT. Ferruginous Hawk Research Project.
Working alone, surveyed 450 square miles. Collected habitat and behavioral data on this and other raptor species to mitigate oil and gas development. Research paper delivered at natural resource management symposium.
Received National Volunteer Award from Secretary of the Interior.
Education
B.A. Foreign Language and Literature (Spanish & French) State University of New York, Plattsburgh, New York 1984
Paris, France 1983, State University of New York, Brockport
Seville, Spain 1982, University of Seville / State University of New York, New Paltz
San Jose, Costa Rica 1980, Open Door Student Exchange Program
Private Study in Oil Painting / Design. Clifford Windsor, New York, NY 1984 – 1990
Printmaking (intaglio) State University of New York, Potsdam, NY1991
Oil Painting with Clyde Aspevig. Scottsdale Artist’s School, Scottsdale, AZ 1993