Fine Artist - Rie Munoz - Haystack Gallery

Rie Muñoz (re moo nyos), a Dutch-American, was born and raised in California. She has lived in Alaska since 1951, when she traveled up the Inside Passage by steamship, fell in love with Juneau, and gave herself until the boat left the next day to find a job and a place to live. Since then Juneau has been home to Munoz.

Of the many jobs she has held-journalist, teacher, museum curator, artist, mother-one of her most memorable was as a teacher on King Island in 1951, where she taught 25 Eskimo children. The island was a 13-hour umiak (a walrus skin boat) voyage from Nome, an experience she remembers vividly.

During her years in Alaska, Munoz has lived in a variety of small Alaskan communities, including prospecting and mining camps.

Her paintings reflect an interest in the day-to-day activities of village life such as fishing, berry picking, children at play, as well as her love of folklore and legends.

Munoz studied art at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, and at the University of Alaska-Juneau. Rie received the University of Alaska's Honorary Doctorate of Humanities Degree in May of 1999. Her reproductions and original prints are carried by galleries throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Norway, Japan, England, and Holland. She has had many solo watercolor exhibits in Alaska, Oregon and Washington State.