René Shoemaker is a master silk painter, born in New York City, who maintains studios in Athens, GA, USA and Aubusson, France. Spanning four decades and embracing a variety of mediums, her artwork highlights a sense of place while capturing the ways spaces work together and how people inhabit and interact with those spaces.

René received a B.F.A. from the University of Georgia (UGA), building a career of painting with dyes to create flowing, colorful work on radiant silk glowing with light. After retiring from her profession as a university librarian at UGA, René continued refining her art, and sharing her techniques while discovering new ways to express the world we collectively share.

Exhibiting in solo and group shows internationally, Shoemaker delights in exploring our reality through color and line. René has exhibited in museums in Georgia, Mississippi, and Paris and in galleries and public spaces in Georgia, New York, the UK, and France. Her solo exhibitions include museums in Georgia and Mississippi, where her work is held in permanent collections. In 2020, Shoemaker was awarded the Fiber Forward Focus Fellowship from AIR Serenbe in Georgia, USA.