Joni Monroe

Joni Monroe’s artistic journey began as a child, influenced by her father who was both a commercial artist and painter. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art from Nazareth College and taught for several years in public schools, the Allofus Art Workshop and Genesee Coop Pottery. Switching gears, she went on to Columbia University honing skills in Historic Preservation and then to Yale University where she earned a Masters Degree in Architecture.  Her architectural training instilled a strong sense of structure and spatial design that infuses balance and form in her painting and drawing. She has had the freedom to explore and develop her painting skills more deeply during the last decade, after retiring from her role as Executive Director of the Rochester Community Design Center.

Joni’s work invites you into the unique beauty of Western New York, Vermont and places that she has traveled around the world. She is a signature artist with the Rochester Art Club and also enjoys membership with the Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters and the Mill Art Center.  She also loves to do figurative work and actively draws with artists in Studio 402 at Anderson Art Center.  

She recently moved into a new studio at the Keelox Facility at 215 Tremont Street and is grateful to be able to paint full time. Her work celebrates both the personalities of her figurative subjects as well as the places where she chooses to work capturing the textures, colors, light and atmosphere found there. She looks forward to the connections and discoveries made through her work as exciting and challenging opportunities for exploration.