Swift Creek Mill Theatre presents Kathy Rivera

Swift Creek Mill Theatre is pleased to present Kathy Rivera as our Featured Artist during the production of The Andrews Brothers running November 11th, 2017 through December 31st, 2017. All are welcome to enjoy Kathy's work in The Mill Room during dinner/lunch or during intermission of each performance.

Kathy Quesnel Rivera graduated Madison College with a BS in art education in 1971. She taught 1 year and left teaching for the business world. Through the mid-'70s, she restored oil paintings and cleaned antique prints in a little shop in Staunton, VA. In 1979 she purchased a frame shop in Bon Air, VA. In 1985 she bought a gift shop named Accents Unlimited. She incorporated that year and ran the shop for 32 years, moving it 5 times before finally retiring. In 2013 she took watercolor classes at the Virginia Art Museum with Dawn Flentes. In 2014 she studied watercolor with nationally known Susan Stuller in Richmond, VA.

In 2015 she was in a bad car accident and spent 4 months in body braces and 7 months of physical therapy. During that time she continued her study with Sue Stuller but switched to acrylic and began painting dog portraits for her shop clients. In 2016 she walked into Crossroads Art Center one Sunday and found Chuck Larivey doing a painting demonstration. He spent 3 months doing demos every Sunday and Kathy was there for them every week. The oil bug had bitten her. She began talking to Chuck about teaching and eventually convinced him to give it a try. June 2016 began her transition to oil painting and she never looked back. Kathy built a studio in her home where she teaches beginner and intermediate painting. The beginning of 2017 found her retiring and closing her shop to paint with Chuck and become a daily painter.

See more of her work at kathyriverafineart.com.

Swift Creek Mill Theatre has been a Richmond and Tri-Cities institution for 50 years. We've come a long way since three local families took a 353-year-old gristmill and turned it into an intimate space for the production of so many splendid theatrical experiences. Five decades and more than 340 productions later, the Mill is still going strong in its historic location.

The theatre operates year round and accommodates 220 people. We currently produce six mainstage shows and five youth theatre productions each year, including world-premiere musicals and one-of-a-kind children's shows developed and written in-house. The playhouse also hosts a youth summer theatre camp.

For questions regarding the Featured Artist program at Swift Creek Mill Theatre please contact us at (804) 748-5203 or visit the Art Exhibition page of our website at http://www.swiftcreekmill.com/featured-artists .