Deering Estate presents Donna Ruff: Terra Incognita exhibition

The Deering Estate is proud to present Terra Incognita, a solo exhibition by Miami-based artist Donna Ruff. The opening reception will be on Sunday, June 25th from 12 – 3 p.m. The reception is free with RSVP on Eventbrite. Terra Incognita will be on display daily from June 19 – August 31, 2023. 

Ruff was an artist-in-resident at Deering Estate from 2019-2021, where she spent her residency researching the relationship between Charles Deering and botanist John Kunkel Small who explored the wildes of South Florida in the 1920s. This exhibition will include a series of large silkscreens based on Small’s own photographs of specimens taken on and around the Deering Estate grounds. These large silkscreens are made on handmade Bhutanese bark paper, known for being sustainable and raw siena-like coloring. The exhibition will also feature smaller, more intimate prints on board made from the same paper. 

Ruff also visited the New York Botancial Garden where she conducted further research into Small’s time in Florida, including his expeditions with artist Mary Eaton who produced 28 watercolors of rare flowering plants during her time with Small and his family. These illustrations are included in a series of handmade books created by Ruff for the exhibition. The books celebrate the artistry of early botanical drawings  as both a documentary tool and an artform. 

The title of the exhibition, Terra Incognita comes from the cartographic term to refer to unexplored lands. In organizing his early observations of the South Florida landscape, Small once referred to Florida as terra incognita. Small’s book From Eden to Sahara: Florida's Tragedy (1929), helped stimulate conservation efforts in South Florida to protect endangered lands that eventually brought about the creation of Everglades National Park in 1947.  Ruff’s recontextualization of Small’s vision are meant to demonstate that the wildness of the South Florida landscape can still be found in small pockets of the city. The works remind us of the fragility and rarity of these once abundant tropical environments that both Small and Deering were so keen to protect and preserve. 

Terra Incognita is funded in part by The Ellies, Miami’s visual arts awards, presented by Oolite Arts.

Donna Ruff is an American visual artist, curator and educator currently living and working in Miami, Florida. She works in mixed media on found printed matter, primarily newspaper headline pages and historical documents. Ruff questions how written and photographic narratives are constructed by removing and transforming printed text and image to recontextualize the portrayal of world events. Ruff earned an MA in Art History from Florida State University and worked as a graphic designer and book illustrator in Miami and later in New York City. She earned an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts. During her graduate studies Ruff was introduced to printmaking and papermaking at the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper and began incorporating these techniques into her art discipline. Ruff's work has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), The Print Center (Philadelphia, PA); New Mexico Museum of Art (Santa Fe, NM), Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum (Miami, FL), Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (Mesa, AZ), Center for Book Arts (NYC), Mass MOCA, Sol Lewitt Exchange (North Adams, MA), John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI), A.I.R. Gallery, New York, (NYC) and ArtSPACE New Haven (New Haven, CT). Ruff has worked as an artist in residence at PS 122 (NYC), Tamarind Institute (Albuquerque, NM), Künstlerhaus Bethanien, (Berlin, Germany), Deering Estate (Miami, FL) and Santa Fe Art Institute (Santa Fe, NM).

For more information please visit the Deering Estate website. 

About the Deering Estate
Deering Estate, located at 16701 SW 72 Avenue in Miami, is a 21st Century house museum, cultural and ecological field station, and a national landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, owned by the State of Florida and managed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. Deering Estate is designated as one of seven Miami-Dade County “Heritage Parks” which have a vital role in our community’s history, environment and in providing recreational and cultural experiences.

Cultural Arts Programming at the Deering Estate is made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc.

About the Deering Estate Foundation
For those who treasure the Deering Estate, who advocate for its preservation and wish to invest in its future, the Deering Estate Foundation provides opportunities for individuals and corporations alike to partake in membership, signature events, and one-of-a-kind experiences, all in service of providing vital funding and support to the Deering Estate. Through these efforts, the foundation fulfills its mission to uphold the legacy of Charles Deering's cherished 1920s-era property, to provide funding for the cultural, educational and recreational experiences it offers, as well as its significant scientific and archaeological endeavors to conserve its diverse flora, fauna and the eight native ecosystems that thrive on its 450 acres, and to ensure its longevity as a prized American heritage site. Established in 1989, The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. is a community-based charitable 501(c) 3 Florida Corporation and the philanthropic partner of the Deering Estate.