Irene Ritter

(1943-2013) lived in Nashville
Dumber than a Box of Rocks, 1998
Indiana limestone and natural rocks, 20 x 13.5 x 3 inches, 2005.54.1

As editor of Nashville Magazine, Ritter decided to make visual art a focus of the publication and worked to bring local artists together. After leaving the magazine and acting as deputy mayor of Nashville, Ritter, at age 55 announced that she wanted to be a stone carver. For the next twenty years, she created stone sculptures that are in numerous collections.

I liked to scribble, liked to draw. I had a visceral need to be around art. – Ritter