Geo Rutherford is an American artist, educator, and TikToker based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[1] She considers herself to be a hobbyist limnologist.[2]

Early life and education

Rutherford was raised in Boulder, Colorado and Dexter, Michigan.[1][3] Her mother had a PhD in geology (which was the inspiration for Rutherford's first name) and taught at Eastern Michigan University.[2][3]

Rutherford first took a printmaking class in middle school,[4] but didn't become passionate about art until high school.[3]

After earning a bachelor's degree in art education at Eastern Michigan University,[5] Rutherford worked as a high school art teacher in Chelsea, Michigan for five years.[1][5][6] Although she enjoyed the job, she returned to graduate school in 2019 in hopes of finding a teaching job that paid better.[6] She attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts.[1][3] Her graduate thesis show, which she exhibited in May 2021, focused on the Great Lakes.[7][5]

In 2021, she worked as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.[5]

Art

Rutherford is a printmaker and book artist.[4][8]

Many of Rutherford's pieces are related to the environment and climate change.[4][8] One of her inspirations is beach trash, which she collects for some of her prints and found object works.[3][4][5][8] She particularly likes using glass tubes, which she fills with found objects.[6][5]

In 2021 she had a solo exhibition, entitledGeo Rutherford: On the Threshold of the Great Lakes at Rahr West Art Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.[8] The following year, she was included in the exhibition Approaching Water at Constellation Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska.[9]

Online presence

Rutherford began posting on TikTok after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] She began posting about her art and about the Great Lakes, which would become a frequent subject.[1][2] Her first video on the Great Lakes, and second video ever, was posted in August 2020 and received 4 million views.[1][7] More largely, Rutherford's TikToks tend to focus on hydrology.[1]

As of October 2023, Rutherford had 1.6 million followers on TikTok.[2]

Rutherford has an annual series, Spooky Lake Month, which takes place in October.[3] During the month, Rutherford posts a new video on a "haunted hydrology" story each day.[7][2] Rutherford has said she tries to avoid topics like true crime, conspiracies, or the supernatural in her content, and to instead focus on centering the environment and the power of nature.[2][5]

Book

In 2022, Rutherford signed a book deal for Spooky Lakes, a middle-school non-fiction book which she wrote and illustrated herself.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Blakely, Natasha (2022-04-01). "Meet the person making Great Lakes ice popular on TikTok". Great Lakes Now. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mather, Katie (2023-10-16). "TikToker hosts 31 days of 'haunted hydrology' with super-popular 'spooky lakes' series: 'We all have a fear of the unknown'". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Duckett, Rachel (2022-06-03). "Spooky lakes and beach trash: How a former Michigan teacher and artist won 1.3 million TikTok followers". Spartan Newsroom. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Wisconsin Life | Great Lakes TikToker | Season 10 | Episode 1". PBS. October 2, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kirby, Hannah. "'Um yes, hello!' Wisconsin artist and educator has more than 1.1 million TikTok followers for videos on lakes and her art inspired by them". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  6. 1 2 3 "Artist & Educator Geo Rutherford Finds Inspiration At Milwaukee's Bradford Beach". WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR. 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  7. 1 2 3 Wise, Abigail (2022-10-24). "The Spookiest Lakes in the World". Outside Online. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Art Forward: Geo Rutherford – On The Threshold of The Great Lakes". Seehafer News. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  9. ↑ "New exhibition, 'Approaching Water,' opens March 8". news.unl.edu. 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
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