Artist. Writer. Creator of comics. Snuggler of cats.

Althea Levin Rieff Keaton (A. L. R. Keaton) was born in 1984 and raised in the woods of downstate New York. They are a genderqueer/nonbinary trans (they/them/theirs) writer and artist working in a variety of media, including printmaking, drawing, comics, digital art, and animation. They currently work as a freelance arts educator at Workshop13 and ArtSpace and as a graphic designer and media marketer for Workshop13.

Contact me to commission works (fine art, illustration, book covers, and more): alrkeaton@gmail.com

Education

2016-2019: MFA in Studio Arts, University of Massachusetts Amherst

2004-2007: BFA in Visual Art, Purchase College State University of New York, School of Art and Design

Publications

2020: Compilation, Chaos Theory Zine

2020: Compilation, Heroes Need Masks

2017 – Present: Solo, Existence Stories

2015 – Present: Solo, From the Heart

2014: Compilation, The Wanderer Project Book

2006 – 2007: Compilations, Poor Choice (annual)

2003 – 2009: Compilations, Yuri Monogatari (annual) 

Select Exhibition/Convention History

2023: Group, 2nd Annual Show Your Pride, ArtWorks Gallery. Juror: Yo Ahn Han.

2023: Group, Altered Reality, ArtWorks Gallery. Juror: Vernita Nemec.

2023: Group, 2nd Annual Celebrating the Figure, ArtWorks Gallery. Juror: Susan Montgomery.

  Award: Best Mixed Media

2023: Group, Red, ArtWorks Gallery. Juror: Nayana LaFond.

  Award: Honorable Mention

2023: Group, The Fine Art & Craft of Fiber, ArtWorks Gallery. Jurors: Amy Genser and Katherine McClelland. 

2022: Group, 2nd Annual LAVA Film Festival: In Reel Life, LAVA Center

  Award: Best Animation

2022: Group, Black & White, ArtWorks Gallery. Jurors: Kara Bigda and Susan Tilton Pecora. 

2022: Group, Show Your Pride, ArtWorks Gallery. Jurors: Vick Quezada and Cynthia Consentino.

  Award: Best Interpretation and Clarity of Theme

2022: Group, Celebrating the Figure, ArtWorks Gallery. Jurors: Roc Goudreau and Gary Lippincott.

2020: Group, Found Family, Queerly Collective (digital)

2020: Group, Post Pause, Easthampton City Arts (digital)

2020: Group, The Future Show, Student Union Web Gallery (digital)

2020: Convention, FalCon, W.E.B. Du Bois Library (digital) 

2019: Convention, Comics Fest, Flywheel Arts Collective

2019: Solo, Existence Stories, Nacul Center

2019: Convention, FalCon, W.E.B. Du Bois Library

2019: Group, LGBTQ+ Art Show, Student Union Art Gallery

2018: Group, Altar/Alter, Herter Art Gallery

2018: Convention, Comics Fest, Flywheel Arts Collective

2018: Group, We Grow Accustomed to the Dark, Herter Art Gallery (curator, Omid Shekari)

2018: Group, Ghosted, Herter Art Gallery (curator, Leah Triplett Harrington)

2018: Convention, Pioneer Valley Zine Fest, Flywheel Arts Collective

2017: Group, Covalence, Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry

2017: Convention, Pioneer Valley Zine Fest, Flywheel Arts Collective

2017: Group, Zines as Creative Resistance, The Graduate Center Library

2016: Group, Collaborative Aggregates and UMass Art Department Student Scholarship Exhibition, Lee Edwards Gallery

2009: Convention, Yuri Monogatari 6 launch

2008: Group, Pink and Bent, Leslie/Lohman Gallery

2007: Group, H-Street Art Show, SUNY Purchase

Teaching experience

2021-Present: ArtSpace, Independent Contractor/Arts Instructor

2020-Present: Workshop 13, Independent Contractor/Arts Instructor

2020: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Adjunct Professor

2016-2019: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Graduate Assistant

Public Art Projects

2022-2023: Design Team, Action: A History of Florence, Depot Ave Florence MA

2021: Lead, Butterflies Over Belchertown, Main St Belchertown MA

2021-2022: Participant, Dog Park Mural, Ware Dog Park Ware MA

2021: Lead, Love Is Love Is, Main St Northampton MA 

2020: Participant, Ware It's At, Main St Ware MA

2019: Participant, Seasons of Growth, Northampton Bike Trail Northampton MA