Koehler situates herself as artist in the debate of what constitutes an intelligible life – one that is speakable, has meaning, and is valued.

Rita Koehler (b. 1966 Kansas City, MO)

Rita Koehler, an American photographer and lens-based artist, grew up by the Little Blue River in Kansas City, Missouri in the late 60’s, early 70’s. It was a time when societal freedoms were expanding, artistic expression was bringing in a new era, women’s liberation and civil rights marches were on the rise, and the reforms of Vatican II within the institutional Catholic Church were bringing to the modern laity a promise of renewal and inclusivity. These and other modern-day environments of the latter half of the twentieth-century set the backdrop for Koehler’s early career pursuits and influence her current studio practice examining how political, economic, and religious structures are used to control others in defense of misogyny, racism, and bigotry. Koehler situates herself as artist in the debate of what constitutes an intelligible life – one that is speakable, has meaning, and is valued. The philosophy of her work is based on the premise that existence is relational and that to exist means to exist in communion.

Koehler received her BA in Psychology and Theology from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN. She received her MFA in Visual Studies from Lesley University College of Art and Design, Cambridge; and completed a Certificate Program in Curatorial Studies through the University of Chicago. Past residencies include New Edition and The Center Program at Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago; The Wild Residency – Artist in Residence – Venice, Italy; National Performance Network Residency through 516 Arts in Albuquerque; and Flash Powder Projects in Highlands, NC. Her works have been exhibited and published throughout the United States. Since 2022, her most recent and growing body of work, Glitch Mommy, has traveled the U.S. appearing in Chicago, New York, Boston, Springfield, OH, and Kansas City, MO. It will return to Koehler’s alma mater, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN in the spring of 2024. The body of work Rite of Ordinary: Interior Indiana is in the permanent collection of the Kinsey Institute. Her poetry, as part of a collaborative limited-edition book, is included in the RISD Library Special collections. In 2019, Koehler curated Women, Home, and the Revolution of Memory, an exhibition of over seventy works by twenty woman artists, as part of International Women’s Month.

Koehler recently has been awarded the 2025 Frances Niederer Artist-in-Residence at Hollins University, Roanoke, VA.

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