Fraulein Rudder, beloved founder of Women In Art Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (WIAOTT ) has died.
The Women In Art Organization of Trinidad and Tobago (WIAOTT) and indeed the Art fraternity, has lost a great leader, Mrs Fraulein Rudder, who died on Saturday 27th January,2024.
Fraulein, as she was fondly known, was the founder of the Women In Art Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago, which she instituted twenty-eight years ago, to support and promote local women artists. She was a trail blazer and an educator who had the foresight to launch the WIAOTT Biennial Art Competition and Exhibition for Fifth and Sixth Form Students within the same year.
Through these two ventures, Fraulein touched the lives of many, especially children both at the Primary and Secondary level, helping both boys and girls to launch their artistic careers. She was a visionary who understood that Art Education was integral to building a holistic and sustainable society. Fraulein was also a dedicated mentor to the members of WIAOTT, organising art workshops, outdoor painting trips, retreats and annual art exhibitions to develop and showcase the skill of our many local women artists.
Fraulein held a number of solo exhibitions in Trinidad as well as Tobago and participated in several group shows including the Commonwealth “Exhibition Through the Eyes The Artist” held in Kensington, London, (1997), Carifesta V Trinidad & Tobago (1992) & CarifestaVII (St. Kitts, Nevis, 2000), all the “Women In Art” Exhibitions (1997-2005) and “Trinidad & Tobago Forty Years of Art Exhibition” both at the Central Bank Auditorium and the National Museum. She received an award from the Diego Martin Community for her contribution to Art and Culture and was included among the women to whom tribute was paid on “International Women’s Day”. Fraulein was also honoured in the field of Visual Arts in “Women In Culture” by the Ministry of Community Development Culture and Gender Affairs, 2005 & 2006.
Her works are displayed at private homes both at home and abroad. Also at Corporate Firms, the Tobago House of Assembly (Culture Division), the Permanent Collection of the National Museum and Art Gallery, The Ministry of Community Development Culture and Gender Affairs.
She also produced and published the book, “Women in Art 2000” comprising 38 women artists of Trinidad and Tobago. She also hosted the Annual Women In Art Exhibition over the years from 1997 to the present.
Speaking on behalf of the WIAOTT team, Michelle Tappin-Davis said “We, the members of WIAOTT shall miss our beloved Fraulein who has devoted so much of her life to the local landscape and to our lives personally. We salute her and extend our deep condolences to her daughters, Michelle, Simone and Charmaine. May we always hold her in our hearts.”
