Meet Salonika Rhyne
We wanted to learn a little more about our Golden Blocks Muralist, local artist and Red Door Gallery owner, Salonika Rhyne. Here is what we discovered.
Salonika is a painter, muralist, accessory designer and seamstress. As a painter, she does not limit herself to working with only canvas. Many of her beautifully designed handbags feature some of her original artworks. In her words: “Any surface that accepts paint is my canvas.”
Born in Alliance, Ohio but was raised in Augusta, GA, Salonika embodies all that it is to be a working-woman-of-color artist in Augusta. Her works often highlight the strength and beauty of women of color in saturated and bold hues while utilizing abstraction with low-country tropical themes.
While running her own gallery, Salonika still makes time for her commissions and artworks. Outside of her own space at Red Door Gallery (located at 859 Broad St. Augusta, GA), her works can be seen in private collections and businesses across the Augusta River Region. You can find her murals in spaces such as The Burke County Recreation Center or Springfield’s Multipurpose Complex in Thomson, GA.
We at the council are most excited for her Golden Blocks Project Mural. The Golden Blocks Project is a project that will feature the art of several local artists who are coming together to create art that pays homage to the thriving black businesses in Augusta from the 20th century. Highlighting the rich history the Augusta community has to offer.
True to her style and with a forecast of completion for late Summer 2022, Salonika will be creating a mural on James Brown Blvd that will depict legendary black women educators, such as Ursula Collins, Justine Washington, and Rosa T. Beard. All of these women were prominent figures in the Civil Rights Era and have made significant contributions to the city of Augusta as well as our country as a whole.
For Salonika Rhyne art is how she speaks to the world. It’s how she breathes. Whether she is working on an independent painting or a commission, she is happy to pour her passion and her voice onto a canvas. We are very proud to exhibit her many talents in the Golden Blocks Project in one of the many murals and are looking forward to seeing her final product.
For more information on Salonika’s work, please visit her Instagram or website. If you are interested in learning more about the Golden Blocks please visit the Laney Walker Museum page here. For tours please visit this website.