Sharonna Ray

Background

About Sharonna Ray

Sharonna "Ronnie" Ray, owner of Ronnie's World of Art, is a Visual Artist based in Savannah, Georgia. She earned her BFA in Visual Art from Savannah State University in Fall 2018. During her final semester at SSU, Sharonna's older brother and only sibling became terninally ill with ALS (Amyotrophic Laterl Sclerosis).In July 2020, her brother passed after a brave battle of ALS. This was the pivotal movement where Sharonna began creating paintings of the desserts that she craved during her grief journey. She creates dessert-inspired abstract paintings on canvas. She presented her first solo exhibition in November 2021 at Cedar House Gallery showcasing her Cotton Candy, Chocolate, Blueberry and Strawberry Series of paintings. To name a few, her artwork has been also showcased locally at the Beach Institute, Cedar House Gallery, Cleo the Gallery, Kennedy Fine Arts Gallery of Savannah State, the Savannah Cultural Arts Center, the Savannah Gallery of Art, Sulfur Studios and Telfair Museums. She was exclusively featured as the June/July 2021 Artist of the The 912 published by the Savannah Now. Sharonna has also been recognized in the Savannah Now for her contributions during her time as a K-5 Elementary Art Educator in the Savannah Chatham County Public School Systems. Her artwork has been showcased nationally in Miami and New York. Her artwork has been published internationally in Conde Nast's World of Interiors. Sharonna has served as the Second Vice Chair of Telfair Museums' Friends of African American Arts During her time as the Second Vice Chair, one of her most notable projects with was planning and co-curating the Vessels exhibition held at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center in September through October 2022. Prior to earning her BFA in Visual Art from SSU, she also studied Fashion Design at Brenau University. To achieve her long-time aspiration for merging her love for fine art and fashion, in January 2023, Sharonna began the journey of finishing her degree in Apparel Design at Georgia Southern University, When Sharonna isn't wearing her hat as an Apparel Design student, She instructs art classes at the Telfair Museums' Jepson Center. During October 2022 tthrough January 2023, Sharonna instructed the Telfair's fourth grade outreach program. For the duration of this program, over 2,700 fourth graders came to the museum, did a tour and created artwork based on the exhibitions. After the conclusion of the program, Sharonna continues spreading her love of art education by instructing youth classes at the Telfair.