Rie Muñoz (August 17, 1921 – April 6, 2015) was an American artist and

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

educator.

Early life

Muñoz was born Marie Mounier in Van Nuys, California and then moved with her family to the Netherlands as a child. Rie and a sibling were returned to the US by their parents before the outbreak of World War II, where they lived with family friends. The parents intended to follow, but were unable to leave for seven years following the German invasion of the Netherlands. In the US, Muñoz studied art at Washington and Lee University. She visited

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

in 1951 as a visitor, but became enamored of

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

and decided to stay.

Career

Muñoz' work featured watercolors, and she created prints of Alaska life. Muñoz taught school in rural Alaska, and worked as a writer and cartoonist for the Juneau Empire. She worked as a museum curator, in addition to her work as a full-time artist. Her art has been featured in museums outside of Alaska, including the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. She received the University of Alaska's Honorary Doctorate of Humanities Degree in May of 1999

Personal life

In 1957, Muñoz and her husband, Juan, spent a year away from Alaska. Juan and Rie Muñoz lived at the time on Mercer Island, Washington, where Juan was employed as a geologist. The couple had a home near the East Channel Bridge. The couple later returned to Alaska. Juan and Rie Muñoz had two sons, Felipe and Juan, Jr. Felipe died from kidney cancer as a child. Juan and Rie divorced in 1963, and Rie subsequently settled in Juneau, where she spent the rest of her life. Her daughter-in-law is Alaska State Representative Cathy Muñoz who served from 2009-2017. In 2015, Rie Muñoz died in

of a stroke, aged 93.

Legacy

Muñoz's work is featured on Alaska's Heirloom Birth Certificate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Rie 1921 births 2015 deaths American women artists Artists from Alaska Artists from Los Angeles Educators from Alaska American women educators People from Juneau, Alaska People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles Washington and Lee University alumni American expatriates in the Netherlands