Michele Rushworth

Michele Rushworth is an American artist noted for her oil-based portrait paintings. She has painted the official portraits of leading figures in government, law, education, medicine and the arts, including nine state gubernatorial portraits as well as private portraits for families. In 2010 she was commissioned to paint the official portrait of Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen and was awarded the commission to paint the official portrait of Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr.. She has also been commissioned to paint the official portraits of United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and a portrait of the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General Norton Schwartz which was unveiled at the Pentagon in early 2013.

Michele Rushworth has been a professional artist working in watercolor, pastel and oils for over 25 years, painting portraits, landscapes and still lifes. She began concentrating on painting official and family portrait commissions in oils in 2001.

In September 2002 the CBS news morning show The Early Show hosted a segment with Michele Rushworth and Suzanne Oelschlager, widow of New York City firefighter Douglas Oelschlager who died in the attacks of September 11, 2001. During the interview Suzanne Oelschlager told host Jane Clayson that the portrait that Rushworth donated to her family “is something that my entire family is going to cherish forever.”

In 2006, the Seattle Times wrote a feature article about Rushworth and quoted Washington State Capitol Museum Director Derek Valley saying that her portrait of Washington State Governor Gary Locke "captures Governor Locke at his best".

The Las Vegas Weekly in 2006 quoted Teresa Moiola, Director of Marketing and Public Information for the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs, as saying that Michelle Rushworth “is an exemplary painter, perhaps one of the stellar artists of our country” in a reference to the official portraits Rushworth painted of Nevada Governors Kenny Guinn and Jim Gibbons.

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