"I always knew I would be an artist. Art was the one consistent in my life, growing up as an only child in a military family. We moved a lot - about every two years, but there was always art wherever we landed. By the time I was in high school, my father had put in for an extension so that I could graduate high school in one location, a high school that allowed me to study at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC."
I attended college at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Horrified that I was going to graduate from college with a painting degree, my dad convinced me to get a second degree. So I stayed around and majored in photojournalism. Don't get me wrong; my dad was always proud of my abilities, but he envisioned me working as an engineer or doctor. In the end, I graduated with a degree in Fine Arts (painting) and a degree in Mass Communications (photojournalism).
Upon graduation, I used my photography degree with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Moffitt Cancer Center as a medical photographer. Later, I would dedicate myself full-time to being a photographer, creating large hand-painted black and white pinhole photographs. Over the past several years, my creative practice has afforded me Florida Individual Artist Fellowships in 1998, 2002, and 2008. In 2006, I received an Artist Enhancement Grant from the State of Florida and, in 2005, was commissioned by the City of Tampa to be Photographer Laureate for a year.
Along the way, I have curated, lectured, and exhibited work internationally at various arts institutions and organizations. My photographs are in numerous significant collections throughout the country, including Polaroid, Progressive Corporate Art, Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill NC, Palace of the Governors, New Mexico Historical Museum, Museum of Fine Arts St. Pete, Candela Gallery, Richmond VA and the Tampa Museum of Art.
Selected Collections
Polaroid International, Boston, MA
Progressive Corporate Art, Mayfield Village, OH
Graham Nash, Nash Editions/Crosby, Stills & Nash
The Pinhole Resource, San Lorenzo, NM
PharMerica, Inc., Tampa, FL
Holland and Knight Law Firm, Tampa, FL
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Belleair, FL
City of Orlando, Florida Artists Collection, FL
Coopers & Lybrand, Tampa, FL
Arthur Anderson, Tampa, FL
First Fidelity Investments, Tampa, FL
Hillsborough County Commission, County Building, Tampa, FL
Chamber of Commerce, Tampa, FL
South Trust Bank, Orlando, FL
Thermal Ceramics, Augusta, GA
Orlando County Commission, Orlando, FL
Amsouth Bank, Tampa, FL
TECO Reality, Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Business Committee of the Arts 2004
Palace of the Governors, New Mexico Historical Museum
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg FL
Candela Gallery, Richmond VA
Frank Konhaus, Cassilhaus, Chapel Hill NC
Rick Mears, 4-Time Indianapolis 500 Champion, Jupiter, FL
Grants, Fellowships and Awards
2023
2018
Professional Development Artists Grant, Arts Council Hillsborough County
Professional Development Artists Grant, Arts Council Hillsborough County
Creative Capital Professional Development Program, Winter Park, FL
2014
2009
2008
2006
2005
2002
1999
1998
1995
1990
Creative Capital Professional Development Program, Tampa, FL
Artist Enhancement Grant, Arts Council Hillsborough County
Florida Individual Artist Fellowship
Florida Artist Enhancement Grant
Photographer Laureate, City of Tampa
Florida Individual Artist Fellowship
Featured artist for Polaroid Corporation “Test” On-Line
Florida Individual Artist Fellowship
Emerging Artist Grant, Tampa-Hillsborough Arts Council
Emerging Artist Grant, Tampa-Hillsborough Arts Council
Selected Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Playback Theatre, Arts on Douglas, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2021 Rebecca Sexton Larson, Southeast Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
2021 How to Build a Manmade Cloud, Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin, FL
2019 Idioms: Photographs by Rebecca Sexton Larson, Florida School of the Arts, Palatka, FL
2012 'Pinhole Photography” Harris House-Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2012 Rebecca Sexton Larson, In One Instant Gallery of Photography, Ft. Myers, FL
2007 Rebecca Sexton Larson, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2006 Photographer Laureate Exhibition, Bailey Gallery, University of Tampa, Tampa, FL
2005 Rethinking the Possibilities: Rebecca Sexton Larson, Curator Todd Behrens, the Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
2004 New Work, Clayton Galleries, Tampa, FL
2002 Rebecca Sexton Larson, Clayton Galleries, Tampa, FL
2000 Rebecca Sexton Larson: Women’s History Month, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL
1999 Nostalgic Glances, Museum of Arts and Science, Melbourne, FL
Group Exhibitions
2023 Beyond the Horizon, curator Christine Wytko Marchington, from the Cassilhaus Collection Chapel Hill, NC
2023 Group Show, Arts on Douglas, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2023 Photonola Group Exhibit, Gallery for Photography, San Lorenzo New Mexico
2022 The Curated Fridge, curator Aline Smithson from Lenscratch
2022 Hambidge Fellows Exhibition, The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences, Rabun Gap GA.
2021 30 over 50 | In Context, juror Arnika Dawkins (Arnika Dawkins Gallery), Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2020 Picture in Picture, curator Frank Konhaus, from the Cassilhaus Collection Chapel Hill, NC
2020 Photoville, Fence Installation Sarasota, FL
2020 THE ALTERED IMAGE curated by Dina Mitrani (Dina Mitrani Gallery) Miami, FL
2020 Unbound9 Invitational, juror Gordon Stettinius, Candela Books + Gallery, Richmond VA
2020 Members Juried Exhibition (online) Juror Ann Jastrab, executive director CPA, and Laura Sackett, creative director and co-
founder of LensCulture, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2020 41st Annual Paper in Particular, curators by Scott McMahon, Sidney Larson Gallery, Columbia College, Columbia, MO
2019 International Juried Exhibition, juror Paula Tognarelli, Center Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2019 A Certain Uncertainty from Cassilhaus Collection, curators Lori Vrba and Tama Hochbaum, Horce Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC