Beth Ames Swartz (born February 5, 1936) is an American visual artist. While primarily an abstract artist, her paintings often incorporate words and symbols representing philosophical concepts shared by people of different cultural world views. Her daughter, Julianne Swartz, is a well-known, New York based artist. Personal life Beth Ames was born in New York City, the daughter of Dr. Maurice U. and Dorothy Andres Ames. Her father taught high school science and subsequently became Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the New York City school system. She grew up in Manhattan as the youngest of three children. Her brother, Bruce Ames, is a professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). Beth Ames attended The High School of Music & Art in New York City, and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, graduating in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree. She obtained her Master of Arts degree in 1959 from New York University. In 1959, Beth Ames Swartz moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband Melvin Jay Swartz whom she divorced in 1984. In 1991 Swartz began living part-time in New York City where she met her second husband, art dealer John D. Rothschild. In 1995, Swartz returned to Paradise Valley, Arizona where she currently resides with John. Art career The process of painting is integral to Swartz's art making process and to the creation of her multiple series of works. Her expressionist paintings are rich with texture built with layers of thin acrylic washes, impasto text, and collaged paper. Her art practice has been guided by various aesthetic inspirations, such as the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Wassily Kandinsky's Concerning the Spiritual in Art, John Marin's seascapes, and Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty. Moreover, the Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and Carol Christ's Diving Deep and Surfacing: Women Writers on Spiritual Quests influenced Swartz's incorporation of feminist discourse to explore the historical context of female empowerment, such as in her Israel Revisited series. According to Swartz, she uses words and visual elements from various religious and philosophical systems (Native American Healing practices, Buddhism, Jewish Mysticism, Christianity) “in order to facilitate communication with viewers on both the conscious and unconscious level." Swartz synthesizes these spiritual traditions and beliefs with the purpose of revealing the commonality between them.” Additionally, the theme of pilgrimage is a prominent