Rebecca Birtel Madura is a contemporary painter who lives and works in New Orleans. A native New Orleanian, many of her colorful paintings represent our sometimes detached relationship with nature in an urban environment. Working in oils and mixed media, the emotional impact of color and color relationships is as important as the subject matter itself in her paintings.  Recent work especially concerned with the balance between saturated and muted hues, depicted in her abstracted compositions.
Rebecca studied studio art at Newcomb College and the University of Texas at Austin where she earned a B.A. in Fine Art (Studio), a B.A. in Liberal Arts (French), and recently, a Certificate in Non-Profit Management.  After retiring from nearly 30 years of full-time teaching, she completed a Master’s of Liberal Arts at Tulane University.
At the present, she serves on the Executive Board of the Board of Directors for YAYA, Inc. and is also a guest artist and instructor at YAYA. She is the President of the Board of Directors of New Orleans Green Light, where she also creates original artwork on barrels for GLNO’s rain barrel program.
In addition to pursuing her own art and exhibiting locally, and her many years as a visual arts educator, Rebecca had been involved with many community arts projects. She continues to volunteer time and talents to promoting the vibrant spirit and atmosphere of the arts especially with the youth of New Orleans. Her work is included in the collections at Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business; Jung Hotel New Orleans; Ochsner Elmwood Sports Medicine Center; Provenance Hotels, Portland,OR; Global Business Center, New Orleans; and various local and national private collections.