Contact Maureen McCabe
Education: B.F.A., Rhode Island School of Design; M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art
"My favorite activity is sleeping. In my dreams I combine different cultures, see things that I wouldn't conjure while awake. My dream life is on a grander scale than my real life." - Maureen McCabe
"McCabe assigns, realigns, and layers meanings to create works that are expressive of her unique ideals and vision." - Michael Monroe, Renwick Gallery/ Smithsonian Institution.
Joanne Toor Cummings '50 Professor of Art
Joined Connecticut College: 1971
Specialization:
- Foundations
- Collage and mixed media
- Drawing, Advanced Drawing
- Methods
"Maureen McCabe is a well-known collagist whose work often incorporates antique materials, talismen, magic relics, personal keepsakes, real gold and silver, and much else. Her works are highly researched, complex, and original amalgams of so many elements that one literally needs an explanatory chart to understand them fully. However, even without detailed explanation, her works are about mystery and magic. The dual focus of McCabe's upbringing, combining strict Irish Roman Catholic beliefs with superstition, has contributed to the intensely personal and evocative character of her art." - Nancy Hall Duncan.
In reference to McCabe's work The Connecticut Biennial (1989) reads "A collagist is one who, by definition, forms connections. This Maureen McCabe does in an unprecedented way." McCabe in turn brings her talent to her course "Drawing: Methods," a course that includes dream imagery, and her foundation art courses on drawing, design, and color.
Named the Joanne Toor Cummings '50 Professor of Studio Art in 2001, McCabe received the1997-1998 John S. King Faculty Teaching Award in recognition of teaching excellence at Connecticut College.
McCabe developed her work during her residency at Yaddo, her first artistic honor. In the following years she received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant through the Renwick Gallery/Smithsonian Institution; was sponsored by Darthea Speyer of the Darthea Speyer Gallery in Paris for a residency at the Cité des Arts, Paris; and received a Mellon Grant to do research for a then new course taught at Connecticut College entitled "Women in Modern Art." In 1988 the Rockefeller Foundation sponsored McCabe as an Artist-in-Residence at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center at the Villa Serbelloni.
McCabe has had exhibitions in numerous museums and galleries including solo exhibitions at the Kouros Gallery, NYC (2001, 2003); Alva Gallery, Connecticut (2000, 2003); the Network Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Pontiac, MI (1999); the Cooley Gallery in Connecticut (1995); Barry Friedman, Ltd (1985) and the Allan Stone Gallery (1972, 1975, 1977) in New York City; and Gallery K in Washington, D.C. (1972, 1975, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1995). Her group exhibitions include Art Athina 2003, Greece; Vose Galleries, Boston (2003), 9th Int'l Exhibition of Contemporary Collage, Paris (2002); Allan Stone Gallery 40th Annivesary, New York (2000); Art Chicago, (1999); the Babcock Galleries in New York City (1994); the traveling exhibition New England Now (1988-1989); Imágenes en Cajas (1985), Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; the Renwick Gallery/Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. (1974, 1978, 1979); and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
McCabe is included in the Dictionary of International Biography, the World Who's Who of Women, and Who's Who in American Art.
Download a PDF version of Maureen McCabe's 2006 Curriculum Vitae.