News - SUSAN MAAKESTAD

In May I traveled to Atlanta for the opening of my show at Spalding Nix Fine Art, May 13 to July 7, 2023. There are four gallery spaces within this gallery building. My show, "Splendid Day," was featured in the square gallery. Three other painters filled the remaining galleries. It was a beautiful show, collectively called "Layer-by-Layer". To view all the work as well as artist information and installation shots, scroll down in this link.

I'm showing twenty-one watercolors at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens through July 9, 2023 in the Mallory/Wurtzburger Galleries. The reception is April 27th 6:00-8:00 pm. On Wednesday, June 14th at noon, I will be giving a talk about the work in the auditorium. Admission to the gallery and gardens is free.
www.dixon.org/susan-maakestad-the-expansive-moment

Follow me on Instagram to see installation shots of the show.

Check out this interview with MemphisVoyager, part of the LA-based Voyage group of magazines.Their mission is to "promote mom and pops, artists, creatives and small businesses by promoting a platform for these hidden gems to tell their stories in their own words".
https://memphisvoyager.com/interview/life-work-with-susan-maakestad-of-east-memphis/

I'm scheduled to teach a workshop at Peninsula School of Art in Door County, Wisconsin, this fall, 2022. Join me if you can!.
https://www.peninsulaschoolofart.org/workshops/p/2d2247

The UrbanArt Commission produced a three-minute video about the massive Memphis International Airport public art project. Included is a short interview with me, talking about my pieces at minute 1:22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyIwP_Gej4k

Memphis International Airport Concourse B officially opened February 16, 2022 after many Covid-19 related delays, My commission of three windows is titled "Overlook". They originated as oil on canvas paintings, which were digitally altered then printed in ceramic ink on glass. Here is as link to a photo-filled article in The Points Guy about the newly designed concourse which also features three photos of my work. thepointsguy.com/news/memphis-airport-new-terminal/
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In 2020 I was awarded my first public art commission from the UrbanArt Commission and Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. This is a sketch of my project for windows in the newly remodeled Concourse B.. The images will be printed on glass. The center window will be about 25 feet wide. Installation date June 15, 2021, estimated.

L Ross Gallery group show opening June 28, 2019. I'm showing four recent paintings through July 29. Info:
https://lrossgallery.com/exhibitions/hello-my-name-isartist/

Artist talk at the University of Memphis. I'll be talking about my work on January 31, 2019, 6:00, Room 310 in the Art and Communications Building.

New 18-page catalog available! I received a grant to produce this catalog during the summer of 2016. It includes an essay about my work by Fredric Koeppel. Contact me for a copy.

LOCATE Arts a website dedicated to connecting and promoting contemporary art in Tennessee. I am happy to be part of it their curated artist registry! Check out their website. Here is a link to my page:
locatearts.org/artists/susan-maakestad

Fredric Koeppel wrote a beautiful review of my Circuitous Succession Gallery show April 4, 2016, for the Memphis paper, The Commercial Appeal.
Read pdf

Friday March 25, 2016, 6-9 p.m. is the opening of my first solo show in Memphis in six years. On view through May 6 at Circuitous Succession Gallery, 500 South 2nd St. 901-229-1041
http://www.circuitoussuccession.com

I'm honored to be among the first group of artists invited to participate in an art CSA in Memphis: Community Supported Art project. ArtsMemphis is selling thirty shares of art by five local artists. Normally I only make one-of-a-kind works. In order to create an edition I used a process I've never tried before!
Thirty shares went on sale beginning February 15, 2016. The pick-up party is in May.
http://www.artsmemphis.org/support/community-supported-art-csa/what-is-a-csa/

I'm participating in the Brooks Museum of Art's Artist Market this year for the first time. I'll be selling matted original watercolors like the ones on my website. Member's preview is Saturday December 5 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. The market is open to the public Sunday December 6 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

I'll have painting and watercolors at Jason Miller's gallery, Circuitous Succession, for his holiday show, "Disco". Four events take place every Friday night until Christmas from 6-9 p.m. CSG is located at 500 S. 2nd St. in downtown Memphis.
http://www.circuitoussuccession.com

ART BASH on Flicker Street! David Lusk Gallery and Flicker Street Studio Sunday November 29 1:00 to 5:00, 74 Flicker Street in Memphis. There will be music and snacks. I'll be in this group show of instructors of FSS which you can view at the Art Bash. The official opening reception for the show is Friday December 4 from 6-8 p.m., which is also the rain date for the Art Bash. Gallery hours are 10-2.

Opening Thursday August 27 at the ArtsMemphis offices, 545 S. Mendenhall, and running through October 16, 2015. PUBLIC/ART/ists II is an exhibition of studio work by 14 artists who have made contributions to the public landscape in Memphis. My work was included in Part I of this three part series In February.

I'm showing sixteen watercolors at Sinclair Community College's Works On Paper Gallery in Dayton, OH. The exhibition runs from June 22-August 5, 2015.

Watch for my Etsy Shop opening in June 2015! I will offer watercolors for sale.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SusanMaakestadArt

I'm happy to be included in this show of studio art by public artists at Crosstown Arts, February 6-28, 2015, at 422 N. Cleveland, Memphis, TN. Opening night: Friday, February 6, 6-9 pm.
Community Gallery Talk with the UrbanArt Commission and Memphis Art Project (MAP): February 7, 2 pm

Crosstown Arts, the UrbanArt Commission and ArtsMemphis are partnering to present a multi-venue exhibition and programming series throughout 2015 to acknowledge public art makers in Memphis.
The series will collectively recognize and share the work of artists who have participated in Memphis’ public art projects and initiatives, including the studio work (non-public art projects) of these artists, as well as insight into their processes and involvement in creating public art projects from conception to completion. The exhibition and ongoing events of Public/Art/ists not only act as a connection point to these artists, but also reveal the multiple facets of these artists’ practices in the community. http://crosstownarts.org/publicartists

October 2014, my picture is on a billboard along with three other ArtsAccelerator grant recipients. It is located at the corner of Southern and Cooper in Memphis. The billboard is part of ArtsMemphis's Fill in the Blank Memphis project highlighting art in the city. The project turned vacant billboards into works of art and reminded viewers that artists and arts organizations add value and vibrancy to Memphis.

I have a painting in this show in L.A.: Your Attica On The Pacific will open August 28th at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles, 440 South Broadway, Los Angeles, California, 90013. This inaugural exhibition of TSALA features the work of 18 artists including members Liv Aanrud, Brian Campbell, Vanessa Chow, Stephanie Dotson, Erin Harmon, Jonathan Ryan, Warren Schultheis and Christopher Ulivo. Invited artists include Carl Baratta, Beth Edwards, Dane Goodman, Scott Hassell, Tiffany Livingston, Susan Maakestad, Craig Olson, Esther Ruiz, Tracy Thomason and Andy Webber.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, August 28 from 6-9pm.
http://losangeles.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/tagged////

Memphis curator Lauren Kennedy hung a dozen of my paintings at Visible Community Music School in Crosstown Memphis at 430 N. Cleveland. The selection of paintings spans five years. There will be a small reception, date TBA.
http://visible.edu/vcms

As a finalist in the 2013 ArtsAccelerator grant process I will be exhibiting a painting in the inaugural ArtsAccelerator Invitational Exhibition presented by Metropolitan Bank. There will be shows in two venues. My work will be exhibited in Memphis Pulse at the Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art October 15 - November 7 . Memphis College of Art Hyde Gallery at the Nesin Graduate School will host the other exhibition. A reception will be held in celebration of all finalists' work on Friday October 31 (Trolley Night) at the Memphis College of Art Hyde Gallery.
http://www.artsmemphis.org/grants-services/for-grantseekers/artsaccelerator/

I was invited to be on the selection committee for the Memphis in May 2015 International Festival Fine Art Poster artist. Each year Memphis in May commissions a prominent local artist to create a work in celebration of its country of honor. The country was announced on August 12th, but I believe the artist is still a secret.
http://www.memphisinmay.org

As a past fellow at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences, I was invited to participate in this show, July 26 to September 13, 2014, Mailbox: a correspondence exhibition celebrating 80 years of Hambidge in Rabun Gap, GA. The exhibition features 101 mail art works by artists from eighteen states. It was curated by Didi Dunphy.
http://www.hambidge.org
http://www.hambidge.org/the-gallery.html

I am creating a piece for Night of the Living Word, a Southern Word event at the The Rymer Gallery, Nashville on June 5, 2014. "The Rymer Gallery and Southern Word are pairing top young poets with some of Nashville’s leading visual artists to produce new work, to support Southern Word's non-profit mission, and to further demonstrate the growing vitality of Nashville's arts scene." To view an article from Nashville Arts magazine go here: http://issuu.com/nashvilleartsmagazine/docs/web-july2014/52

For the time ever I'm teaching a workshop at Flicker Street Studio, Nancy Cheairs' school in Memphis. The workshop, Still Life as Landscape meets Saturday June 21st 9:00 to 3:00.
About the school: http://flickerstreetstudio.com
About the workshop click here

In November 2013 I was awarded a $3000 ArtsAccelerator Grant from ArtsMemphis for studio rent so that I could work on larger scale paintings.
http://www.artsmemphis.org/gallery/artsaccelerator-2013-grant-projects-and-artist/

I was included in Present Company Excluded at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, FL, a photographic exhibition curated from disposable cameras sent to artists worldwide. The show runs from February 7 to March 24, 2014.
http://news.sfcollege.edu/2014/01/23/new-photography-exhibition-opens-at-santa-fe-gallery-feb-7-2014/
To view a five minute video about the show go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhuUsNyjvhw#t=258

I am judging the 2014 Arts Alive Juried Fine Arts & Craft Festival and Exhibition, Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, Florence, AL. Show and festival take place in mid May.
http://www.artsalivealabama.com

In 2013 I began working with the brilliant art consultant, Anna Wunderlich, from Memphis, TN.
http://annawunderlich.com/