Mary Mihelic received her Masters of Fine Arts degree from Parsons the New School for Design in 2006. She recently completed an artist residency at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Studios at Mass MoCA/Assets for Artists program). Her artworks have been shown in New York City and around the nation. Prior to getting her M.F.A., Mary studied art extensively at the Museum School in Boston and at the SMFA’s programs in Venice, Italy. (She also attended Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls high school in the Chicago area. That history plays a part in her Running Girl Series. In addition, growing up, her family was friends with members of the IBO tribe in Nigeria).
An excerpt from her artist statement reads, “In a time when people are leaving churches in record numbers and the historic relationship between religion and the art world has washed away, I make art about those things that bring us to our knees and humble us: the power of the ocean, the meltdown of a nuclear power plant, the courage of 53 school girls running for their lives... the moments that transcend religion.” She is fascinated by the way the imagination makes God a reality in the form of faith.
As an artist, she examines what makes us believe anything we don’t see for ourselves. ISIL beheads an American on camera and we first wonder if it is real. We see images showing the horror of chemical weapons in Syria and question their legitimacy. She comments on how the real heroes are the protestors. They have the most faith. They are the first to believe.
Mary has exhibited at Sculpture Key West; her kneeler installation at One Brooklyn Bridge Park’s spctlclr vws show was mentioned in the New York Times; and her street art includes enormous pink earmuffs placed on NYC air conditioners still sticking out windows on the coldest day of the year (shown above).
Mary Mihelic is also presently part of the t.Rutt artist team making art about Donald Trump. One of the artworks involved buying a former Trump campaign bus when it went up for sale on Craigslist and transforming it into a contemporary traveling anti-Trump artwork. The art has been featured on The BBC London, The Rachel Maddow Show, Vice, Fuji TV, Deutschland Radio, W Radio South America, Univision, Bete TV, Arte TV and featured in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Hyperallergic, The LA Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, USA Today, Artnet, Artnews, Quartz, The Art Newspaper, Artforum, Voice of America (Turkey), The Economist, Newsweek, Business Insider, The Sydney Morning Herald... and publications worldwide.
ART EXHIBITIONS:
May and June 2020
Riverviews Artspace, Solo Show
Running Girls Series
Lynchberg, Virginia
February and March 2018
Art of the Subconscious
Theta Spring/Contra Studios
New York, New York
Spring 2018
VIOLATED! Women in Holocaust and Genocide
Selected Running Girl Artworks
Ronald Feldman Gallery
Curator: Dr. Batya Brutin and Academic Advisors
Remember the Women Institute
New York, New York
May, June July 2017
Core Club
New York, New York
Open Carry: The Right to Bear Art
May 24 through August 19, 2017
Art on the Front Lines
RONALD FELDMAN GALLERY
New York, New York
Desecration Flags
APRIL 2017
REACT
Curated by Jackie Dreier
New York, New York
T.rump Campaign Bus, Desecration, and
This is What a Feminist Looks like
Selected Running Girls
APRIL 2017
INVITED SPEAKER
Art and Politics
New York University, New York
JUNE 18-19 2016
SMACK MELLON
“Of the People”
Brooklyn, New York
T.rump Campaign Bus
March 2016
VOLTA NY
New York, New York
T.rump Campaign Bus
FALL 2016
Grunin Center for the Arts, Solo Show
Running Girls Series
Ocean Gallery
Ocean College, Tom’s River, New Jersey
Artist-in-residence October 3 - 10th, 2016
Awarded artist grant
Guest Speaker: Beyond the Classroom: Global Education for Girls
FALL 2016
Georgian Court University , Solo Show
(in collaboration with the Grunin Center)
Running Girls Series
November 2016
Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Invited Guest Speaker as part of Critical Concerns 2016:
Women’s Voices in the Jubilee Year of Mercy
Winter/Spring, 2016
Crane Arts Solo Show
Running Girls Series
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fall/Winter 2015
Body Politic
Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center at Gibney Dance
New York, New York
October 12 to December 11
Running Girl 8 (mercy, beaucoup haram)
Fall 2015
MASS MoCA
(The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art)
Artist Residency:
The Studios at MASS MoCA/Assets for Artists
October 30 to November 13
North Adams, Massachusetts
Winter 2016
Conception Art Fair
Shown by Crane Arts, Philadelphia
Running Girl Artworks and Installation
December 1 to 6
Miami, Florida
Spring 2015
The Cornell University Johnson Museum, Solo Show
April 25th, 2015
Curated by visiting scholar Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe
Fall, 2015
Osilas Gallery, Season X, Ten-year Retrospective
Running Girl 16, Steal Home
Sept 12 thru October 25
Bronxville, New York
February 17 thru April 2, 2015
Gallery Bergen -- Solo show
Running Girls Series
Bergen County Community College
Bergen, NJ
March 8-11, 2015
CIES Conference : Imagining a Humanist Education Globally, Solo Show
(The Comparative and International Education Society)
Ten Running Girl Artworks on Exhibition
Washington Hilton
Washington D.C.
Invited Guest Speaker, March 8th,
as part of International Women’s Day
Conception Gallery
Running Girl Artworks
“Woman Up”
March 27th thru April 2
Long Island City
New York, NY
Elements in Balance: Earth, Air, Fire Water
AnnMarie Sculpture Garden, in association with the Smithsonian Institution
Dowell, MD
June, July, August 2103
Kneeler Sculptures
Sacred Memories, Honoring the Dead Across Cultures, juried by the city of Los Angeles Dia de los Muertos Committee
El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, CA
October and November 18, 2012
“Tsunami” – Work on Paper
“Journey of Faith,” an exhibition curated by Shanley Hanlon
Osilas Gallery, Bronxville, NY, September and October 2012
“Hot as Hell” – A site-specific installation
“Flying Machines” -- curated by Staci Offutt and Natalie Conti
Westmoreland County Museum of American Art Biennale
The Headkeeper Gallry, Greensburg, PA, April and May 2012
“Levitation” – Artworks on Paper
A Change of Climate – a month-long exhibition sponsored by Blue Source
25 West 17th Street, New York, NY, May 2011
“Tsunami Series” – Artworks on Paper
Moi Meme Solo Exhibition
“Our Majestic Meltdown” – curated by Zev Jonas
Moi Meme Showroom 38th Street, New York, NY, April 2011
Artworks on canvas and paper.
ArtBridge – a juried NYC public art exhibition,
panel included Guggenheim Curator David Van Der Leer. Chelsea Outdoor Billboard Space, New York, NY, 2010 and 2011
“Poseidon is Pissed Off”, a mixed media painting.
Art Loop Open – a juried Chicago public art exhibition.
Block 37, Chicago, IL October/November 2010
“I would like my life back, says the planet”, a site-specific installation
based on BP's Tony Hayward's statement.
spctclr vws – a month-long exhibition sponsored by Stribling
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NY, May/June 2009
“Goodness Won”, a site-specific installation.
Sculpture Key West –a juried exhibition curated by Shamim Momin,
co-curator for the 2008 Whitney Biennale.
Fort Zachary State Park, Key West, Florida, March/April 2009
“Forcing Goodness”, a mixed media sculpture.
Building Show – a juried exhibition
Exit Art, New York, NY, February and March 2007
“Long-Winded”, an interactive installation.
Signatures of Age – a juried exhibition
Womanmade Gallery, Chicago, IL, October 2006
“Emerging”, mixed media on canvas.
Amendicoms Project – a traveling Exhibition, NYC to Israel
Makor Gallery, New York, NY, August/September 2006
“Winged Peace”, mixed media on paper.
Wish You Were Here – an invitation only exhibition
A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY, July 2006
“Counting the days”, mixed media on canvas.
Uprising -- Parsons the New School for Design MFA Thesis Show
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY, April 2006
“I do”, a mixed media sculpture.
Small Axes -- Parsons the New School for Design MFA Show
Heidi Cho Gallery, New York, New York, February 2006
CURRENTLY SHOWING OTHER ARTWORKS:
Vermont Exhibition of Contemporary NYC Artists
Mountain Road Resort, Stowe, Vermont
November 2012 – present
“It's Getting Warmer” – Mixed Media on Paper
Artworks on Paper
Brush, NYC – 9 East 19th Street
New York, NY
October 2012 - present
“Oil Spill” and “Tsunami 1”