Bio I was born and raised mostly in California but have lived all over the country. I received a BFA in painting from Michigan State University. I started a family in 2000 in Virginia and my solo practice went dormant with subsequent moves to Texas, Maryland and Kentucky. In 2014, after a move to Minnesota, I restarted my solo career. My studio practice is in combination with my Community Engagement practice. In order to better work with the community I pursued a graduate degree; I finished my Master's in Education at Hamline University in December 2022. A public art project I started in 2021, the smallärt gallery, has expanded to three installed locally. The 3 mini-galleries in Rochester focuses on women and BIPOC artists. All of the artists is another website I run that is a diverse index of contemporary MN artists, and resources. My community engagement practice centers mostly with community resource schools in Rochester, some rural outreach and continuing work with IMAA, Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association.
My practice is about 80% educating and 20% solo practice. Primarily I write grants to fund work with local community schools. Community schools are designated to support students that have lower socioeconomic populations. They provide food, clothing, laundry facilities etc. and have staff dedicated to facilitating enrichment opportunities from the community; they support and help make my grants feasible. My passion is for teaching and using art to empower students and adults. The solo work is important to process some of my own ideas and have some quiet restorative time before delving back into community work. Community is infinitely more rewarding in many ways but I have found that making my own work helps balance me emotionally.
Statement Exploring nature, hiking, camping, cycling and just being outdoors in general bring me great joy and allow for these quiet moments of awe that I am trying to recreate with my work. My latest installation of gold birds came from an experience canoeing in summer when I paddled under a bridge and a swarm of barn swallows fluttered around and when I looked to the sky the sunlight made them appear golden. My solo practice is also inspired by this quote by Marina Abramović, "The way to fight is not to reflect horror and put your spirit down. It's to create something with beauty that gives you hope."
Contact [email protected] on Instagram @marybethmagyar for the smallärt gallery @smallartgallerymn or visit www.mnsag.com
December 2023 I won the Mayor's Medal of Honor for Arts/Cultural Achievement read the article here.
If you want to hear more about my journey Click here to listen to my podcast "On resurfacing and restarting an art career after your kids are grown with Mary Beth Magyar"
Tatyana Kurepina made a short film about my work and why I work with the students I do:
