Meg Brown Payson
b.1953, Portland, Maine
Selected Exhibitions: Solo
2022. Asleep on the Dock, Press Hotel, Portland, ME
2021. Meg Brown Payson: “a silence falls with the waking bird”, Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME
2020. Shallows, Costal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Harbor, ME
2019. Shift, The Cube Gallery, Naropa University, Boulder, CO
2014. Chiasm: New Work by Meg Brown Payson, McCoy Gallery, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA
2010. Hydrostatic Pressure, Eo Art Lab, Chester, CT
Paper Works, Walker Contemporary, Boston, MA
2009. Horizon, Walker Contemporary, Boston, MA
2008. Liquid Space, Eo Art Lab, Chester, CT
2007. Meg Brown Payson: Prints from Anderson Ranch, June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, ME
2004. Felt, Barrington Center for the Arts, Gordon College, Wenham, MA
Meg Brown Payson: To Sing the World, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland, ME
2002. Meg Brown Payson New Paintings: Breath and Depth, Aucocisco Gallery, Portland, ME
Selected Exhibitions: Group
2024. University of New England Arts Gallery, Spark of Life: Abstraction, Microscopy and Discovery. Portland, ME
2021. June LaCombe Sculpture, Pownal, ME. Featured artist.
2019. Psych Out!!!, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Woodstock, NY
2017. That Third Thing, Speedwell Projects, Portland, ME
Power of Place, Wells Reserve at Laudholm, Wells, ME
Expanding Abstraction: New England Women Painters, 1950 to Now, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA
2016. The Retrieval of the Beautiful, The Painting Center, New York City, NY
2015. DiCarta/Papermade, Palazzo Fogazzaro, Schio, Italy
The Art as Science, The Science of Art, Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery, Worcester State University, Worcester, MA
2015-2019. Annual outdoor exhibitions, June LaCombe Sculpture, Pownal, ME
2014. The Boston Drawing Project @ Carroll and Sons, Boston, MA
Unhinged, Pierogi, New York, NY
Prints: Breaking Boundaries, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME
2011. Contemporaries: Artists of La Napoule Art Foundation, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME
2010. Sacred and Profane: Eye of the Beholder, Portsmouth Museum of Art, Portsmouth, NH
Mirare, Chapel Art Center, St. Anselm College, Manchester, NH (three person)
2009. Archeology Above Ground, ICA@Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
The Boston Drawing Project: 10 Years On and Going Strong, Carroll and Sons, Boston, MA
Abstract New England: Six Perspectives, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME
2008. Inaugural Exhibition, Walker Contemporary, Boston, MA
Betwixt and Between: Color, Line and Texture, Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, ME
2007. Big Bang! Abstract Painting for the 21st Century, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA
Graphite, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
2007 Portland Museum of Art Biennial, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
2006. 2006 Biennial Juried Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2005. Accord VI, George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME
Water, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2004. Natural Response: Artists from the Boston Drawing Project@Bernard Toale Gallery, Sharon Art Center, Peterborough, NH
2003. The Abstracted Landscape, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
2002. 9/11: Prelude to an Apocalypse, Art Gallery at University of New England,
Portland, ME
Honors
Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Finalist, 2022
Ellis-Beauregard Foundation. Residency, November, 2020
Visiting Artist in printmaking at University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 2017
First Prize, “The Art of Science, The Science of Art,” Cosgrove Gallery, Worcester State University, 2015
Maine Arts Commission. Good Idea Grant, 2013
Chateau de La Napoule, Mandelieu-La Napoule, France. Residency, 2009
Monte Azul Print Studio, Chimirol, Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica. Artist-in-residence, 2009
Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO. Residency in Printmaking, January 2008
Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO. Residency in Printmaking, January-April, 2007
Nomination for Joan Mitchell Artist Grant, 2007
Maine Arts Commission. Good Ideas Grant, 2004
Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM. Residency, MECA Faculty Development Grant, 2002
Vermont Studio Center, Johnston, VT. Residency, Fellowship Award, 1999
Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA. Residency, Commendation Award, 1995
Education
1993. Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT. Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art.
1977. Boston University College of Fine Art, Boston, MA. Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting, magna cum laude.
Professional
1995-2014. Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine. Associate Professor of Drawing and Foundation. (retired)
1994. University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire. Lecturer in Drawing.
1992-93. Maine College of Art (formerly the Portland School of Art), Portland, Maine. Instructor of Drawing.
1984-91/1978-80. Portland School of Art, Portland, Maine. Instructor of Drawing and Painting in Continuing Studies.
Selected Bibliography
Arago, Jorge S. “UNE exhibit pairs contemporary art with imaging lab photos in celebration of natural beauty.” Press Herald, December 27, 2024.
—. “Art Review: Meg Brown Payson looks through the surface of Maine waters.” Press Herald, April3, 2022.
—. “Art review: Sculpture exhibit beckons you to Hawk Ridge Farm.“ Press Herald. June 13, 2021.
Beem, Edgar Allen. “Maine in the Abstract.” Maine Arts Journal. Summer, 2019.
—. “Meg Brown Payson’s Interior Universe.” Exhibition catalog for “Chiasm: Meg Brown Payson.” January, 2014.
—. “Chromatic Cosmology in Connecticut: Meg Brown Payson at Eo Art Lab.” Yankee Magazine Online, September 17, 2010.
—. “In the Realm of Ideals, Mirare at Saint Anselm.” Yankee Magazine Online, March 11, 2010.
Biennale Internazionale di Opere di Carta, “Di Carta/Paper Made 2.” Exhibition catalog. Schio, Italy, December, 2015
Capasso, Nicholas. “Big Bang! Abstract Painting for the 21st Century.” Exhibition catalog. DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 2007.
Cook, Greg. “Ah, Painting! At the DeCordova, Abstraction is New Again.” The Boston Phoenix, January 24, 2007.
Isaacson, Philip. “Payson’s Narratives of the Landscape Burst Through Geometrics.” Maine Sunday Telegram, April 3, 1994.
Johnson, Ken. “Seeing a Pattern: From Cosmology to Geology, Science Inspires Abstract Art at DeCordova.” Boston Globe, February 2, 2007.
Kany, Daniel. “Art Review: Diverse Print Show Poses Edgy Questions.” Maine Sunday Telegram, February 3, 2013.
—. “Pleasingly Blurring the Line Between Fine Art and Craft.” Maine Sunday Telegram, November 29, 2009.
Larmon, Annie. “Hot for Teacher: Meca Faculty Re-Imagine the Natural World and Play with Nostalgia.” The Portland Phoenix, December 2, 2009.
Little, Carl. “Meg Brown Payson: Experience of Place.” Maine Art Journal, Spring 2020.
Montrose, Sarah. “Introduction, Expanding Abstraction: New England Women Painters 1950 to Now,” Exhibition catalog. deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 2017.
Nash, Matthew. “2007 Biennial @ the Portland Museum of Art.” Big RED and Shiny, April 23, 2007.
Nature and Genetics. Magazine Cover. Volume 41, Number 11, November 2009.
Rooney, E. Ashley. “100 Artists of New England, “ Atglen: Schiffer, 2011.
The Painting Center, “The Retrieval of the Beautiful.” Exhibition catalog. New York, NY, 2016
Woods, Kristine. “Remains to Be Seen.” Exhibition Catalog for “Archeology Above Ground,” ICA@Meca, Portland, ME, 2009.
Whitman, Arthur. “Big Bang! Abstract Painting for the 21st Century @ the DeCordova.” Big RED & Shiny, April 8, 2007.