Portrait of Mary Ann E. Mears
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Mary Ann E. Mears

Drawing, Painting, Sculpture / Installation, Visual / Media

About the Artist

Mary Ann Mears is a sculptor who has been commissioned to create site-specific art for public sites across a number of states including Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.  Within her home state of Maryland, her commissioned works are located in Bethesda, Rockville, Cheverly, Belair, Glen Burnie, Silver Spring, Columbia, and at several locations in Baltimore.  A copy of her iconic sculpture in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was given to Baltimore’s sister city, Kawasaki, Japan. Her clients have included state arts councils, private entities, and, in some cases, partnerships between private developers and public agencies.  She is also an arts leader and advocate.   Her achievements include being a founder of Maryland Art Place and helping to craft and successfully lobby for Maryland’s Public Art Bill in 2005.  She was a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA) for thirty years. Mary Ann is the founder and is Trustee Emeritus of Arts Education in Maryland Schools (AEMS) Alliance and Co-chaired the Governor’s P-20 Leadership Council’s Task Force on Arts Education in Maryland Schools.  She served on the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). A common thread in her work as an artist who does public art and as an advocate and arts leader is her passion for the role of the arts in fostering shared vision and values in diverse communities.  She is committed to bringing arts instruction to all students so that they thrive academically and become creative and critical thinkers who enhance communities’ civic life. She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in the Fine Arts from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). In 2009, she received the Distinguished Service to the Arts Award from the National Governors Association among other honors. She was educated at Mount Holyoke College receiving her BA with Distinction and Honors and NYU where she focused on sculpture and was awarded her master’s degree.

Featured Work

Photos

Running along the front of a mixed-use development, the park-like site is intended to be interactive for children and families while serving as landmark for the project. The inspiration for the forms is the tulip poplar. Abstracted petal forms are used at various scale from very small “petals of thought” scattered across the site to freely rotating large petals with seedpods on top of tall poles. Petals are stretched and twisted to form slides and other structures that children can climb over and under.
Inspired by flora and fauna of a verdant tropical environment both on land and in the water, AquaFauna, creates an immersive environment through wall mounted organic forms. The surfaces are painted with a base coat over which freely brushed textures and lines add depth and complexity.
Luxe et Volupté is a collaborative project with Magma Build Studios integrating mold formed blown glass with programmable LED lights. The artist was able to create the forms (molds) for the glass to be blown into so that they synchronized with her organic aluminum forms. A painterly surface enhances the fluidity and energy of the work.
Spun Grace is designed in response to the architecture of the new building and the very special spirit and mission of St. Agnes Hospital. It is intended to be graceful; the gentle calligraphic curves convey a sense of fluid movement, intriguing the viewer as the pieces slowly move and create new configurations. It is hoped that the evolving interaction of the forms will be engaging while evoking a sense of serenity for people who are waiting in the atrium area.
Split Circle is part of a body of work created during the seventies and reimagined recently by the artist. The initial concept for the work was the counter-play of the welding process rough bead and iridescent coloration of the steel with minimal forms. The new iteration layers the artist’s more recent exploration of her painting process with application of a base coat and painterly brushwork over the original work. Further, the new marine aeronautical coating enables the work to endure weather conditions over time.
Charispiral is a visual metaphor for the relationship between a caregiver and a patient. Each form is an interpretation of a spiral; each is at a different stage in evolving/revolving. Each is strong in its own individuality and, at the same time, necessary to complete the sweep of the sculpture as a whole composition. The sculpture is highly gestural, which underlines its connection to human physicality.