MSA Studio Artists

Visual Artists with Studios at MSA

Leslie Anderson

For Leslie Anderson, painting is an analogy for life: a balance of risk and control; knowing when to push farther; knowing when to stop. She started painting several years ago to relieve the stress of her high-tech career, never dreaming it would change her life. In 2002, Leslie and her husband, Dan, left their lives in high tech and bought a farm in Sedgwick, Maine, on the Blue Hill Peninsula. Leslie wanted to paint; Dan wanted to be a flower farmer. Nineteen years later, they are still happily doing both!

Since then Leslie has had numerous solo shows, and sent many, many paintings to new homes in corporate and private collections around the world. In summer, she paints the landscape of the Blue Hill Peninsula, interpreting special places in oils and watercolors. In winter, she construct still lifes (which she considers little indoor landscapes) out of whatever catches her eye at the market. Whether out-of-doors or in my studio, her concerns are the same: juxtaposing light and dark, invoking pattern and repetition, and layering sumptuous, harmonious color.

Kifah Abdulla

Website: https://www.kifahabdulla.com

Instagram: @kifahabdulla

Kifah Abdulla is an artist, poet, performer and teacher. Born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, he now lives and works in Portland. Kifah uses Arabic calligraphy as an essential element in abstraction; he tries to corporate the spirit and the aesthetic of calligraphy in his work, which manifests the forces of the structure of Arabic letters. He understands the inherent energy and communicative potential of Arabic calligraphy. His symbols could become emotive forces in themselves; his artworks provide a framework for bringing physicality, emotion, and spirit together in the expression of physical work. He continues to find innovative ways to break down or intertwine the elemental calligraphic techniques in order to create new forms of calligraphy by using gesture, line, energy and patterns. Kifah tries to re-design the Arabic calligraphy to take its place in the abstraction of American contemporary art.

Quinn Evans

Website: www.quinnevansart.com

Instagram: @quinnevansart

Quinn Evans seeks to express understandings of identity in her figurative work, especially as it relates to the younger generation who are faced with an increasingly uncertain world. By creating scenes both through collaboration and her own research, she uses painting as a medium to construct overarching narratives on this era by referencing various perspectives, including her own. Much of her work is a response to current political and social contexts, aiming to create constructive and restorative dialogues amongst her audiences. Born in Lancaster, PA, Evans graduated summa cum laude from Franklin and Marshall College in 2021 with a B.A. in Studio Art. For the last decade, she has exhibited her work in various museum and non-profit art spaces throughout the region. Recently, three of her paintings were acquired by Franklin & Marshall College, one of which is included in the permanent collection of the Phillips Museum of Art. Her painting, “Isayah,” received First Place at the 2019 National Conference of Undergraduate Research Art Competition: Journeys Through the Civil Rights Movement: Then and Now and was acquired as part of Kennesaw State’s permanent collection. She also had two works acquired by Susquehanna University, in both the permanent collections of the Lore Degenstein Gallery as well as the Blough-Weis Library. Quinn Evans currently resides in Portland, Maine, with her husband, two cats, and dog.

Maggie Muth

Instagram (Maggie): @maggiemuth

Instagram (stichHIVE): @stitchHIVE_portlandme

Maggie Muth has enjoyed being a studio artist at MSA since 2013. She is a community artist, stitcher, painter, and sometime puppeteer. Her community work includes #stitchHIVE – a free and open itinerant stitching space for all. She has conducted stitching workshops at the Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D), Maine Fiber Arts, Portland Public Schools, the American Visionary Art Museum, Mayo Street Arts, as well as overseas. Maggie has a BFA in Painting (with a minor in drawing) from MECA, and a two year certificate in Stitched Textiles from the Opus School of Textile Arts in the UK. In past careers, Maggie worked as an ASL interpreter and nuclear power consultant, but not at the same time!

Kathryn Price

Website: www.kpricephoto.com

Instagram: @kathryn_dawn_photo

Kathryn Price graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Photography and Art History from Susquehanna University and currently works as a photographer and pianist in Portland, Maine. She was recently awarded the Springboard Artist Grant from the Maine Arts Commission with a proposal to organize this exhibition and is honored to have this as a jumping off point for mental health advocacy as well as future work. Price has been featured in exhibitions such as This Must Be the Place at the Complesso di Santa Verdiana in Florence, Italy.She has also been selected to present her art history research at conferences such as the 15th Intercollegiate Art History Symposium inFrederick, Maryland and the virtual Southeastern College Art Conference. Her work with NAMI began in 2015 where she was one of the youngest speakers for the NAMI Maine Speaker’s Bureau.

About Artist Studios at MSA

Mayo Street Arts is a fun place to work and exhibit! Our downstairs studio level features four workspaces.

The studios are each 10′ x 10′ and include wi-fi, heat, electricity, and access to sinks and a common area. Studio artists have 24/7 access to the building and enjoy complimentary admission to MSA performances.

The studios rent for $250/month plus a $250 refundable security deposit and are available for lease on a month-to-month basis.

All of MSA’s artist studios are currently occupied.

If you would like to join our waitlist for first notification when a studio becomes available, please email a completed studio application to ian@mayostreetarts.org.