Maine College of Art & Design is pleased to announce that Rachel Adams ’09 and Ryan Adams will serve as Artists-in-Residence for the 2024-2025 academic year.
In this role, they’ll join our community in meaningful dialogue and serve as a resource for students, offering unique opportunities, including studio visits and critiques, informal talks, and/or demonstrations to learn from and engage with these influential artists who have made a lasting, positive impact in their fields.
About Rachel Adams '09
Rachel Gloria Adams is a multidisciplinary artist living in Portland, ME. Adams has developed a vibrant, graphic pattern-based visual language filled with references to the natural world that possess an heirloom quality. Her work takes form by way of quilting, painting, design and large-scale murals.
She moved to Maine in 2005 to pursue her BFA from the Maine College of Art and Design. She has gone on to exhibit artwork at Space Gallery, Alice Gauvin Gallery, Center for Maine Contemporary Art and Dowling Walsh. She has attended residencies at Speedwell, Pace House and is an Indigo Arts Alliance David C Driscoll Fellow. In addition to her studio practice, Adams has been commissioned to create murals for several institutions including the Children's Museum of Portland, University of Maine and the Farnsworth Museum.
About Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams is a painter and muralist based in Portland, Maine. His background in traditional graffiti led him to creating large-scale mural work, hand lettered signage and a studio practice. His signature ‘gem’ style of work is a geometric breakdown of letterforms with shadows and highlights embedded within, to create depth and movement throughout. His pieces tend to be bold, colorful and clever; often including statements within. These statements can be literal or figurative, but often bring attention to a social or cultural issue. His studio practice is rooted in the exploration of form and abstraction while remaining true to his background in letter studies. Currently, Ryan owns and operates a mural company with his wife Rachel Gloria Adams and exhibits his work in galleries and museums across the US. Ryan's clients have included Nike, Patagonia, Converse, Samsung, L.L.Bean, Google, and Newport Jazz Festival. Ryan and Rachel also launched Over Here Studio, a gallery space in Portland that highlights the work of local artists.