Deirdre McConnell is an artist, writer, and educator living and working in Queens, NY.
Her practice is grounded in material exploration. Her artwork contends with the spaces between and around the parts, and the whole. She is interested in the potential of language, surface, action, and scale to move, manipulate, and surprise.
She received an MFA in Painting and Drawing from School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA (honors) in Studio Art and English from James Madison University. She was a visiting student at Slade College of Art in London. She was Summer Fellow and later Artist-in-Residence at Ox-Bow School of Art.
She views arts learning as transformative to individuals and society and is passionate and devoted to education as a creative and social practice. She has taught in museums, classrooms, shelters, studios, and gardens. She currently teaches undergraduate students at Parsons, where she is also Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs + Curriculum.
Reach out at hi.deirdremcconnell [at] gmail dot com
EDUCATION
2021 Language Support Training, The New School, TESOL
2004 MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Drawing
1999 BA with honors, James Madison University, Studio Art major; English minor
Visiting Student, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, Fine Art
ONE AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2015 Real Road, Calico Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012 Loops, Little Amps, Harrisburg, PA
2007 Take Your Loads Off, Tryst, Washington, DC
2004 Too Dear For Our Possessing, ArtLedge, Chicago, IL
1999 The Quick-Slow, Zirkle House Gallery, Harrisonburg, VA
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 (upcoming) Making Time, Aronson Galleries, New York, NY
Carry & Transform, Supermoon Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
2024 Blind Date, Supermoon Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
2023 Calicornicopia, Calico, Brooklyn, NY
FOD Project, Brooklyn Grain, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Quarantine Folk, Calico Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Kick Off, Lorimoto Gallery, Ridgewood, NY
Women’s Work, Supermoon Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
2018 Faces of Death 17, Growroom Showroom, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Openaries, Glasgow International, Glasgow, Scotland
2012 Hospitality, Arts@Renaissance, Brooklyn, NY
2011 LIVE/WORK , Camel Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
Round Robin In Residence , A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
New Show, Parsons Fine Art Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Ecstatic, St. Cecilia’s, Brooklyn, NY
2009 You, Me, and All of Our Friends, Gowanus Studio Space, Brooklyn, NY
Black Thursday Halloween City!! Black Friday Fireworks Stand, BETA Spaces, Brooklyn, NY
Eternal Telethon, Los Angeles, CA
This Will Send You Flowers, Open Arms, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Joy and Misery, Five Thirty Three, Los Angeles, CA
Big Bear, Richey Jim’s, Bushwick Open Studios, Brooklyn, NY
I Put a Spell on You, Handmade, Brooklyn, NY
As If This Land Were Yours, Curated by Anna Mayer, Eveningside, Val Verde, CA
2007 Raise High the Roofbeams, Curated by Melanie Schiff & Kristen VanDeventer, Rainbo Club, Chicago, IL
Wish You Were Here, Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI2007
Transformation, Project Room, Carbon County Cultural Project, Jim Thorpe, PA
2006 Salon de Libertad, Lamont Collective, Washington, DC
Springtime, collaboration with Nethers, District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, DC
40m2, Fly Gallery, Madrid, Spain
Peace x Peace, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2005 Collective Instillation, Bemis Underground, Lincoln, NE
Spring Break, Curated by ArtLedge, the Butcher Shop, Chicago, IL
20th Annual International Exhibit, Juried by Michelle Grabner, Meadows Gallery, Tyler, TX
(We Are) All Drawing, Fly Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2004 Summer Show, Lisa Boyle Gallery, Chicago, IL
Show Style, Ox-Bow Gallery, Saugatuck, MI
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL
The Party, Track House, Chicago, IL
Casablanca, Three Walls Benefit , Chicago, IL
Explosions, Curated by Heather Hubbs & Lorelei Stewart, PAC/Edge Festival, Chicago, IL
San Pantalons, Hall Gallery, Portland, OR
Small Victories, Modest Contemporary Art Projects, Chicago, IL
Everyday, 1926 Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003 Anti-Spacesuit: The Dirty Future, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL
Suspension, 1926 Gallery, Chicago, IL
The Stray Show, Zeek and Nene/Municipal, Chicago, IL
HONORS / RESIDENCIES
2023 Development Fund Recipient, Parsons School of Design. Project: Weaving Air, Loop of the Loom, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Selected Artist, Stitch and Seam Collective project: Supermoon Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
2018-9 Selected Member, Faculty Learning Community, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
Research Project - I Get So Emotional, Baby: A Complex Proposition (Bravery in the Art Classroom)
2006 Artist in Residence, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2004 Summer Fellow, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2004 Nippon Steel Presidential Award, Chicago, IL
2003 Clune Construction Honorarium, Chicago, IL
1999 Art Achievement Award, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
PUBLIC ARTIST LECTURES
2018 Deirdre McConnell, Supermoon Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
2015 The Concurrents, Parsons School of Design, NYC
2012 Meet the Artist Series, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, NYC
2011 A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists Residency
TEACHING AND ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP
2022-present Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs + Curriculum | Parsons School of Design, NYC
2018-present Instructor | Parsons School of Design, NYC
Courses: Integrative Studio: Memory, Integrative Studio: Shift, Drawing/Imaging: Language
2002-8 Visual Artist in Residence | National Dance Institute, NYC
Director: In-School Costume Project and In-School Banner Project
2005-8 Instructor | Various institutions, including: Bank Street College with NDI, Art in General, Corcoran
College of Art + Design, Art Institute of Washington, Children’s Museum of NY