Margaret Boozer

b. 1966 Anniston, AL

Selected exhibitions

2024
Unsettling Extractions, 
Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond, VA
Dig Deeper: [some] Art, Science + History of Troy Clay, Art Center of the Capitol Region, Troy, NY

2021
(in)Touch: Connectivity Through Clay,
Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD

2018
Land/ Trust,
Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

2017
Margaret Boozer: Harbor Studies, 
Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO

2015  
Portraits of the Earth: Margaret Boozer and Juan Granados, San Angelo Museum of Art, TX

2012
Swept Away: Dust, Ashes and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design, Museum of Arts and Design, NY, NY

2011
Site Aperture: Margaret Boozer, Mia Feuer, Talia Green and Mariah Johnson. Curated by Danielle O’Steen, Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC

2009
3rd World Ceramic Biennale, Korea 2003, Icheon World Ceramic Center, Korea (invitational)

Margaret Boozer: Dirt Drawings, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC

2008
Margaret Boozer: Accumulation, Project 4 Gallery, Washington, DC

Myth of Permanence, Standard Ceramic, Pittsburgh, PA , organized by Catherine White and Margaret Boozer, in conjunction with NCECA

2007
NCECA Clay National, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY

Distintegration: site specific works by Margaret Boozer, Michele Kong and Cory Wagner, curated by Twylene Moyer of Sculpture Magazine, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA

Natural Inclinations, invitational, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA

2006
Margaret Boozer: Reinvented Landscape, Alysia Duckler Gallery, Portland, OR

2005
Alternative Porcelain, Chaney Gallery, Maryland Hall, Annapolis, MD

Particles and Passion, Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD

Coming Home: A Journey in Clay, Stancill Quarry, Perryville, MD

2004
Margaret Boozer: Land/Marks, Strand on Volta Gallery, Washington, DC

2003
2nd World Ceramic Biennale, Korea 2003, Icheon World Ceramic Center, Korea

Scripps Annual Ceramic Invitational, Scripps, the Women’s College, Claremont, CA

GROUND WORK: Recent Work by Margaret Boozer, Carole Greenwood and Erin Root, Strand on Volta Gallery, Washington, DC

2001
USA Clay, Renwick Gallery,Smithsonian Institution, WDC

Silicate: Recent Issues in Ceramic Sculpture, curated by Tony Hepburn, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD

selected collections

  • Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, WDC
  • US Department of State, US Embassy of Djibouti
  • US Department of State, US Embassy of Bandar
  • MGM Grand, National Harbor, MD
  • Darryl Carter, Inc., WDC
  • Busboys and Poets, Hyattsville, MD
  • Wilson Building Public Art Collection, WDC
  • Many private collections

Professional activity

2002-
Founder + Director, Red Dirt Studio, Mount Rainier, MD

2018-
Co-Founder + Co-Director, Art Extension Service to the NYC Urban Soils Institute

2024
Curator, Dig Deeper: [some] Art, Science + History of Troy Clay, Art Center of the Capitol Region, Troy, NY

2013
Curator, The Art and Craft of Beer, Gateway Arts District, Joe’s Movement Emporium, beer stein exhibition

2008-16
Artist Advisory Group, to the Gateway CDC for 39th Street Gallery, Brentwood, MD

2006-08
Board Member, James Renwick Alliance, Smithsonian Institution, WDC

2006-10 
Advisory Board Member, Hillyer Art Space, WDC

2006
Co-curator, Space of Change, DC Arts Center, WDC (with Claire Huschle)

2005
Co-curator, Existing to Remain, DC Arts Center, WDC (with Claire Huschle)

Co-curator, Coming Home: A Journey in Clay, Stancills, Inc., Perryville, MD (with Catherine White and Emlyn Stancill)

2004 
Panelist, Dream of Earth, Mexican Cultural Institute, WDC in conjunction withSculpture in Four Dimensions, Museum of the Americas, WDC

Juror, new artist selection, Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA

2003-06
Board Member, Washington Sculptors Group

Teaching experience

2002-present
Seminar, Red Dirt Studio Seminar, Mt. Rainier, MD

2005-08
Instructor, Ceramics, VCU Off-Site Program

2003-04 
Instructor, Ceramics, Gallaudet University, WDC

2002-04
Guest artist/ lecturer, Washington Glass School, WDC

1993- 2002
Instructor, Ceramics, Corcoran College of Art and Design, WDC

1998- 2002
Instructor, Department of Foundations, Corcoran College of Art and Design

Awards

2012
Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council Arts Excellence Award

I live and work in Prince Georges County, MD, in the Washington, DC metro area. I received a BFA in sculpture from Auburn University and an MFA in ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. I developed an interest in digging clays that has led to collaborations with soil scientists and work that explores intersections of art and science, and most recently, opportunities to explore more responsible relationships to soil and land.  My work is included in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The US Department of State, The Wilson Building Public Art collection and in many private collections. Publications include a chapter for Soil and Culture, an interview in Field to Palette: Dialogues on Soil and Art in the Anthropocene, and contributions to Wild Clay: Creating ceramics and glazes from natural and found resources.

Recent work includes a large-scale mapping/ earth work for MGM National Harbor in Maryland using clay and artifacts dug from the site. Exhibitions include Swept Away: Dust, Ashes and Dirt at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and Unsettling Extractions at The Visual Arts Center of Richmond. I am the Founder and Director of Red Dirt Studio, an artist incubator in Mount Rainier, MD, and Co-Director/ founding member of NY Urban Soils Institute’s Art Extension. In both capacities, I appreciate the opportunities to collaborate and support new work and ideas.

 

 

Education
1992 MFA, Ceramics, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University
1989 BFA, Sculpture, Auburn University, Summa Cum Laude