Maxine Farkas

Having trained as a geographer, the work is about the landscape, always.  It might at times appear to be unrelated, but the inspiration is there. 

I live in a place that owes its existence to the industrial revolution and even now, just short of 200 years since the Pawtucket Falls were first seen as a source of industrial power, the hand of those early industrialists lies heavy on my city. 

There is never a time when I am not aware of the power of nature and the hand of man.

My undergraduate degree is in planning, my graduate work was in historical geography.  My studies involved looking at the landscape and learning about how it was shaped by human occupation.  I came to art making after leaving a PhD program that did not respond to creative approaches.  Other than cartography I have no ‘formal’ education in art . . . although years of workshops and experimentation have given me a firm grounding in my chosen field.

I fell into curating early in my art making, starting as an art quilt maker. In the early 90’s there was much frustration over the lack of venues in which to show fiber work and I saw opportunities to broaden exposure for artists who worked in that medium.  I became an independent curator, expanded from working strictly with fiber exhibits to creating exhibits in a number of different media.  

From fiber I moved to painting, printmaking, artist books, assemblage  and now to collage.

In 2005 I was one of the first artists to move in to the newly completed Western Avenue Studios, again I saw opportunity and volunteered as liasion between the building owners and the artists.  In 2006 I took over renting studios, in 2009 became the studio manager and in 2012 became resident manager of Western Avenue Lofts.  Along the way I was a founder of the Western Avenue Studios Artist Association.  

I believe in volunteering and have served two six year terms on the Lowell Cultural Council from 2002 to 2008 and  2015 to 2021.  Currently “retired” I am lead volunteer of the art program at the Lowell Senior Center, continue to be active as a founding member of the Acre Coalition to Improve Our Neighborhood and am a member of the Lowell Master Plan Steering Committee where I act as an informal voice for the arts community.  In 2022 I founded the Lowell Photo Archive which provides photographers a central depository for images of the urban landscape of Lowell.