RESUME

Grace Hager (b.1993) is an interdisciplinary painter and ceramic sculptor. She received a Master of Fine Arts in 2023 and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with a Minor in Art History in 2015 both from Maine College of Art & Design. Grace has exhibited throughout the United States, including at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Caldbeck Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, ME, Wassaic Project, MEPAINTSME, OVERLAP Gallery, CT State Gateway Community College, Pamplemousse Gallery, The Parsonage, and George Marshall Store Gallery, among others. 

She is the recipient of multiple grants and awards including a CERF+ Get Ready Grant, a MAC Springboard Grant, a partial James Bernard Haggarty Scholarship, a grant from the Belvedere Fund, and a project grant from the Puffin Foundation. She is the recipient of a Fellowship in Painting at Vermont Studio Center and has been an artist-in-residence at Wassaic Project and Maine College of Art & Design, among others. She currently lives and works in Southern Maine.

➼ Grace Hager

b. 1993, Lives and works in Southern Maine

gracehagerstudio@gmail.com gracehager.com

EDUCATION

2023 Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Painting and Ceramics, Maine College of Art & Design

2015 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, Minor in Art History, Maine College of Art & Design

2010 Pre-College Summer Program, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025 Straight On Till Morning (working title), One River School, Englewood, New Jersey (Upcoming)

2019 Hot House: Painted Plants, The Keyes Gallery, Willoughby Wallace Mem. Library, Stony Creek, Connecticut

TWO & THREE-PERSON SHOWS

2025 Flicker, Flutter, Flourish, Crumpacker Gallery, St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire

2024 SUNLIGHT & CANDLELIGHT, NewAlliance Foundation Art Gallery, CT State Community College, New Haven, Connecticut

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025 2025 Biennial, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, Maine (Upcoming)

Wild Things, Caldbeck Gallery, Rockland, Maine (Upcoming)

Canopy Program 2025 Exhibition (title TBD), NYC Crit Club, New York, New York (Upcoming)

Thicket curated by Kirstin Lamb, OVERLAP Gallery, Newport, Rhode Island

Signals, K.Grant Fine Art, Vergennes, Vermont

2024 Best in Show, Pamplemousse Gallery, Richmond, Virginia

Down the Rabbit Hole, Lights Out Gallery, Wolf and Harp, Norway, Maine

Tall Shadows in Short Order, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, New York

ArtPM, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine

2023 Winter Group Exhibition, The Parsonage, Searsport, Maine

In Dialogue, George Marshall Store Gallery, York, Maine

Vacationland, 82 Parris, Portland, Maine

MFA Thesis Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, Maine

2022 Nightmares, Munka Studio, Lewiston, Maine

Accessories curated by McKenna Bishop, Zand Head and Friedman Galleries, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Possibly Periwinkle, Zand Head and Friedman Galleries, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Still, Stay Home Gallery, Paris, Tennessee

Bloom!, R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, Louisiana

Tiny Pedestal Project, Dream Clinic Project Space, Columbus, Ohio

Fresh Faces 2022, Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts

A Light in the Dark in collaboration with Michael Tilbury, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2019 Whimsy By Nature, Perspectives Gallery at the Whitney Center, Hamden, Connecticut

Ear to the Ground curated by Julie Torres, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut

2017 Nasty Women New Haven, Institute Library, New Haven, Connecticut 

Contours & Configurations, The Golden Thread Gallery, West Hartford, Connecticut

2015 Aggregate: BFA Thesis Show, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Mundanity and Mysticism: Drawing Out the Self curated by Grace Hager, Zand Head Gallery, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Into the Wild curated by Hilary Irons, Artists at Work Gallery, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

SELECTED ONLINE EXHIBITIONS

2025 Encounters, Friday Arts, New York, New York

2024 COLOR FIELD: ORANGE, dodomu gallery, Brooklyn, New York

2023 MEPAINTSME Open Call 2023 Exhibition, MEPAINTSME, mepaintsme.com

Rituals curated by Annika Earley, SPEEDWELL projects, Portland, Maine

2020 City-Wide Open Studios, Artspace, New Haven, Connecticut 

ART in PLACE (self-isolation), Standard Space, Sharon, Connecticut

Your Color, My Line, Able Baker Contemporary, Portland, Maine

Wonder Working curated by Joy Pepe, Digital Grace Online Exhibition, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut

Lines of Site curated by Jeanne Ciravolo & Valerie Garlick, Digital Grace Online Exhibition, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut

FELLOWSHIPS & RESIDENCIES

2025 Fall Residency, Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency, Gosnold, Massachusetts (Upcoming)

2025 Maine Ecology & Art Residency, Seguinland Institute, Georgetown, Maine (Upcoming)

2025 Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont

2024/25 Ceramic Alumni Exchange-Residency, Maine College of Art & Design, Portland, Maine 

2024 August Residency, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, New York 

2024 EMERGE Artist-in-Residence, March - July, Running With Scissors, Portland, Maine

2024 January Residency, Directangle Press, Bethlehem, New Hampshire

GRANTS & AWARDS

2025 Partial/Work-Study Fellowship, Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency

2025 MAC Springboard Grant, Maine Arts Commission

2025 CERF+ Get Ready Grant, Craft Emergency Relief Fund

2025 Belvedere Fund Grant, Maine College of Art & Design

2025 St. Botolph's Emerging Artist Award Nominee, St. Botolph Club Foundation

2025 Partial James Bernard Haggarty Scholarship, The Canopy Program

2024 White Columns Curated Artist Registry, White Columns

2024 Puffin Foundation Grant, The Puffin Foundation 

2024 Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center

2024 Residency Award, Wassaic Project

2024 EMERGE Artist-in-Residence, Running With Scissors

2023 Special Mention Finalist, Create! Magazine Issue #41: Juried by Victoria Fry - Visionary Art Collective NYC

2019 Arts Workforce Initiative Apprentice Program, CT Dept. of Cultural and Community Development

INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS & AWARDS

2021 – 2023 Presidential Scholarship, Maine College of Art & Design

2011 – 2015 Presidential Scholarship, Maine College of Art & Design

2014 – 2015 Margaret Coleman Brown Endowed Memorial Scholarship, Maine College of Art & Design

PRESS & PUBLICATIONS

2024 ‘Artists Make Light At Gateway’, New Haven Independent, New Haven Independent

2024 ‘15 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This Summer’, Hyperallergic, Hyperallergic

2024 Issue 6, Artsin Square Magazine, Artsin Square

2021 ‘State of the Arts’ June Issue, Decor Maine Magazine, Decor Maine

SELECTED CURATORIAL PROJECTS

2022 Possibly Periwinkle, Zand Head and Friedman Galleries, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2022 A Light in the Dark in collaboration with Michael Tilbury, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2021 Raven Wear: Back to Black, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2015 Aggregate: BFA Thesis Show, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2015 Mundanity and Mysticism: Drawing Out the Self, Zand Head Gallery, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

UNIVERSITY & TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2025 Painting Faculty, Summer Pre-College Program, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2025 Summer Visiting Instructor (K-12), Lights Out Gallery, Norway, Maine

2025 Visiting Artist, St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire

2025 Substitute Faculty, FN-108: Research & Inquiry, Foundations, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2024 Guest Critic, Undergraduate Painting Department, Final Critiques Fall 2024, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2023 Substitute Faculty, PT-225: Water Media, Painting, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Guest Critic, Undergraduate Painting Department, Midterm Critiques Spring 2023, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2022   Teaching Assistant, FN-109: Materiality: Ceramics, Foundations, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Guest Critic, Undergraduate Painting Department, Midterm and Final Critiques Fall 2022, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

Teaching Assistant, FN-110: 4D: Space and Temporality, Foundations, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2021 Teaching Assistant, PT-333: Painting Beyond the Rectangle, Painting, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2015 BFA Thesis Curatorial Team, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2013 - 2014 Teaching Assistant, AH-101: Art History Survey I, Art History, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

ADDITIONAL SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2022 – Present Studio Assistant, Gail Spaien, South Portland, Maine

2023 – Present Ad-hoc Exhibition Turnover/Art Handler, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, Maine

2025 – Present Rose Nestler 2025 Canopy Cohort, The Canopy Program, New York, New York

2024 & 2025  Studio Assistant, Kate Bickmore, Rockland, Maine

2023 – 2024 Ad-hoc Gallery Attendant, Grant Wahlquist Gallery, Portland, Maine

2024 Artist Talk, Tall Shadows in Short Order Closing Reception, Wassaic Project, Wassaic, New York

2024 Community Day Volunteer/Public Workshop Assistant, Surf Point Foundation, York, Maine

2022 MFA Venice Trip Social Media Contributor, MECA&D, Portland, Maine

2023 Grants and Programs Intern, SPACE Gallery, Portland, Maine

2023 Embroidered Patch Design, SPACE Gallery, Portland, Maine

2021 Walker Evans Programming Advisory Committee Member, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine

2021 City-Wide Open Studios Data Entry Contractor, Artspace, New Haven, Connecticut

2020 – 2021 Painter/Fabricator, Chester Frame Company, North Madison, Connecticut

2019 – 2020 Development and Gallery Assistant, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, Connecticut

2019 Artist Talk, Whimsy By Nature Opening Reception, Perspectives Gallery at the Whitney Center, Hamden, Connecticut

2018 – 2019 Gallery Volunteer, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut

2017 Pottery Studio Intern, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, Connecticut

2014 – 2015 Gallery Assistant, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, Maine