Art Dept. Faculty Shona McDonald Receives Prestigious Conti Fellowship
As a Conti Fellow, Shona Macdonald’s artwork will be centered on the study of six under-represented Massachusetts woman artists from the 18th and 19th centuries, bringing a contemporary perspective to their overlooked contributions. Working within a field historically dominated by men, she will research women landscape painters in the region and will create new works from the vantage points they once used. During the fellowship, she plans to revisit the sites from which they worked and make a new body of work. Macdonald states that “by standing on the same ground as Peterson, Starr, Browne, Macrae, Jones and Baker, and looking out at the same views, my artworks will also serve as testimony to the groundbreaking work of these painters.”
Macdonald’s sustained record of showing her art nationally and internationally has been recognized and awarded in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and beyond. Since joining the faculty in 2006, the professor of art has mounted an extraordinary 29 solo exhibitions, along with numerous two- and three-person shows and over 100 group exhibitions.
External referees acclaimed her work, stating that “Macdonald is an artist of national stature whose artistic work has been primarily based in Massachusetts and has been exhibited widely for more than two decades. Her creative practice exemplifies the intellectual rigor, innovation, and public relevance that define excellence in the arts.” Another referee noted that “what distinguishes Professor Macdonald’s work is her ability to transform the tradition of landscape painting into a site of critical reflection on perception, belonging, environment, and history.”