Cate McQuaid

Pressure for the feminine ideal shapes the work of this collage artist - The Boston Globe "In Your Face," her latest show, has work made of Botox vials and old billboard paper.

Collage artist Jane Maxwell's show "In Your Face" at Lanoue Gallery examines the push-pull between the feminine ideal and a messier internal reality. Now she's upping the ante with sculptural pieces made of Botox vials. She calls the show "a no judgment zone." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/14/a...

How did your parents meet? It's an origin story that can be sweet or sour. Sometimes it's both. The story can seem written in stone when we're young. Has your perspective on your parents, and how they came together to make you, changed? Mine has. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/pray-pay-a...

With galleries dwindling, artists turn to alt spaces — be they trailers, or dining rooms, or gussied up sheds - The Boston Globe Artist-run galleries, typically small and decidedly unconventional, are having a moment in the Boston area.

As cultural spaces dwindle in Boston, artists get creative, founding galleries in a V-nosed trailer in a suburban parking lot, in a spiffed-up shed, in a dining room, in a studio, on a fridge.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/01/a...

Standing in the middle William Collin on painting "BY-Product" and locating his figures within lineages of history, family, and identity

Painter William Collin aims to show the tension between what is seen and what is felt. "I See Myself in You," at Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery at Bristol Community College in Fall River (through Oct. 16), features his paintings of Black young men and boys. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/standing-i...

Cracking open A periodic “what the hell is going on?” update on the federal government and the arts

Here's your periodic "what the hell is going on?" update on the federal government and the arts. But also! Putting Disney in its place, how hubris leads to downfall, the force that bridges divides, and how societal upheaval parallels studio practice. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/cracking-o...

An illusionist makes magic to probe our minds’ susceptibility to disinformation - The Boston Globe Jeanette Andrews's show, “Attestation,” showcases "the really deep-rooted mechanisms at play" in human perception.

Meet illusionist Jeanette Andrews, visiting artist at MIT Center for Art, Science, & Technology interested in metacognition. Her October show at MIT, "The Attestation: A Performance of Illusions” uses magic to examine how polarized beliefs work. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/22/a...

Susan Jane Belton wades in The artist, whose show "Familiar Strangers" is at Anderson Yezerski, on her move into figure painting

Susan Jane Belton has spent her career avoiding the figure. Until now. For her show at Anderson Yezerski "Familiar Strangers" she painted people she found in snapshots. "In the spirit of 'if not now, when?' I decided to make a radical change," she writes. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/susan-jane...

The iceberg of shame When it thaws, it hurts. And then possibilities rush in.

I have house shame. I don’t invite people over. I bought my house 20 years ago, and mostly I’ve treated it like a burden. Recently, I sat with those feelings. Now, my iceberg of house shame is thawing – which is good, right? But it sure stings. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/the-iceber...

The art and the tool are the same for a blacksmith exploring a dying craft - The Boston Globe Alaina Mahoney is a blacksmith who also paints.

Alaina Mahoney fell in love with metal at MassArt. Now she's a blacksmith at AM Design and Fabrication, doing ornamental iron work and fabrication for artists. Alaina has a painting studio right next to the metal shop. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/08/a...

Patience, but no hesitation How Conny Goelz-Schmitt makes art from vintage books

Conny Goelz-Schmitt resurrects vintage books into collages. The stories are gone. The bones remain, and they rise and dance. This may be a new language, but in it old books speak – if you’ll permit a pun – volumes. How she does it in today's Ocean in a Drop. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/patience-b...

Whose homeland is this? At Boston City Hall Plaza, Adela Goldbard sets fire to old colonialist notions of power

On Friday night on Boston City Hall Plaza, artist Adela Goldbard returned us to a first encounter between Europeans and Indigenous people, usin pyrotechnics to burn a quarter-scale replica of a Colonial-era ship. More in Ocean in a Drop. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/whose-home...

A screenshot of part of a statement from the Trans Journalists Association regarding reporting on Charlie Kirk shooting investigation: It should also be noted that “transgender ideology” is a term coined for and used in anti-trans political messaging to falsely equate identity with politics, which is a way to frame transgender identity as a political choice rather than an innate identity. As it is often unclear what actions or political positions the phrase actually refers to — not unlike how “the homosexual agenda” is an amorphous term that has no real definition — reporters should be careful about using this term; it is used exclusively to attack a minority group for political gain.

Part of the statement from the @transjournalists.org on reporting details of the the Charlie Kirk shooting investigation.

Full statement here:
www.transjournalists.org/tja-urges-ca...

'But what happens if I get lost?' Sophia Ainslie on crafting "Woven 12" and "Woven 13" at Gallery NAGA

Sophia Ainslie's process for her "Woven" exhibition at Gallery NAGA entails dancing between stream of consciousness mark-making and appraising with a keen eye to complicate the image. Right brain, left brain, right brain, left brain. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/but-what-h...

The best defense against dystopia Fear causes tunnel vision. Painter Andrae Green's "Paradise/Mash-up" at the Boston Center for the Arts widens the lens.

Fear causes tunnel vision. Painter Andrae Green's "Paradise/Mash-up" at Boston Center for the Arts widens the lens. Green is from Jamaica, but it's not his immigration story that refutes the Trumpian world view. It’s the breadth of his imagination. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/the-best-d...

Putting a new spin on hula hoops - The Boston Globe Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard performs with the circus troupe 7 Fingers at the ART.

Mélieajade Tremblay-Bouchard went to circus camp when she was five, and a teacher there told her she had the body of a contortionist. Today, at 28, she's in the Montreal circus collective 7 Fingers, performing "Passengers" at American Repertory Theater. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/a...

Renewal in the ruins Iwalani Kaluhiokalani on the making of "The Radiance Chasers" at Emerson Contemporary

Iwalani Kaluhiokalani's multidisciplinary installation The Radiance Chasers at Emerscon Contemporary explores light as creator and destroyer. She writes about making it – with painting, paper cut-outs, video mapping, sound, and AI – in Ocean in a Drop. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/renewal-in...

For this dancer, popping draws on a lifetime of experience - The Boston Globe Alanna Logan was recently named to the Boston Center for the Performing Arts' “#HellaBlack Vol. 7: Shift,” roster of acts.

“I call myself a wiggler,” popper Alanna Logan said. “My movement is a bit awkward, I have a hip-hop pocket. I’m more bounce oriented.” She took second place at Red Bull Dance Your Style East USA. She'll be in @bostonarts.org Arts HellaBlack Vol. 7 on Oct. 3. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/25/a...

Midnight Mass This is not my story: Chapter 1

Last week I introduced "This is not my story" in Ocean in a Drop – a memoir with video commentary reflecting on the limitations of childhood keep falling away. Here's Chapter 1: Midnight Mass, in which my father receives Holy Communion from my mother's lover. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/midnight-m...

An artist’s life: Building a house, brick by brick - The Boston Globe Andromeda Lisle, who has experienced homelessness and works through debilitating migraines, has a message for artists: Don't give up.

In Andromeda Lisle's art, animal forms cascade with patterns referencing cellular structure and Indigenous mythology. She designed a mural of a humpback whale and calf at the new Tobin Montessori and Darby Vassall Upper Schools and Community Complex in Cambridge. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/18/a...

This is not my story But it was. And I needed to let it be in order to let it go.

I wrote a memoir, "Communion: A Memoir of Family, Secrets, and Love." I resisted posting on Substack; I am fueled by writing about what’s happening today. Now I see I can tie it to today with video. There's no paywall. Come take a look. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/this-is-no...

The life's blood of Provincetown Plein-air artist Jerome Greene on creating his "Musicians, Murals and Mentors" mural

Jerome Greene's art taps Ptown's wellspring of beauty, community, and music. He's a plein-air painter and he sketches musicians as they perform around town. Provincetown Public Art Foundation invited Jerome to paint a trap shed mural on MacMillan Pier.
catemcquaid.substack.com/p/the-lifes-...

State of the arts (authoritarian edition) They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

At the White House, the Rose Garden has been paved over with concrete and the Oval Office has been adorned with Rococo gold gilding. Then there's the more insidious rebranding we can track by watching federally funded institutions. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/state-of-t...

Inspired by a writer’s long-gone home, an artist made gardens in its remains - The Boston Globe All that was left of writer May Sarton's house by the sea was a slab, but it was "a slab with feeling," says artist Carly Glovinski, who made it a living art project.

At a 2021 residency, Carly Glovinski came upon the foundation of Wild Knoll, the house writer May Sarton's described in "The House By the Sea" back in 1977. She resurrected the garden. She still tends it. Her career is flourishing, too.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/04/a...

As war rages on, a show of perseverance and beauty in Ukrainian folk art - The Boston Globe “Soul of a Nation: Voices of Resilience in Ukrainian Folk Art,” on view at Fuller Craft Museum through Nov. 2, celebrates traditions kept alive by artists often under siege.

“Soul of a Nation: Voices of Resilience in Ukrainian Folk Art” at Fuller Craft Museum celebrates traditions kept alive by artists often under siege: Ukrainian Easter eggs, intricately patterned ceramics, wood carvings, embroidery, and more. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/06/a...

On letting loved ones save themselves What happens when the world is too much to carry?

Twice last week, I looked at someone dear going having a hard time and thought, “I don’t have to take this on. They know how to take care of themselves.” It felt odd. I’ve always tuned into a friend's distress and sent my soul out of my body to tend to them. catemcquaid.substack.com/p/on-letting...

‘Here’s a guitar, here are some chords,’ and then her band took home the prize - The Boston Globe Rachel Sumner's bluegrass band, Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light, plays to tradition but stretches it, too, with feminist songs they call "Femericana."

When Rachel Sumner was 18, she volunteered at the Telluride Blue Grass Festival. Last month, the Boston-area musician went back for the first time. Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light, and took home first prize in the Telluride Band Contest. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/28/a...

Jiggles, sways, and slow-motion aches Tory Fair on how she made "Grief," in "Protest Flowers" at ODD-KIN

I was at ODD-KIN last week minding my own business when one a sculpture nudged me from behind. This is the first show of the Tory Fair's kinetic flowers – and they're amazing. Playful, sad, weirdly human. Here, Tory writes about making "Grief." catemcquaid.substack.com/p/jiggles-sw...

Arriving into ourselves "A Gathering" at Brandeis's Kniznick Gallery embraces what happens when we cherish our experience rather than judge it from society's standpoint.

When so much feels beyond repair, why is art is more about comfort and joy? "A Gathering," curated by Olivia Baldwin at Brandeis's Kniznick Gallery, accepts that loss is inevitable. And still isn’t it glorious to be a living human who can love and express? catemcquaid.substack.com/p/arriving-i...

Inspiration for this artist is sometimes in stone, but other times it comes on wheels - The Boston Globe Since 2016, Jay Hungate has made human-powered art for Lowell’s annual kinetic sculpture race. One year, he even won.

Jay Hungate has two creative deadlines looming. As a stone carver, he's working on 5½ tons of granite for a commission for the Lowell Cemetery. he said. Then there’s a giant snail on wheels — Hungate’s entry in the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race on Sept. 20. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/21/a...

Rising seas, shifting ground Phyllis Ewen on the creation of "Polar Melt," on view in Wellfleet

Phyllis Ewen's sculptural drawings address the changing volatility of Earth's surface. The ground we’re standing on is shifting right beneath our feet, and works like "Polar Melt" don’t flinch from that It's on view at Wellfleet Adult Community Center.
catemcquaid.substack.com/p/rising-sea...