About
Artist Statement
Ciara McNamara is a visual artist specialized in environmentally-driven artworks, with a focus in oil painting, pen-and-ink drawing, and found-object sculpture. McNamara's work expressively depicts hyper-consumerist, animal welfare-related, ecologically narrative imagery. She delves into topics of exploitative factory farming and waste pollution in the United States. Through her art, Ciara aims to draw out critical environmental issues and provoke questions to expand discussion. Her work is both undeniably confrontational while remaining digestible to wide audiences. Her investigation of environmental dangers, industrialization and animal cruelty, exists through a combination of research and compositionally-collaged representational painting.
Artist Biography
Ciara McNamara is a native Brooklyn and Narrowsburg based artist whose work explores contemporary industrialization, farming, and consumerism seen in day-to-day life. A recent college graduate, McNamara's Honors Study was awarded the prestigious Ames Prize for Best Honors Study, and the Jane Bill Award for maintaining the highest standard of art for all four years as an undergraduate. In 2023, she studied Art History and Italian Architecture at the Pantheon Institute in Rome. She currently teaches art classes around New York City, works with the Textile Arts Center Artists Programs, and recently completed assistance of the Annual Spring/Break Art Show. Her most recent group exhibitions include the Chelsea Walls: Untitled Summer Show and the Art in Sixes Delaware Valley Arts Alliance Show. McNamara is expected to complete a Summer Residency and begin as a CFA Candidate at the New York Academy of Art later this year.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2026 - 2027 (expected) - CFA Candidate, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2024 - BA Studio Art and Psychology, minor in English, cum laude, distinction in art, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut
2023 - Study Exchange in Architecture and Art History, Pantheon Institute, Rome, Italy
Awards + Fellowships
2026 - 2027 (expected) - CFA Academy Scholar Award, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2025 (expected) - 2025 SURP Scholarship, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2025 (expected) - 2025 SURP Academy Scholar Award, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2024 - Oakes and Louise Ames Prize for Best Honors Study of the graduating class of 2024
2024 - Jane Bill Award for a student maintaining the highest standard of art through all four years at Connecticut College
2022 - ConnSHARP Fellowship, Connecticut College Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Research Program
2022 - Salvator Stephen Figliomeni Memorial Art Award ‘82 for a student who savors life and art and inspires a sense of goodness in all they touch
2020, 2021, 2022 - Presidential Scholarship awarded to distinguished Dean’s High Honors students (only awarded to underclassmen)
2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 - 1911 Scholarship awarded to a high-merit achieving student for their academic performance
Selected Exhibitions
2025 - Saint Ann’s Auction, Hosted by the Alumni Department of Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn, NY
2024 - 20th Annual Artist in Sixes Small Works Show, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY
2024 - Untitled Summer: Inaugural Group Show, Chelsea Walls Gallery, New York, NY
2024 - Kindred/: Senior Art Major Thesis Exhibition 2024, Cummings Art Center Galleries, Connecticut College, New London, CT
2022, 2023, 2024 - Artist and Curator: All-Student Show, Cummings Art Center Galleries, Connecticut College, New London, CT
Residencies
2025 (expected) - Summer Residency, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
Published Articles
2025 - AIR Feature: Josué Morales Urbina, Ciara McNamara, Textile Arts Center (2025)
2025 - Spotlight on Sarah Byrd, Ciara McNamara, Textile Arts Center (2025)
2025 - AIR Feature: Faviola Lopez-Romani, Ciara McNamara, Textile Arts Center (2025)
2025 - AIR Feature: Fay Ku, Ciara McNamara, Textile Arts Center (2025)
2024 - Art of Consumption. Amy Martin, CC Magazine, Issue: Fall 2024 (2024)
2024 - Artist Interviews: Ciara McNamara: Fast, Farm, Factory Fresh. Chelsea Walls Gallery (2024)
Teaching
2025 - Artists Programs Internship, Textile Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY
2024, 2025 - Teaching Residency for Early Childhood, Scribble Art Workshop, Twin Parks Montessori School + The Equity Project Charter School, New York, NY
2024, 2025 - Art Substitute Teacher for 1st - 12th Grade at Saint Ann’s School, Brooklyn, NY
2024 - New York Foundation of Arts/ New York State Council of Arts Artist as Entrepreneur Program, Hosted by Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY
2021, 2022, 2023 2024 - Art Department Student Advisory Board at Connecticut College, New London, CT
2024 - Teaching Assistant for Large Format Painting at Connecticut College, New London, CT
2023 - Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Painting at Connecticut College, New London, CT