BIOGRAPHY
Born in California in 1961, Mary Tuma began sewing and crocheting with her mother at an early age. Her love of these processes led her to begin her formal study of art as an apprentice at Beautiful Arts Hall in Kerdassa, Egypt, where she learned to weave tapestries. Later, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Costume and Textile Design from the University of California at Davis, and then went on to study women’s fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 1994, she earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona, where she studied with Professor Gayle Wimmer. In 1997, she began teaching art at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where she now serves as an Associate Professor and the head of the Fibers Program.
Tuma has shown her work in various venues in the United States, including the Crocker Art Museum, the Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, The Bridge in New York City, the Station Museum in Houston and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, MI. Outside of the US, she has shown work at Al Wasiti and Al Hoash in Jerusalem, the International Center of Bethlehem, Birzeit University Museum, Birzeit. West Bank, Kid Aileck Hall, Tokyo, The Maruki Gallery in Hiroshima, among others.
Tuma’s work has appeared in Art in America, Dar Al-Hayat, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Counterpunch, NYArts,Mother Jones, The San Francisco Chronicle, Worker’s World, The Jordan Star, and many others.
She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her two adorable dogs, Monkey and Lulu.
The Artist’s Studio, 2009
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
| 1994 | Master of Fine Arts, University of Arizona |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS
| 2008 | Wall Stories, Jerusalem Fund Gallery, Washington, D.C.. March 28 – May 2 | |
| 2007 | Homes for the Disembodied II, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, Ca. March 24 – May 24 | |
| 2005 | Minuet, Invitational, Gertrude Herber Institute of Art, Augusta, Ga. January 21 – March 18 | |
| 2004 | Three Ones, Invitational, Space 301, Mobile, AL. July 30 – August 30 | |
| Internal Power, Al-KhafGallery, Interntational Center, Bethlehem, West Bank. June 17 – July 12 | ||
| Passages, Inspace Gallery, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI. | ||
| 2000 | Passages, Watkins Gallery, Queens College, Charlotte, NC. | |
| Clothing the Land, Dressing the Bones, Al Wasiti Art Center, Jerusalem. July 15 – August 2 | ||
| 1998-99 | Topographia: Passages Between Worlds, Charlotte International Airport, Charlotte, NC. | |
| 1994 | Shapeshifters, MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tuscon, AZ. | |
| 1993 | Memory and Loss, Local 803 Gallery, Tuscon, AZ. |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2008 | The Veil: Visible and Invisible Spaces, Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO. Curated by Jennifer Heath Collom, May 16, traveling through 2011. | |
| The Olive Project Exhibition, Maruki Gallery, Hiroshima, Japan. April 6 – June 6 | ||
| 2007 | Sucka Free Jams, The Remainder Gallery, Birmingham, AL. September 22 – 30 | |
| Imagination Taking Form, Cleveland County Arts Center, Shelby, NC. May 10 – June 7 | ||
| Cycle, Al-Haosh Gallery (Palestine Art Court), Jerusalem. March 8 – April 8 | ||
| Ethnographic and Art Museum, Birzeit University, Birzeit, West Bank. May 1 – May 30 | ||
| Textile Monuments, Greenhill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC. March 10 – May 10 | ||
| The Olive Project Exhibition, International Center of Bethlehem, West Bank. January 25 – February 26 | ||
| Ethnographic and Art Museum, Birzeit University, Birzeit, West Bank. March 1 – March 30 | ||
| Al Hoash Gallery, Jerusalem. April 1 – June 30 | ||
| Japan Bank Building, Hiroshima, Japan. July 4 – July 16 | ||
| 2006 | The Olive Tree Project Exhibition, Kid Ailack Gallery, Tokyo. May 8 – May 30 | |
| North Carolina 2004-05 Grant Recipients Exhibition, Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, NC. Curated by Virginia Spivey, March 31 – July 9. | ||
| Made in Palestine, The Bridge, New York, NY. March 14 – April 15 | ||
| High Fiber: Transforming Material, Bank of America Plaza, Charlotte, NC. Curated by Joie Lassiter, Feb 6 – Nov 5 | ||
| 2005 | Made in Palestine, T. W. Wood Gallery, Montpelier, VT. Oct 18 – Nov 20 | |
| The Subject of Palestine, The Jerusalem Fund Gallery, Washington, D.C. Curated by Samia Halaby, Sept 9 – Oct 10 | ||
| Made in Palestine, SomArts, San Fransisco, CA. April 7 – 21 | ||
| The Subject of Palestine, De Paul University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL. Curated by Samia Halaby, February 24 – May 6 | ||
| 2004 | Three-person show, Invitational, Ada Gallery, Richmond, VA. April 2 – April 30 | |
| Piece Process, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA. January 16 – February 28 | ||
| 2003 | 23rd Annual Faber Birren National Color Award Show, Stanford Art Association, Stanford, CT. Juried by Dana Miller, October 4 – November 13 | |
| A Sense of Place: Continuity and Change in the New South, Gertrude Herber Institute of Art, Athens, GA. Juried by Tom Nakashima, September 9 – October 24 | ||
| Arte de Decartes IV, Stables Gallery, Taos, NM. Juried by Larry Bell and Maye Torres | ||
| Made in Palestine, The Station, Houston, TX. Curated by James Harithas, Tex Kershaun and Gabriel Delgado, Catalog, May 3 – September 30 | ||
| Visceral: Images of the Internal Body, Invitational, Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA. Curated by Lizzie Zucker Salts, January 11 – February 16 | ||
| 2002 | Piece Process, A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago, IL. Juried by Geant Amit, Catalog, September 4 – September 28 | |
| Fiber Arts 2002, Gallery 510 Arts Guild, Ltd, Decatur, IL. Juried by Naomi Whiting Towne | ||
| Will’s Creek Survey 2002, Saville Gallery, Cumberland, MD. Juried by Amy Schlegel | ||
| Fiber Celebration 2002, Licoln Center, Fort Collins, CO. Juried by Amy Evans | ||
| Women’s History Month Exhibition, Women’s Center, Boise State University, Boise, ID. | ||
| 2001 | Wichita National 2001, The Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS. Juried by Albert Paley | |
| 2000 | Group Exhibition, Al Wasiti Art Center, Jerusalem. | |
| 7thInternational Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, Invitational, University of Hawaii at Manoa Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI. | ||
| 1999 | Fiber Art International ’99, Pittsburg Center for the Arts, Pittsburg, PA. Juried by Jason Pollen, Rebecca Stevens and Bhakti Zeik | |
| 17th Annual September Competition Exhibiton, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA. Juried by Beth Handler | ||
| Stitches, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL. Juried by Renie Bresken Adams | ||
| Stitching Outside the Lines, Three-person exhibition, Rowe Arts Main Gallery, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC. | ||
| 1998 | Loss and Grief, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL. Juried by H. Marie Aragon and Patricia Otto | |
| 1997 | 10th Annual Fiber Arts Exhibition, BASF Fibers and Creative Arts Guild, Dalton, GA. | |
| Phoenix Exhibition, Phantom Galleries, Sacremento, CA. | ||
| 1996 | Texas National ’96, Stephen F. Austin State University Gallery, Nacogdoches, TX. Juried by Faith Ringgold | |
| 1995 | 13th Biennial Invitational, Dinnerware Contemporary Gallery, Tucson, AZ. | |
| 67th Annual Juried Exhibition, Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA. Juried by Phyllis Rosenzweig | ||
| 1994 | ParticipArt, National Juried Exhibition, Galeria Mesa, Mesa, AZ. Juried by Diana Purdue and Rebecca Akins | |
| Encompassing Women: Perspectives on Process, Central Arts Collective, Tucson, AZ. Juried by Bailey Doogan, Barbara Penn and Ellen McMahon | ||
| Intuition: The Direction in Craft, Pan-American Juried Exhibition, Galerry of Artifacts and Treasures, Daytona Beach, FL. | ||
| Paper/Fiber XVIII, Iowa City/Johnson County Arts Center, Iowa City, IA. Juried by Karen Stahlecker | ||
| 1993 | Reclining Woman: Constructed, Installation, Sixth Congress Gallery, Tucson, AZ. | |
| Women and Madness, Congress Street Gallery, Tucson, AZ. |
COLLECTIONS
| Kheyyam Collection | ||
| Made In Palestine Collection | ||
| Crocker Art Museum, Sacremento, CA |
HONORS AND AWARDS
| 2004 | North Carolina Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship | |
| Junior Faculty Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte | ||
| 2003 | Honorable Mention, A Sense of Place: Continuity and Change in the New South, Gertrude Herber Art Institute. Juried by Tom Nakashima | |
| 2002 | Second Place, Will’s Creek Survey. Juried by Amy Schlegel | |
| First Place, Non-Functional Three-Dimensional category, Fiber Celebration 2002, Licoln Center. Juried by Amy Evans | ||
| 2000 | Junior Faculty Summer Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte | |
| 1999 | Junior Faculty Summer Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte | |
| Juror’s Award, September Exhibition and Competition, Alexandria Museum of Art. Juried by Beth Handler, assistant curator, MOMA, NY | ||
| Joanne Purrington Folley Memorial Award for Excellence in Needlework, FiberArt International ’99, Pittsburg Center for the Arts | ||
| 1994 | Juror’s Award, ParticipArt, Galeria Mesa. Juried by Diana Purdue and Rebecca Akins |
CURRENT POSITION
| Associate Professor, Fibers Area Head Department of Art, University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
| 2008 | Encyclopedia of Arab-American Artists: Artists of the American Mosaic, by Fayeq S. Oweis, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT | |
| Artistas Palestinas: La Tierra = El Cuerpo = La Narrativa, Reem Fadda, Ed., Palestinian Art Court- Al Hoash and Spanish Consulate General and Fundacion Tres Culturas, Jerusalem | ||
| 2005 | Transnational Artists: Arab American Artists Remapping the Boundaries of Art , by Salwa Mikdadi in Neighbours in Dialogue, edited by Beral Madra and Ayse Orhun Gultekin, Norgunk Publishing, Istanbul | |
| 2004 | Made in Palestine, exhibition catalog by James Harithas, et al., Ineri Publishing, Houston, TX | |
| 2001 | American-Arab Artists and Multiculturalism in America, by Salwa Mikdadi Nashashibi, in Displacement and Difference: Contemporary Arab Visual Culture in the Diaspora, edited by Fran Lloyd, Saffron Press, London |
REVIEWS AND CATALOGS
| 2008 | Al-Siyasah Athaqafiya, Kuwait. March 3, by Abed. p. 33, Mary Tuma Migrates from Color to Black: I try to highlight heroism of Palestinian Women | |
| Al Khaleej Al Thaqafi (Gulf Culture) Kuwait. February 25. Title not yet translated | ||
| NY Arts, NY. July/August, by Andrzej Lawn. Made in Palestine | ||
| Art in America, September, by Kathy Zarur. Looking at the Levant | ||
| Charlotte Woman, NC. May. pg. 91 | ||
| ArteEast (website), NY. By Jessica Wright. Palestinian Art: Moving in from the Margins | ||
| Workers World, NY. April 23, by Charlotte Kates. Thousands turn out to view “Made in Palestine” exhibit | ||
| Columbia Daily Spectator, New York. March 21, by Iggy Cortez. Exploring Palestinian Identity with Mixed Media | ||
| Carolina Arts, NC. March. Trizec Properties in Charlotte, NC, Offers Exhibition at Bank of America Plaza | ||
| The New York Times, NY. March 24, Page B29. Art in Review, by Holland Cotter. Made in Palestine: Contemporary Palestinian Art | ||
| 2005 | Vermont Woman, Vol. 3, Number 3, December, by M. Fifield and M. Michniewicz. Made in Palestine: Meditations on Truth | |
| Seven Days: Vermont’s Alternative Webweekly, October 26, by Kevin J. Kelley. Looking Homeward | ||
| Counterpunch Magazine (online), October 24, by Kathleen and Bill Christison. A Struggle for Palestinian Identity: US Foreign Policy and Palestine | ||
| The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT. October 21, by Anne Galloway. Palestinian artists bring plight of their people to Montpelier | ||
| Dar Al-Hayat, London, UK. October 17, By Maymanah Farhat. Mary Tuma: Dancing Girls, Passages and Homes for the Disembodied | ||
| Counterpunch Magazine, April 8, by Rob Eshelman. Made in Palestine: The first exhibition of contemporary Palestinian art in the United States arrives in San Francisco | ||
| Bidoun: Arts and Culture from the Middle East, NY. Autumn, pp. 140-141, by Alison Bing. Made in Palestine: The Show Behind the Headlines | ||
| Mother Jones Magazine (online), May 11, by Onnesha Roychoudhuri. Made in Palestine | ||
| Al Jazeera (English edition), April 20, by Linda Isam Haddad. Palestine US exhibit stirs controversy | ||
| Bay Area Guardian, CA. April 5, by Robert Avila. History in the Waking | ||
| The Daily Star, April 5, by Ramsay Short. Palestinian Artists create facts on the ground in America | ||
| San Francisco Chronicle, CA. April 3, by Jonathan Curiel. Unknown Face of Palestinian Art | ||
| 2004 | The New York Times, NY. November 21, by Peter Applebome/Our Towns, Page 30. Palestinians, Jews and the Art of Getting Bent Out of Shape | |
| Al Damir A Conciencia, Santiago, Chile. July, No. 35, by Ingy El Telawi Kanj, pp. 18-20. Palestina a trave’s del arte: Mary Bahji Tuma—Una forma de despertar la conciencia | ||
| Mobile Register, AL. October 1, by Thomas B. Harrison. Are artists liberal by default? | ||
| Flagpole, Athens, GA. February 25, By Debbie Michaud, p. 13. Piece Process: ATHICA Exhibit Explores Conflict and Peace in the Middle East | ||
| Marquee-Athens Banner-Herald, GA. January 22-28, By Melissa Link (cover story, inside cover, centerfold pp. 1, 2, 8-9). Piece Process: ATHICA exhibit explores Israeli-Palestinian issues | ||
| Marquee-Athens Banner-Herald, January 15-21, p. 3. announcement of show with b/w of piece and two descriptive paragraphs. From Around the World | ||
| 2003 | Revolutionary Worker, November 30, No. 1221 (Vol 25 No. 26) pages 8-9. The Artists of “Made in Palestine” | |
| Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November, Vol. XXII, No. 9, by Delinda C. Hanley. “Made in Palestine”: A Stirring Art Exhibit Rocks Houston and Hits the Road | ||
| Artlies, Summer 2003, No. 39, by Ileana Marcoulesco, pages 78-79. Houston Review: Made in Palestine-Station | ||
| The Christian Science Monitor, Wednesday, May 28, By Kris Axtman An. artistic “road map” to progress: In a Palestinian art show in Houston, some see a promise beyond pictures | ||
| Artlife Limited Editions, Vol. 23, Issue No. 248. Contains Made in Palestine catalog | ||
| Houston Chronicle, TX. May 17, by Patricia C. Johnson. Stirring Exhibit Gathers Political Statements, Personal Narratives, All “Made in Palestine” | ||
| Art Papers, Atlanta, GA. May/June edition, by Robin Dana. | ||
| Marquee, Athens, GA. Jan. 16-22, by Mary Jessica Hammes. Anatomical explorations: ATHICA show focuses on the what’s inside us | ||
| 2000 | Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC. December 2, by Linda Luise Brown. Memento Mori: Images of Bloody Conflict Hit Close to Home | |
| Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC. November 18, by Linda Luise Brown. Best in Show: Women Add Strength to Current Art Scene | ||
| Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC. September 16, by Linda Luise Brown. Holding the Fort (UNC Charlotte Faculty Exhibition Review) | ||
| Al-Ayyamm, Ramallah, West Bank. August 10, by Tahseen Yaqeen. Mary Tuma: Structural Art in a Vacuum (Arabic) | ||
| Al-Quds, Jerusalem. August 4, by Mohammed Abu-Khader. Clothing the Land, Dressing the Bones (Arabic) | ||
| 7th International Shoebox Exhibition Catalog | ||
| 1999 | The Jordan Star, Amman, Jordan. August 5, by Ghassan Joha. Mary Tuma’s Installations: Personifying Feminism through Artworks | |
| The Charlotte Observer, NC. People Column, October 3. Mary Bahjah Tuma’s art is in Pittsburgh exhibition | ||
| September Exhibition and Competition Catalog (CD) | ||
| Fiberart International ’99 Exhibition Catalog | ||
| 1994 | Tucson Citizen, AZ. September, by Charlotte Lowe. UA showing a body of work | |
| Tucson Citizen, Tucson, AZ. April, by Charlotte Lowe. UA student art show nervy |
Mary Tuma ماري توما 