The University of Southern Maine Art Gallery is pleased to announce the 2024 Artist-in-Residence, Ryan Adams. During his residency, painter, muralist, and graffiti artist Adams will complete a mural as part of his Piece Together Project.
Adams’s vibrant Piece Together series was conceived with his artistic collaborator and wife, Rachel Gloria Adams. The series celebrates individuals that comprise the fabric of the neighborhood, with the goal that their faces will serve as an inspiration for future generations. These portraits serve as a catalyst for artistic and civic engagement among visitors and residents. The project brings visibility to individuals from communities whose participation in the art world is often minimized, obscured, or overlooked, especially those from Black, Indigenous, and LatinX communities and other communities of color.
Ryan Adams is a painter and muralist based in Portland, Maine. His background in traditional graffiti led him to create large-scale mural work and hand-lettered signage while maintaining a studio practice. His signature ‘gem’ style of work is a geometric breakdown of letterforms with shadows and highlights embedded within to create depth and movement throughout the pieces, often including hidden statements. These statements can be literal or figurative but often highlight sociocultural issues. His studio practice is rooted in the exploration of form and abstraction while remaining true to his background in letter studies.
The Artist-in-Residence program is supported by The Warren Foundation.