About
For twenty-five years I was a Biological Anthropologist studying and then teaching at Kent State University. My research area was the ecology and behavior of New World monkeys.
Some years ago, I resigned my tenured professorship to become a full-time textile artist.
Since then I have exhibited my hand-dyed quilts in numerous national and international shows, and my work is included in many public and private collections.
resume
EDUCATION
International Diploma Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. London, UK
Ph.D. Biological Anthropology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024
Not Nostalgia Trumbull Art Gallery, Warren OH Invited
Artist as Quiltmaker XX Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin OH Juried
Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh Exhibition Erie Art Museum, Erie PA Juried
2023
Mary Lou Alexander. A Retrospective Regina Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure University, Olean, NY. Solo
Quilt=Art=Quilt SchweinfurthArt Center, Auburn NY Juried
New Masters III Wasmer Gallery, Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, OH Juried
2022
Artist as Quiltmaker XIX Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin OH Juried
Fur, Fangs, Feathers and Fins Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Tucson AZ and touring thru 2025 Juried
Being - With Surface Design Association Online Exhibition Winter 2022 Juried
https://www.surfacedesign.org Invited
SAQA Artist Showcase Featured Artist March 2022 https://www.saqa.com
2021
Archive Surface Design Association Online Exhibition https://www.surfacedesign.org Invited
Form Not Function Carnegie Center for the Arts, New Albany IN Honorable Mention Juried
Out of the Funk Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, Pittsburgh PA Juried
Best Of Ohio 2020-2021 Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus OH and traveling Juried
Quilt=Art=Quilt Schweinfurth Center for the Arts, Auburn New York Juried
Expanding Lines Foster Art Gallery, Westminster College, New Wilmington PA Invited
2020
On the Edge SAQA Virtual Exhibition https://www.saqa.com Juried
Found Again Art Quilt Network Exhibit Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus OH Juried
New Masters 2 Wasmer Gallery Ursuline College, Pepper Pike OH Juried
2019
Contemporary Fibers Tovar House, Oldest House Complex, St Augustine FL Juried
Best of Ohio 2019 Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH and traveling Juried
2018
Peace and Justice Delaware State University, Dover DE Juried
Inspired Seton Hall University. Greensburg, PA Juried
Botanical Threads: Mary Lou Alexander and Peggy Lynn Cox Weller Gallery, Fellows Riverside Gardens, Youngstown OH and Foster Gallery, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA Invited
Artist as Quiltmaker Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, OH Juried
Best of Ohio 2018 Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH and traveling Juried
2017
With These Hands Ross Art Museum, Delaware, OH Juried
blue Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA Juried
Best of Ohio 2017 Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH and traveling Juried
2016
Material Pulses: Eight Viewpoints Riffe Gallery, Ohio Statehouse, Columbus, OH and traveling thru 2023 Invited
2015
Inaugural Exhibition Edison Price Gallery, New York, NY Invited
International Threads Prague Patchwork Meeting, Prague, Czech Republic Invited
Natural Dye Showcase Mendocino Center for the Arts, Mendocino, CA Juried
2013
DEUX Ste Marie aux Mines, France and traveling Juried
Best of Ohio 2013 Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus OH and traveling Juried
2012
Second Life HeightsArts Gallery, Cleveland Heights, OH Invited
Creative Statements: Ohio Art Quilts 2012 Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH Invited
2011
Contemporary Quilts by Mary Lou Alexander Foster Gallery, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA Solo
2010
Color Improvisations: International Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Quilts Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart, Germany, and traveling thru 2013 Invited
Quilt=Art=Quilt 2010 Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY Juried
2009
Mary Lou Alexander: Contemporary Quilts. Humphrey Gallery, University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH Solo
Quilt National: The Best of Contemporary Quilts The Dairy Barn. Athens, OH Juried
Form Not Function Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany, IN Juried
2008
Marbaum Collection: 25 Years of Contemporary Quilts The Dairy Barn, Athens, OH Invited
Shibori Cut Loose The Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN Juried
Art Quilts Lowell Brush Gallery, Lowell MA Juried
2006
Threads and Fragments: Art Quilts by Mary Lou Alexander McDonough Museum, Youngstown, OH Solo
CURATOR/JUROR
2020
Quilt=Art=Quilt 2020 Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY Juror
2009
Nancy Crow: New and Recent Works Butler Institute of American Art, Trumbull Gallery, Howland, OH Curator
2008
Depth and Breadth: Six Quiltmakers in the Twenty-first Century Butler Institute of American Art, Trumbull Gallery, Howland, OH Curator
IN PRINT
2024 Art Quilting Studio Volume 16 Issue 2 Metamorphosis Through Shibori by Mary Lou Alexander pp. 96-99
2022 Art Quilt Quarterly Issue No. 28 Artist to Watch: Mary Lou Alexander and Cover Issue 28 pp.24-27
2021 Patchwork Professional Interview: Mary Lou Alexander. 01/2022 pp.6-11
(in German)
2016 Columbus Dispatch Colors Pop in the Riffe Gallery Exhibit of Quilts, Textiles.
T. Tonguette June 12
City Scene Columbus Riffe Gallery Exhibition Looks at Art Quilting. Gabriel Benton April 1
2014 Surface Design Magazine Interpreting Nature: Piecing Abstraction. Petra Fallaux Vol. 38. No.3