Maggie's Art Statement & Bio About the Artist

Maggie has had a life-long love of art.  As a child she loved to draw and spent much of her free time sketching whatever caught her eye.  Her mother always commented that "Margaret could draw before she could walk."  As a young girl, she went to the house of a neighbor who was an artist and learned the skill of oil painting while sitting on the front porch.  But since oil paint and canvas were expensive, Maggie had to restrict herself to pencil sketches and charcoal or colored chalk during those early years.  As a result, she excels at draftsmanship and realism in her art.  Maggie describes her fascination with watercolor by explaining that "it is the closest thing to painting with God that I have experienced because there are times when I apply the brush and paint to paper and something mystical happens and I know that I did not do it; God did."  She also enjoys working with oil when painting en plein air.  Maggie's art captures reality in its fine detail and includes the earthy beauty of the world as she sees it.  Her work ranges from realistic to impressionist depending on the way in which she wishes the painting to interact with the viewer.

Maggie grew up in New Harmony, Indiana, a historic midwestern town on the banks of the Wabash River.  She has a BA in Mathematics and a Masters in Educaiton, which might seem odd for an artist.  Her practical nature led her to the teaching of mathematics while her creative side led her into many adventures with fine art and creative crafts.   After graduating from college, she taught high school math while at the same time experimenting with oil painting, pastel portraits, tole painting and various crafts.  In 2000, she took her first official art class with Coral Hardt at the University of Southern Indiana through the Continuing Education Program.  Since that first class, she has taken workshops with Jerry Smith, Jeanne McLeish, Maggie McClellan, Gale Bennett, Helen Burkett, Susan Sarback, Sue Archer, Bill Borden, Judy Wagner, Todd A. Williams and Karlyn Holman.  Gleaning from these instructors, Maggie has developed her own artistic style and presentation.

Rapp retired from teaching in 2001 and is currently the Director of the New Harmony Hoosier Salon Art Gallery.  She and her husband, Ernie, reside in New Harmony, but spend winters at their Florida home in Ft. Myers.  Maggie is a member of the Hoosier Salon Patrons Association, Watercolor Society of Indiana, Indiana Plein Air Painters Association, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, Art League of Bonita Springs, Big Arts of Sanibel-Captiva, and the Art Council of Southwest Florida.  Her art has been exhibited at the Hoosier Salon New Harmony Gallery; the Field to Finish Exhibit during the First Brush of Spring Paint Out; the Old Stone Gallery in Newburgh, IN; Old National Bank Atrium in Evansville, IN; the Evansville Museum of Art, History & Science; and The Groves in Ft. Myers, Florida.  She has been accepted to juried exhibits by the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, the Arts Council of Southwest Florida, Indiana Plein Air Painters Association, the Watercolor Society of Indiana and the Art league of Ft. Myers, Ass League of Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach Art League, Florida.  She was part of a two person exhibit in August of 2007 at the Old National Bank Atrium in Evansville, Indiana.  Her work was displayed at a solo exhibit at the Evansville Commerce Bank during the month of November, 2007.  Two or her works, "Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse" and "Posey County Courthouse", are part of a permanent collection of 92 Indiana County Courthouses housed at the office of the Indiana State Bar Association at One Indiana Square in Indianapolis. The painting of her granddaughter, Ella, "Pretty as a Peony", received an Honorable Mention at the Spring Juried Exhibit at the Fort Myers Beach Art Association.   In 2008, during August, Maggie's artwork was on display at the Evansville Chamber of Commerce offices located in the Old Post Office, 100 NW 2nd Street, Evansville, IN and then in October and November she had a solo exhibit at the Posey County Chamber of Commerce in Mt. Vernon, IN.  The 2009 year began with Maggie in Florida where her work was accepted to four different juried exhibits.  She had paintings at the Winter and at the Spring Juried Exhibit at the Fort Myers Beach Art Association where her work, "Hot n Spicy", received a Merit Award.  Two of her paintings were juried into the Spring Exhibit of the Art Council of Southwestern Florida that was displayed at the Harborside Conference Center in Fort Myers, FL.  In addition, three of her oil paintings were accepted into the juried exhibit of Small and Miniature Paintings at the Art League of Bonita Springs, FL.  Her work was juried into the Indiana Heritage Arts 2009 Exhibit at the Brown County Art Gallery.  She was one of three women artists in the "Women in Harmony" Exhibit at the Hoosier Salon New Harmony Gallery in June of 2010.  In 2010, she had work juried into the exhibits of the Art Council of Southwest Florida at Coconut Point, the art leagues of Ft. Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, and Big Arts on Sanibel Island, Florida, the Arts Council "Inspired Women in Art" Exhibit at Deaconess Women's Hospital and at the Christian Fellowship Church, "Small Works Exhibit" where her painting John 3:16 was purchased for the church's permanent exhibit.  Currently she has an exhibit at the Old National Bank Atrium in downtown Evansville, IN.  Her work is for sale at the Hoosier Salon New Harmony Gallery,  and The White House Restaurant in New Harmony, IN.