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, Susanne Brown, Bill Borden, Judy Wagner 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 Riverwind Gallery, IPAPA and the Art league of Ft. Myers 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. Most recently her painting, "Pretty as a Peony", received an Honorable Mention at the Spring Juried Exhibit at the Fort Myers Beach Art Association.