Bethany Engstrom

Bethany Engstrom (b. 1978, Belfast, ME) is an artist, curator, and educator living and working in Belfast, Maine. She received a BA in Art History 2002, her MFA in Intermedia in 2011 and Interdisciplinary PhD in Intermedial Collaborative Practices in 2014, each from the University of Maine.

Bethany’s recent work utilizes objects, installation, audio, and video, focusing on how these materials can express ideas of time, environment, labor/work, and motherhood. She has participated in residencies at the Volland Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Hewnoaks Artist Colony, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation and Mildred’s Lane.

Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Newport Art Museum, Newport, Rhode Island, Collar Works in Tory, New York, Speedwell Contemporary and Cove Street Arts in Portland, Maine, Asymmetrick Arts and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, Maine, Waterfall Arts in Belfast, Maine and the University of Maine.

She is an adjunct Assistant Professor in Intermedia at UMaine and a part time Lecturer in Visual Arts at the University of Maine Augusta. Formerly Associate Curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Engstrom has an active independent curatorial practice, working collectively with artists to create engaging shared environments.

Bethany’s work was featured in ‘Critical Mass,’ on view August 12-27, 2023.

“Six Persimmons is based on the thirteenth century painting by the monk Muqi Fachang of the same name and is a reflection of the process of making; what seems like a simple act of representing a fruit, is a careful consideration of the subject and what it means to make work as an artist. By representing Six Persimmons, I was able to renew my practice that was hindered because of the pandemic and the transition in my role as a mother and my role in my work.”

Bethany Engstrom