Bio

Mara Baker is an interdisciplinary artist and educator interested in the myriad ways we experience color. Her current work employs plant colorants foraged and cultivated in her dye garden.

Baker received an MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally including Chicago, New York, Santa Fe, Minneapolis, Budapest and Toronto. Some notable exhibition venues include Bert Green Fine Art (Chicago IL) Riverside Art Center Sculpture Garden (Riverside, IL), Currents New Media Festival (Santa Fe NM), The Soap Factory (Minneapolis MN), The Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago, IL), Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (Grand Rapids, MI), and The Luminary Arts Center (Saint Louis, MO). She has been the recipient of artist’s grants and residencies from Hambidge Art Center (Rabun Gap, GA,The Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Center Program Residency-Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago, IL ), Chicago Artists Coalition (Chicago, IL) She has received three SSA Public art grants from Chambers of Commerce across the city of Chicago for the Chameleon Blind Window Project.

Baker is Professor of Art at the College of Dupage, a nationally recognized community college serving the greater Chicago area.