Rose Marasco

“I teach photography from a place of my own evolving creative interests and consider the social, cultural and political times. Articulating ideas to students and seeing them make visual images that have clarity, depth and voice is always a rewarding challenge. Our students in the USM Art Department are dedicated and genuine. They go on to have successful careers as artists, educators, and art professionals.”

- Rose Marasco, USM Distinguished Professor of Art

Academic Degrees
B.F.A., Syracuse University, 1971
M.A., Goddard College, 1981
M.F.A., Visual Studies Workshop, 1991

Rose Marasco was named USM’s third distinguished professor in recognition of her impact on the fields of photography and photographic education. A versatile and compelling photographer and an inspiring teacher, Prof. Marasco addresses the complexity of photographic meaning from a refined sense of inquiry and creative discovery. Her teaching philosophy encompasses a thorough grounding in the cultural and visual meaning of photographs. “I encourage my students to explore traditional and digital techniques and I emphasize the realization of a personal voice.” 

She has produced several significant and innovative bodies of photographic work including Domestic Objects: Past and Presence, a ten-year project of vibrant cibachrome prints that infuse everyday objects with poetic symbolism, and Ritual and Community: The Maine Grange, which received the New England Historical Association Exhibition of the Year Award. She is currently at work on NYC Scene: Pinhole Photographs, a series of street scenes of each neighborhood in Manhattan. A solo exhibition is planned in NYC, for April 2014.

Prof. Marasco’s work has been highlighted in major publications and is included in public collections such as The Fogg Museum, Harvard University; The Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College; the Photography Collection at The New York Public Library; The Portland Museum of Art; Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection and, the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

A guest lecturer at many institutions including Harvard University, Bates College, Colby College, Massachusetts College of Art, and Parsons School of Design, Prof. Marasco was awarded the 2005 Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award from the Santa Fe Center for Photography.

Upcoming Solo Exhibitions
2014 NYC Scene: Pinhole Photographs, Meredith Ward Fine Art Gallery, New York

Recent Solo Exhibitions

• 2010-11 Projections, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
• 2008 The Invented Photograph, Universite de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France
• 2004-05 Domestic Objects: Past and Presence, University of Southern Maine & traveled
• 2003 Circles, Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York
• 2002 Open House: Margaret Jane Mussey Sweat, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine
• 2000 Leafing, Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York
• 1998 New England Diary, Sarah Morthland Gallery, New York
• 1995 Tender Buttons: Women’s Domestic Objects, Davis Museum, Wellesley College
• 1992-93 Ritual and Community: The Maine Grange, Farnsworth Museum, Rockland & traveled