Bio
Thomas Paquette (1958– ) was born in Minneapolis and grew up making art and relishing trips to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He went to college to study art, but after realizing how risky a career in art is, he dropped out, and experimented with what seemed an equally sane choice: hitchhiking and vagabonding around North America on freight trains (1978-1984) to see firsthand the landscapes that continued to draw him. Eventually he returned to earn a BFA degree in Painting from Bemidji State University, graduating summa cum laude in 1985. After that he earned his MFA degree in Painting in1988 from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, which he attended on a full graduate fellowship. Ever since his formal studies, he has worked full time as a painter, establishing studios in Minneapolis, MN; Portland, ME; and then at the edge of the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, where he now lives.
His paintings have been featured in more than sixty solo exhibitions in museums and prominent galleries in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Washington DC and elsewhere.
In 2018-2019, a large solo exhibition of his paintings, America’s River Re-Explored – Paintings of the Mississippi from Source to Gulf traveled to Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Watermark Art Center, and Dubuque Museum of Art. In 2014-2015, a 70-painting exhibition of his works, On Nature’s Terms, traveled to art museums in California, New York and Indiana (Wildling Art Museum, Quick Center for the Arts, and Evansville Museum of Art and Science). Other independent solo museum exhibitions of his paintings were mounted at Erie Art Museum, Georgia Museum of Art, The Rockwell Museum, and Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Early in his career Paquette was awarded a three-year residency/fellowship in Miami by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He has also had residencies at other institutions, including the American Academy in Rome, the Aegean Arts and Cultural Exchange (Greece), and at U.S. national parks (Acadia, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain). His commissioned works in public and corporate collections include large paintings for Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Queen Mary II, and the states of Minnesota, Montana, Maine.
His paintings have been selected to hang in twenty U.S. embassies on five continents, including in the cities of Rome, Brussels (NATO permanent collection), Athens, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Taipei, and Santiago. Paquette has given talks about his work at institutions across the U.S., as well as in Greece, Wales, and England.
He is represented by T. H. Brennen Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ; EVOKE Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM; Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, PA; Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis, MN; and Meibohm Fine Arts in East Aurora, NY.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2020 Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2020 James K. Schmidt Gallery, Principia College, Elsah, IL
2019 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Tri-County Arts Council, (duo) Olean, NY
2019 Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA
2018 Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN
2018 Watermark Art Center, Bemidji, MN
2016 Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2016 Thiel College, Greenville, PA
2015 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY
2015 Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN
2014 Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure, NY
2014 Wildling Art Museum, Solvang, CA
2013 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2011 Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
2011 Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2010 Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History, Jamestown, NY
2010 Windham Fine Art, Windham, NY
2009 Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
2008 Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata, MN
2008 Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA
2008 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Hoyt Institute of Fine Art, New Castle, PA
2007 Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA
2006 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005 Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE
2005 Jameson Gallery, Portland, ME
2004 Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
2003 Jameson Gallery, Portland, ME
2003 Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN
2002 Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT
2001 Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
2001 Aucocisco Gallery, Portland, ME
2000 Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN
2000 Southern Illinois University Museum, Edwardsville, IL
2000 American Academy in Rome, Italy (studio exhibition)
1998 Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN
1997 Maine State Capitol, Augusta, ME
1996 Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Lydon Fine Art, Chicago, IL
1994 Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
1993 University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 EVOKE Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM, “Here and There”
2019 Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY, “Nocturnes”
2018 US Embassy Brussels NATO (permanent collection)
2018 Wildling Art Museum, Solvang, CA
2017 Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY, “Resting Place: the American Landscape”
2017 US Embassy in Vilnius, Latvia
2017 The Brinton Museum, Big Horn, WY
2016 New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, “As We See It: The Gail and Ernst von Metzsch Collection”
2016 The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, “Art of the State”
2016 Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, Wilkes Barre, PA, “Upstream and Down: the Susquehanna”
2015 U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia
2014 Arcadia Contemporary, New York, New York, “Summer Selections”
2012 U.S. Embassy in Libreville, Gabon
2012 U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan
2012 U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana
2011 Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN, “The Raging Red and the Mighty Mississippi”
2010 U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece
2009 D. Wigmore Fine Arts, New York, NY, “Adirondack Art Today”
2009 U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville, Congo
2008 Roberson Museum, Binghamton, NY, “Visions of the Susquehanna” Exhibition traveled:
Governor’s Residence, Harrisburg, PA, 2007;
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD, 2007;
Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA, 2006;
Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA, 2006
2007 Crary Art Gallery, Warren, PA, “Picturing Wilderness”
2007 Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, “American Arcadia”
2007 U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador
2005 Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA, “Two Artists/Multiple Views” (two-artist show)
2005 U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece
2004 Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA “Along the Lincoln Highway”
2003 The American Institute, Taipei, Taiwan
2003 U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2002 Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN, “Defining a Collection: Recent Art Acquisitions”
2002 Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, “Recent Acquisitions”
2002 U.S. Embassy in St. Petersburg, Russia, “Natural America”
2002 U.S. Embassy (OSCE) in Vienna, Austria
2000 U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy (7 paintings selected)
1999 Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME, “The Joy of Collecting Art in Maine”
1999 L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, ME, “Looking at Katahdin”
1998 U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile
1998 Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME, “The History of Oil Sketching in Maine”
1997 Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS (and traveling), “Buildings and Landscapes”
1995 U.S. Embassy in N’Djmena, Chad
1991 Bass Museum of Art , Miami Beach, FL, “Three Fellows”
(National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts fellowship recipients)
1990 Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL “Art in Miami Collections”
1990 Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL “Contemporaries in our Midst”
(Fellows of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts)
Art in Embassies Program / Department of State
Curators at the Department of State work with ambassadors to select art for installation at U.S embassies and ambassadors’ residences around the world. Below are nineteen diplomatic facilities for which forty of Paquette’s paintings were selected to be displayed either on loan or as part of dedicated permanent collections. To see some of these paintings, see Art-in-Embassies page (click).
2018 – permanent Brussels NATO
2016-2020 Vilnius, Lithuania
2015-2016 Moscow, Russia
2012 – permanent Libreville, Gabon
2011 – 2014 Amman, Jordan
2011 – 2015 Georgetown, Guyana
2010 – 2012 Athens, Greece
2008 – 2011 Brazzaville
2007 – 2009 San Salvador
2006 Havana, Cuba
2005 – 2008 Athens, Greece
2003 – 2005 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2002 – 2006 Taipei, Taiwan
2001 – 2005 Vienna, Austria
2001 – 2005 St. Petersburg, Russia
2001 Rome, Italy
1998 – 2001 Santiago, Chile
1999 – 2001 Riga, Latvia
1994 – 2000 N’Djamena, Chad
Education
Master of Fine Arts – Southern Illinois University, Painting, 1988 full Graduate Fellowship
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Bemidji State University, Painting, 1985 summa cum laude
Fellowships • Residencies • Awards
Artist-in-Residence, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, ME
Visiting Artist Residency, American Academy in Rome, Italy
Artist Residency, Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, NY
Travel Grant, John Anson Kittredge Educational Fund, Cambridge, ME
Artist Residency, Robert M. MacNamara Foundation, Westport Island, ME
Shep Forest Fellowship, Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY
Fellowship and Residency, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Miami Beach, FL
Special Opportunity Stipend, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Visiting Artist, Plymouth University, Exeter, England
Artist-in-Residence, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO
Visiting Artist, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
Full Graduate Fellowship, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
American Artists Abroad, U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassy in Athens
Visiting Artist, University of Wales, Cardiff, Wales
Artist Residency, USM/Aegean Arts and Cultural Exchange, Greece
Artist-in-Residence, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, CA
Collections • Commissions
Acadia National Park Museum
Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp
Banknorth
Beach Museum of Art
Brinton Museum
L.L. Bean
Carlson School of Management
Cigna Museum
Colby College
Collier Shannon Scott
Commerce Bancshares
Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers
Dubuque Museum of Art
Erie Art Museum
Erie Insurance
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Fleet BankBoston
Fidelity Investments
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
Georgia Museum of Art
Ministry of Economics, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Minnesota Historical Society
Mint Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art / Franklin Furnace Art Book Collection
National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts
New Britain Museum of American Art
Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance
Portland Museum of Art
Rockwell Museum
Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History
Smith Barney Morgan Stanley
Southern Illinois University Museum
SPX Corporation
State of Maine
State of Minnesota
State of Montana
Susquehanna Heritage Region
Thomson Financial
UNUM
U.S. Department of State
U.S.T.
United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program
Wells Fargo
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Western Illinois University Museum
Yosemite National Park Museum
Larger commissions
A few works from collections can be seen here (click).
Cunard Line Queen Mary 2 and Holland America Statendam – various size canvases
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN – Four canvas paintings, 7 by 5.5 foot each
Central Lakes College, Brainerd, MN – 6.5 by 32 foot canvas painting
Central Lakes College, Brainerd, MN – 4 x 8 foot canvas painting
Centennial State Office Building, St. Paul, MN – 5 x 11 foot canvas painting
Lectures
2020 Principia College, Elsah, IL
2020 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
2019 Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, IA
2018 Watermark Art Center, Bemidji, MN
2018 Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN
2017 Wild America Nature Festival, Panama Rocks, NY
2015 International Center for Watercolor, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY
2015 Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY
2015 Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN
2014 Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure, NY
2014 University Club of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
2014 Wildling Art Museum, Solvang, CA
2012 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
2008 Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA
2008 St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
2008 Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata, MN
2007 Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA
2007 Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA
2006 Veria Public Library, Veria, Greece
2006 American University, Athens, Greece
2004 Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
2001 Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
1999 Plymouth University, Exeter, England
1999 University of Wales, Cardiff, Wales
1999 Glamorgan Centre for Art, Cardiff, Wales
1993 University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
1990 Miami Dade College, Miami, FL