Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcie Wolf-Hubbard.
Hi Marcie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always loved to draw—putting down on paper what I see. Drawing has been my way of responding to the world, a way of documenting experience. It’s always felt like a challenge, but one that grounds me.
I graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1979 and earned a BA in Studio Art from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) in 1983, after also studying Fine Art Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). I moved in with my then fiancé, David Hubbard—also an artist—and for several years I worked as a freelance designer and illustrator, including commercial work, editorial, and courtroom illustration. Freelancing gave me the flexibility to keep working after having children.
When our kids were 2 and 6, we bought a popup camper and traveled cross-country—twice! We spent the month of August each year exploring the changing landscape. On one trip home, we noticed our older son, age 8, was mishearing me. He was diagnosed with a progressive, delayed-onset hearing loss—and soon after, our 4-year-old was diagnosed with the same condition. Raising two children with special needs became my priority, and my professional direction shifted.
I began working as a para-educator in a high school with a Deaf and Hard of Hearing program, improving my sign language skills. Eventually, I realized that full-time work wasn’t sustainable with the demands of my children’s medical and educational needs. I transitioned into home and hospital teaching general education, which offered more flexibility, and also began teaching after-school art classes. I trained in arts integration and was later accepted into a program for Artists in Hospitals at Montgomery College. That experience opened the door to work in Creative Aging, and I began receiving community artist grants for residencies in schools and community settings.
Today, this is the work I continue to do—teaching and leading artist residencies through organizations such as the Smithsonian Associates Studio Arts, Yellow Barn Studios, and Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture. In 2021, I was accepted onto the Maryland State Teaching Artist Roster, which has led to many more opportunities across the state.
Throughout this journey, I’ve always maintained my own art practice—drawing landscapes in pastel and oils, life drawing in charcoal, and working in collage and mixed media.
In 2010, I moved into a studio at Pyramid Atlantic (then in Silver Spring), sharing space with artist Shanthi Chandrasekar. I became interested in encaustic painting and took a tutorial with artist Ellyn Weiss. She encouraged me to bring materials I enjoyed working with, so I brought life drawings and integrated these into encaustic paintings—I immediately loved the process. Around the same time, my husband wrote The Shiny Shell, a children’s book. I created the illustrations using charcoal and encaustic painting. While I continued working in oils, encaustic became my preferred medium. In 2015 we self-published Poems From Within, An Artistic Ekphrasis featuring my husband’s poems inspired by my paintings.
In 2016, when Pyramid Atlantic relocated to Hyattsville, I left the studio and began working from home. That same year, my husband was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and underwent a Whipple procedure. Thankfully, the surgery was successful, and after six months of chemotherapy, he retired from his art handling business.
When the pandemic began in 2020, I started teaching online—and surprisingly, I’ve continued to teach many classes virtually. Some of the students from my very first online Building Tiny Houses in Mixed Media class in March 2020 are still with me in my Tuesday daytime and evening classes. Teaching through that period was a lifeline.
Two years ago, I had a lumpectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. My husband took care of me throughout my recovery. I was able to continue teaching, even during treatment. My students truly fueled me—supporting me through both COVID and breast cancer treatment giving me love and strength.
My artwork has continued to evolve. I’ve shown my work regularly and explored more sculptural forms—tiny dioramas and bas-relief paintings. During COVID, I participated in virtual life drawing sessions with the UK-based 2Bornot2B Drawing Collective, whose models came from around the world. Those sessions inspired several tiny interior works based on the models and their environments.
Today, I serve as Chair of the Social/Education Committee for Ch/Art (Chevy Chase Artists), and I’m an active member of Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA) and the Washington Sculptors Group.
A few recent highlights include receiving the Nancy Frankel Award in 2022, which honors one of America’s greatest sculptors and helps continue her cultural legacy.
In September 2024, I presented Building a Tiny Community in Mixed Media at ITAC7 in Auckland, New Zealand, as part of the International Teaching Artists Conference. My husband joined me, and the trip was truly a dream.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Visual artist: Encaustic and mixed media painting and sculpture.
I am also a teaching artist working with all ages and populations including individuals with special needs and adults with dementia.
How do you define success?
Success is being able to work in art, and build communities through my classes and in collaboration with other artists. I’m happy to be able to exhibit my work and see how it resonates with other people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marciewolfhubbard.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wolfhubbard/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcie.wolfhubbard
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcie-wolf-hubbard-71418b6/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marcieplusart
