About the Artist

Mary Rose O’Connell is best known for her dynamic oil paintings of the New England coast. Other genres she has mastered are her sensitive portrait, still life, and landscape paintings. She paints in her studio and en plein air in a representational style. Classically trained in the Boston School Tradition, her work shows a strong grounding in composition and design combined with the color and light of the 19th century Impressionists.

Along with being a national award-winning artist, Mary Rose was a past recipient of the Charles Family Foundation, Cape Ann Museum, Copley Society of Art Fellowship. Mary Rose is a juried artist member of the Copley Society of Art, the Rockport Art Association, and the North Shore Arts Association. She has exhibited with the Oil Painters of America, the American Impressionists Society, the Allied Artists of America and the Guild of Boston Artists.

Mary Rose instructs students in composition and design techniques using oil, acrylic, gouache and drawing mediums. In addition to the technical aspects, the classes focus on color, value, and edge relationships within the paintings. She conducts workshops in Europe with Tuscany in the Frame. Mary Rose maintains a studio at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts, owned by the Boston Council for the Arts. Prior to moving to Western Avenue Studios, she was a studio artist at the Whistler House Museum of Art. Mary Rose is currently serving as the president of the Board of Trustees at the North Shore Arts Association in Gloucester, MA. 

SELECT AWARDS

2026 Guild of Boston Artists, Silver Medal, Back Shore

2026 Copley Society of Art, Award of Merit, Back Shore II

2025 18th ARC International Competition, Semi-Finalist, Breaking Surf

2025 North Shore Arts Association, Marguerite Philips Neuhauser Shaffer Memorial Award, Working Harbor

2025 Rockport Art Association and Museum, Charles Shurcliff Memorial Award, Cresendo

2025 North Shore Arts Association, Beauport Hotel Award for Excellence in any Medium, Breaking Surf

2024 Rockport Art Association and Museum National, Nancy A. Kommers Memorial Award for Excellence in Marine Painting, Breaking Surf

2024 American Impressionists Society Honorable Mention, Tempest

2024 Rockport Art Association and Museum Award for Excellence in Painting, Graphics or Sculpture, Maine Rocks

2022 Rockport Art Association and Museum Chip Davis Wells and Amy B. Davis Memorial Award for Excellence in Painting, Harvest

2021 Copley Society of Art Fellowship at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts

2021 North Shore Arts Association Guild of Boston Artists Award in Memory of Carlton Plummer for Excellence in Painting

 Arrangement of Roses

2021 North Shore Arts Association Georgianna Waterhouse Memorial Award for Excellence in Painting, Fresh Spray

2021 North Shore Arts Association Rosamond Smith Bouve Memorial Award, Winter's End Copley Square

2020 North Shore Arts Association Honorable Mention, Twilight

2019 Boldbrush Regram Winner, Along the Iron Fence

2019 North Shore Arts Association Art Supply, Award Surf

2019 FASO Boldbrush Painting Competition Finalist, Surf 

2019 Rockport Art Association and Museum Patty and John Wentworth Award for Excellence, The Breakfast Table

2017 FASO BoldBrush Painting Competition June Second Place Winner, Portrait of Sara   

2016 FASO BoldBrush Painting Competition September Best Acrylic Painting, The North End

2016 Lowell Garden Cemetery Exhibition First Place, Lowell Garden Cemetery

2015 Brush Gallery First Place Fabulous Forgeries, Lady Agnew After Sargent

2014 Francesca Anderson Fine Art/ Portraits North Director's Choice Award, Almost Miniatures Show, Swan Boat

2013 Rockport Art Association and Museum Fall Juried Members Show Excellence in Painting, Portrait of Sara

2013 Gloucester North Shore Arts Association Juried Members Exhibit Reinert Memorial Award, Portrait of Terry

2012 Gloucester North Shore Artists Association Juried Members Exhibit Art Supply Wholesale Award, The North End

2011 Whistler House Museum of Art First Place Looking at Lowell Juried Competition, Mill City at Dusk

2010 Whistler Museum Annual Juried Exhibition First Place, A Winter Landscape

SOLO SHOWS

2026 Wayside Gallery, Fruitlands Museum, Harvard, MA

2024 Western Avenue Studios and Lofts, Lowell, MA 

2023 Beauport Hotel Solo Show, Gloucester, MA

2021 Charles Fine Arts, Gloucester, MA

2021 North Shore Arts Association, Gordon Grant Room, Gloucester, MA

2020 Artist of the Month, Whistler House Museum of Art, Lowell, MA

2019 Red Tractor Galley, Bearskin Neck, Rockport, MA 

2016 Four Lowell Artists, Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA

2015 Rockport Art Association and Museum, Marguerite Pearson Gallery, Rockport, MA

2014 Whistler House Museum, Parker Gallery, Essential Impressions, Lowell, MA

2012 Bank Gloucester, Gloucester, MA

2012 Whistler House Museum Members Gallery, A Collection of Works, Lowell, MA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026, 2024, 2020, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011 Guild of Boston Artists, New England Juried Regional Show, Boston, MA

2026 Lex-Art, A Moment in Time, Juried Exhibition, Lexington MA

2026 Copley Society of Art, All Members Show

2026 Copley Society of Art Patron's Choice, Juried Exhibition

2026-2022 North Shore Arts Association, Exhibit New England Regional Juried Exhibition, Gloucester, MA

2026-2009 North Shore Arts Association Juried Exhibitions, Gloucester, MA

2026-2010 Rockport Art Association and Museum Members Juried Exhibitions, Rockport, MA

2025, 2024 Rockport Art Association and Museum National Show

2025 American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition

2025 Charles Fine Arts Invitationals

2025 Merrimack College, McCoy Gallery Juried Exhibition, WAV Artists at Work

2025 Whistler House Museum of Art, Artists in Residence Show

2025-2021 American Impressionists Society Associates Online Juried Exhibition

2025-2018 Copley Society Small Works, Boston, MA

2024 Copley Society of Art, Glimmer, Boston, MA

2024 Newburyport Art Association Juried Exhibition, Newburyport, MA

2023 Copley Members Juried Exhibition, Winter Harmony, Boston, MA

2023 Charles Gallery, Hopper Reimagined, Gloucester, MA

2023-2009 Whistler House Museum of Art, All Creatures Great and Small, Lowell, MA

2023 Newburyport Art Association, Art Adventure Grant Finalists, Newburyport, MA

2022, 2021 Charles Fine Arts, Plein Air Allstars Spontaneous, Gloucester, MA

2022 Copley Society of Art, Fellows Exhibition September Escapades, Boston, MA

2021 Copley Society Juried Exhibition, New Beginnings, Boston, MA

2021, 2020 Allied Artists of America Online Juried Exhibition 

2021, 2020, 2019, 2014 Francesca Anderson Fine Arts/Portraits North Invitational Exhibitions, Lexington, MA

2020 Copley Society Juried Portrait Show, Back Bay Room, Boston, MA

2020, 2018 Concord Art Juried Exhibitions, Concord, MA

2021, 2019 Bass Rocks Golf Club, Juried Exhibitions, Gloucester, MA

2019 Copley Society of Art Juried Exhibition, Along the Charles, Boston, MA

2019, 2018 Beauport Invitational Exhibition, Gloucester, MA

2020,2019, 2018 Copley Society Fresh Paint, Boston, MA

2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012 Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Annual Juried Exhibitions, Gramercy Park New York, N.Y.

2018, 2017 Gallery Twist, Invitational Exhibitions, Lexington, MA

2017 Bristol Museum, Holiday Show Cape Ann Comes to Bristol, Bristol, R.I.

2017 UMass Lowell, The Whistler House Museum of Art James McNeill Whistler Distinguished Art Award, Lowell, MA

2017 Brush Gallery, Invitational Exhibition Instructors and Students, Lowell, MA

2016 Massachusetts State House, Artists of Lowell Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA

2016 Whistler House Museum of Art, Still Life Invitational Exhibit, Lowell, MA 

2016, 2015 Brush Gallery, Annual Juried Members Show, Lowell, MA

2013, 2012, 2011 Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regional Juried Competitions, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Vermont 

DEMONSTRATIONS/TEACHING/WORKSHOPS

Arts Institute of the Merrimack Valley, Bedford Art Society, Bristol Maine, Canton Art Society, Cape Ann Plein Air, Cape Ann Museum, Chelmsford Art Society, Chelmsford Local Television, Copley paint out, Danvers Art Association, Emerson Inn, Epiphany Fine Art, Fruitlands Museum, Griggs Farm Workshops, Haverhill Art Association, Italy ( Amalfi Coast, Cortona,  Bellagio,  Lake Como, Montepulciano, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria, Verona, Yorkshire Dales), Lexington Artists Guild, Lexington Field and Garden Club, Methuen Local Television, My Place by the Sea, North Shore Arts Association, Pemiquid Maine, Red Tractor Gallery, Reading Art Association, Rockport Art Association and Museum, Rockport Garden Club, Salem N.H. Art Association, Snug Harbor studio, Western Avenue Studios, Whistler House Museum of Art, Woburn Artists Guild, YouTube Chelmsford Center for the Arts

GALLERIES and AFFILIATIONS

American Impressionist Society

Charles Fine Arts, Gloucester, MA

Copley Society of Art Artist Member, Portrait Registry

Guild Of Boston Artists Associate Member

Lowell Art Association/ Whistler House Museum of Art Artist Member

North Shore Arts Association Artists Member Gloucester, MA

Rockport Art Association and Museum Rockport, MA Artist Member

Sidoti Gallery, Rockport, MA

Tuscany in the Frame, Tutor, Cortona, Italy