"The Big Shift" by Patrick Maloney Reception

Rob Schmeider, who has ensured this exhibit is true to Patrick’ s vision, will attend the reception.

Born in Portsmouth, N.H., in 1951, Patrick and his twin sister Pam were part of a large family in a bustling, history-rich Navy town that was full of sights and sounds. His. passion for drawing began early, and his high school job in the Portsmouth Public Library also mapped a future path.

As an art student at the University of New Hampshire, Patrick found key mentorship in Sigmund Abeles. UNH is also where Patrick held his first job as a slide librarian. After moving to Boston in 1975, visual resources jobs at Boston University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts cemented Patrick’ s relationship to the local community of art makers of all generations.

At SMFA, beyond his paid position, Patrick spearheaded an annual Staff Art Show to showcase the artists who work as museum guards, conservators, curators, and other non-faculty roles. His Marcel Duchamp Day events were one-of-a-kind celebrations of one of his artist heroes–one who cannot really be “taught.” Other art heroes were Giotto and Picasso.

At the time of his death, Patrick was a resident of the Fensgate Cooperative and had recently joined its board, where expertise from his current job as concierge at a Back Bay apartment building had proven invaluable. With works-in-progress on his own easel and walls, Patrick was also intensely involved in preservation efforts around the Works Progress Administration mural housed at Fensgate.

While pandemic conditions put a halt to his yearly shows at the Liberty Hotel on Beacon Hill, Patrick showed his painting Emerald Necklace” in a group show last spring dedicated to the grit and glamour of Boston.