About the Artist…

Maria Noonan-McDermott is an Irish visual artist and poet from Donegal, based in Kinlough, Co. Leitrim. Her practice is rooted in the Irish landscape and shaped by folklore, memory and storytelling. 

Working across painting and poetry, she creates work that explores the emotional and cultural histories held within rural places. 

Influenced by the Impressionist tradition and by a deep connection to the natural world, Maria’s work studies light, form, atmosphere and the shifting character of the Irish landscape. She is equally drawn to the people and stories embedded within that landscape, the local voices, shared histories, humour, music and mythologies that give a place its soul. 

Storytelling is central to her practice. Her paintings and poems emerge from recollection, observation and imagination, often shaped by the oral culture of rural Ireland and the tradition of the seanchaí. Through colour, mood and narrative suggestion, her work invites the viewer into an encounter with memory, place and feeling.

Maria began her artistic career in Dublin in 1985. After qualifying in Fashion and Design, she returned to education to complete a certificate in visual education and continued on to study Fine Art. She held her first solo exhibition in 1990, beginning a practice that now spans almost four decades and includes 29 solo exhibitions as well as numerous group exhibitions nationally and internationally. 

Recent highlights include the touring solo exhibition Time-Lapse (2022–2026), shortlisted recognition for the John Richardson French Residency Award 2026, poetry selections in the ‘Washing Windows’ anthology series and a range of bursaries and residencies supporting the continued development of her work.


Maria Noonan-McDermott CV

29 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally.

  • Recent notable developments include my touring solo exhibition 'Time-Lapse' (2022–2026), which has been showcased at Art Centres and Art Galleries throughout Ireland. This exhibition was supported by grants from the Irish Hospice Foundation, Creative Ireland Programme and Leitrim and Donegal County Council Arts Bursaries.

  • Shortlist for the John Richardson French Residency Award (2026) for my painting ‘First Light’.

  • Feile na mban Curator and Facilitator 2026, Art and Poetry event in partnership with Poetry Ireland, aired on TG4 for St. Brigid’s Festival weekend., Bundoran, Co.Donegal.

  • Won the Eilish MacBride award at the Frances Browne Literary Festival 2025, as the overall winner in the local English Language category for my poem, ‘Aunties’.

  • Honoured to be part of The Lough Erne Collection, marking a vibrant new collaboration between Hambly & Hambly Gallery at Dunbar House and @lougherneresort. An inspiring partnership which brings together Ireland’s leading contemporary artists in one elegant publication that unites art, place and experience.

  • My poem, ‘The Red Chair’ has been selected for inclusion in ‘Washing Windows V’, an anthology of Irish Women Writers, celebrating fifty years of publishing by Arlen House in Dublin.

  • Granted a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, September 2025, through Leitrim County Council’s Individual Artists Bursary Award.

  • Commissioned to create three landscape pieces for the Library as part of the Landscapes & Belonging series for The Crawford Collection at Belle Isle curated by Ciara Hambly of Hambly & Hambly Gallery.

  • My painting ‘The Healing Land’ was selected alongside 100 female artists for BLOODROOT Exhibition in Pulchri Studio, The Hague and subsequently in Hamilton Gallery, Sligo. The project was curated by Martina Hamilton at Hamilton Gallery, Sligo in partnership with The Embassy of Ireland. (January/February 2025) The inaugural St. Brigid’s exhibition is themed on poetry by Annemarie Ni Churreain.

  • My poem, ‘The Empty Chair’ was chosen for inclusion in ‘Washing Windows IV’, an anthology of Irish Women Writers, published by Arlen House in Dublin.

  • My painting, ‘shared Histories’ was selected for ‘Europe in the Heart of Ireland’ exhibition for its inaugural showing in the new Europa Gallery in Dublin and subsequently in Hamilton Gallery, Sligo.

  • I am privileged and honoured to have been officially awarded full membership of the Ulster Society of Women Artists (USWA) in 2024.

  • My painting 'Silent Requiem' which was shortlisted for the John Richardson French Residency Award, is now part of the public collection of the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

Awards

Awarded Residency at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, 2025
Leitrim County Council Individual Artists Bursary Programme Award, 2024, 2021
Two weeks Residency Award 2024 at Inishowen Artists Retreat in partnership with Artlink Fort Dunree, Residency 2026
Awarded full membership of the Ulster Society Of Women Artists, USWA, 2024
Donegal County Council Artists Bursary, 2022/2023
Seed Grant Award, The Irish Hospice Foundation in Association with Creative Ireland, 2021

‍ ‍Membership

  • Visual Artists Ireland Professional member.

  • USWA Member, The Ulster Society of Woman Artists, Professional member.

  • Creative Frame Member, Leitrim Professional Development Network.

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