Manager of Ox-Bow House, Maggie Bandstra, shares about her work at Ox-Bow and her own creative pursuits.
Maggie directs visitors towards the summer 2024 main exhibition: Between the Leaves. Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).
How would you describe your position as Manager of Ox-Bow House?
Maggie Bandstra: As the Manager of Retail Programs, I work with artists and vendors to create a retail gallery shop at Ox-Bow House, The Tuck Shop on campus, and pop-up fairs. The sales of the artwork and merchandise support artists and Ox-Bow, two things I love.
How did you first encounter Ox-Bow?
MB: I took my first class at Ox-Bow with James Brandess around 2011. It was a weekend painting-the-landscape class. I was hooked after that. I took a pastel figure drawing course taught by Jimmy Wright the following summer. The summers after that, I took Play School Abstraction with Claire Sherman and Existentialism in the Woods with Henry Fonda. These courses helped me create a body of work that I used in my portfolio to apply for the MFA Painting program at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2017 and I graduated in 2021. Ox-Bow was pivotal in my development as an artist.
Tell us about your creative practice.
MB: My studio practice includes painting and ceramics. I explore nature and the human connection to it. Simply put, I like to play with clay and paint; letting it take me on little adventures has been a great joy in my life and has introduced me to some fantastic places, people, and lifelong friends who are on a similar quest. Living a creative life is something I thoroughly enjoy. I can't imagine living a life without creating some kind of art.
What’s your favorite aspect of Ox-Bow House?
MB: My favorite aspect of Ox-Bow House is introducing people who have never heard of Ox-Bow to what we do and our history. I also love to share artists' work with our collectors. When an artist sells work, it encourages them to make more, myself included. I love telling an artist that their work has been sold and will now be part of someone else's life.
Maggie Clifford-Bandstra (she/her) maintains an active studio practice and was an Adjunct Professor at Hope College from 2022 to 2023. Bandstra earned her M.F.A. in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2021. From 1997-2020, Bandstra taught pre-K through 6th grade art classes.
In 2014, she began curating pop-up art shows, which led to the establishment of the Lakeshore Visual Arts Collective. She is currently the president of this non-profit and serves as secretary on the executive board of the Douglas DDA.
Bandstra’s paintings are nature abstracted, using exaggerated scales, movement, and patterns to explore the themes of nature, healing, and human connection. Her passion is not just about creating art but also about sharing her love of art, living a creative life with others, and inspiring them to do the same.
This interview was conducted by Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller in December 2023. Banner Image: Maggie greats two customers at the checkout desk of Ox-Bow House. Photo by Natia Ser (Summer Fellow, 2023).