Baker Artist Portfolios

Steven Marc Shapiro: Life and Artistic Journey

Introduction:  My work is informed by two decades practicing architecture, being immersed in the process of design and construction, with all of its challenges of materials and technologies.  Over the years my focus has gravitated toward non-objective abstraction, but with echoes of my earlier experience designing spaces, forms, and edifices for buildings, as well as my engagement with figurative and narrative painting, and decades of work as a teacher of architecture and art. The common thread among these is a passion for the process of design, a love of layering and manipulating form and devotion to expressing place, object, and image.  

Early Life and Influences

Steven Marc Shapiro was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1953, the youngest of three siblings. His middle-class parents, who grew up during the depression, did not necessarily have in mind the life of an artist for their youngest child. Nevertheless, he developed a strong and enduring interest in art from a young age, a passion that was nurtured in part by his uncle, Harry Zee Hoffman, a Baltimore painter whose works adorned the walls of the family’s modest home.

Education and Mentorship

Shapiro attended Baltimore City public schools, where he benefited from the guidance and support of several dedicated art teachers during his high school years. His expanding interests in art and design led to continuing these areas of study in college. While an undergraduate, he was greatly influenced by art historian Norris Kelly Smith at Washington University, artist and architect Ray Kaskey and sculptor James Reed at the University of Maryland. After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland he continued his academic journey at Yale University’s graduate school of architecture, earning a Master of Architecture degree in 1981. At Yale, he was immersed in the philosophies and teachings of renowned artists and architects, including Frank Gehry, Cesar Pelli, Peter Millard, Peter Eisenman, Bernard Chaet, and Vincent Scully.

Professional Career and Artistic Pursuits

After Yale, Shapiro embarked on a seventeen-year career as an architect and architectural educator. His professional experience included working in architectural offices in Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, and Princeton, as well as teaching positions at Auburn University, Catholic University of America, and New Jersey Institute of Technology. During this time of professional growth, he was all the while privately nurturing his early fascination with painting and sculpture, devoting his evenings to artistic exploration, away from the scrutiny of colleagues, family, and friends. 

Transition to Full-Time Artistry

In 1997, at the age of forty-two, Shapiro made a decisive shift by closing his architectural practice and enrolling in the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. There, he studied under painters Grace Hartigan and Raoul Middleman, both of whom encouraged him to integrate his architectural roots into his artistic practice. His MFA thesis show in 1999, titled “The Architect as Artist,” highlighted the enduring impact of his architectural background on his art.

Artistic Development and Recognition

Since earning his MFA, Shapiro’s work has continued to evolve, moving through phases focused on figurative, narrative, and non-objective abstraction. He has worked for two decades on developing a unified art that is equally informed by his love of architecture, painting, and sculpture and that engage elements of figurative and narrative art as well. The thrust of his work is to wrest order from chaos with content and process as dual vehicles in the pursuit of beauty and meaning. Notably, five of his ink and pastel works were featured in the Third International Exhibition of Architecture at the 1985 Venice Biennale. Shapiro served as an artist in residence at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore from 2001 to 2003 and participated in “Mind and Eye, Works of Contemporary Maryland Artists 1999” at Government House in Annapolis.

Commissions, Exhibitions, and Collections

Shapiro’s body of work includes commissioned pieces for organizations such as the Institute of Christian and Jewish Studies, Center Stage Theater, George Street Playhouse, Archbishop Spalding High School, and Baltimore’s Child Magazine. His art has been exhibited in Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland, as well as in Alabama, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Washington D.C., and Venice, Italy. His work is included in various private and institutional collections across the United States, such as Johnson and Johnson, AT&T, Archbishop Spalding High School, the Calvert School, and with the Honorable Thomas Kean, former governor of New Jersey.

Personal Life

Shapiro lives and works in his Baltimore County home and studio, supported by his wife, family, and friends.