Baker Artist Portfolios

Mary Deacon Opasik is a Baltimore-based artist who has devoted the last three decades to creating assemblage art from found and repurposed objects. She received her BFA, cum laude, in 1988 from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, Maryland.

Opasik creates found object assemblage as a way to give new life and meaning to materials that have been discarded, overlooked or forgotten.  She is drawn to quiet histories embedded in everyday objects--weathered wood, rusted metal, broken fragments--and sees in them a narrative that deserves to be continued.  Opasik's art exists at the intersection of art and sustainability.  Central to Opasik's practice is commitment to environmental responsiblity.  She deliberately uses repurposed and reclaimed materials to challenge the culture of waste and overconsumption.  Each assemblage reflects a conscious approach to creating--one that values reuse over disposal and highlights the potential beauty in what others might consider trash.  Through this process, she not only reduces environmental impact but also invites viewers to consider their relationship to the material world.  

Her art has been exhibited in The Huntsville Museum of Art ( Alabama), Chateau de Rochefort (France), Sandy Spring Museum (Maryland), and Lincoln Center Crafts Festival (New York), to name a few.  Opasik's artwork is held in both private and public collections, and included in publications " Found Object Art" by Dorothy Spencer,  (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2002) and "Found Object Art II" by Tina Skinner, (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2009).

Opasik is a recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Grants For Artists in 2023.  She has participated twice in the Critics' and Residency Programs at Maryland Art Place and has taught in several Artists-in-Education programs in Maryland.

She has been awarded residencies including The Alfred & Trafford Klots International Program for Artists  (Brittany, France), Fundacion Valparasio (Spain), the Sehn Family Residency at Loyola University (Maryland), and Inside Zone in Borsec, (Transylvania). 

In 2026, Opasik was named a Baker Artist Award Finalist in Visual Arts - 3D.