Laurie Downey is a visual artist/designer and educator. With a degree in graphic design from Massachusetts College of Art and a background in printing, Laurie has designed a wide variety of print and digital publications. After years of working solely in 2D, she made the big jump into the third dimension and her studio practice now involves collaboration with woodworkers and metalworkers to create large-scale installations and space dividers.
Laurie has been a visiting artist in Maine public schools for many years, working with students in rural elementary schools through the Local Stories Project, which she began in 1998. This multidisciplinary, integrated arts project combines a local history research unit followed by student creation of two public art works: a permanent in-school mural and an original theater piece. Key elements to this project-based approach are research from primary sources, the use of project journals combining writing and drawing, and collaboration with local community members. Laurie also taught design courses at the Maine College of Art, and has worked with high school students to design and build theater sets.