Kate Cheney Chappell ’83, ’12H
Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 ’12H studied book arts under well-known Maine book artist and USM faculty member Rebecca Goodale. An award-winning professional artist, Kate’s love of creating handmade books inspired her to create The Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts at USM.
Her work in a variety of mediums has been exhibited at the New Britain Museum of American Art, CT; Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME; The Round Top Center for the Arts, Damariscotta, ME: Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA; and the Farmington Art Guild, CT, among others.
Kate showed her most recent-3-D work in the Peregrine Press 30th anniversary show at Cove Street Arts in fall 2021. The exhibit included her work, “Mother Ocean,” a 15-foot steel and paper installation suspended from a 6-foot-wide hand-painted starfish. Its form is based on the double helix of DNA, the genetic code of life.
With her husband, Tom Chappell, Kate co-founded Tom’s of Maine. Currently both Kate and Tom serve on USM’s Great University Campaign Committee.