Rabb has been actively participating in the visual arts world for more than
30 years as a painter and printmaker, arts administrator, jewelry designer and
collector. Rabb has served as consultant to curators, architects, interior
designers, real estate developers, facility managers, business owners, and
individual collectors. Over the last twenty years, Murphy Rabb, Inc. has built
national and international relationships with artists, dealers, galleries,
museums, auction houses, collectors and, art historians – all in the pursuit of
finding a finely crafted work of art or building exquisite collections for her
clients.
Rabb’s firm assesses the needs and goals of her clients, and on their behalf
will commission large scale artwork, purchase art and will create a thematic
approach for corporate and private individuals interested in building solid art
collections that will appreciate in value over time. Her clients include:
- Ariel Capital Management
- Brown Capital Management
- Channing Capital Management
- Northern Trust Chicago South Financial Center
- Cityfront Place
- Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- Harris Bank and Trust
- Evanston Hospital
- Mercy Hospital
- UBM Construction Management
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- MacArthur Foundation
- Draper and Kramer
- VOA Associates
- Cecil A. Partee Golf Club House
- Chicago Park District
- University of Chicago
- Department of History
- Shore Bank
- The Parking Spot
- Capri Capital Advisors
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She has also curated major residential African American art collections
nationally.
In 2004, Rabb conceptualized and implemented the entire art program for
the 1. 2 million square foot, eight-story, John H. Stroger Jr., Hospital of Cook
County. The collection includes original photography, mixed media wall
sculpture, quilts, paintings, a mosaic mural, a major site-specific sculpture
and more than 800 prints.
In addition to her art consulting work, Rabb also designs one-of-a-kind
jewelry through her company, Madeline. Rabb uses colorful, bold,
semiprecious beads, natural stones, and silver findings in her finely crafted
jewelry. She creates jewelry primarily for women who appreciate one-of-a-kind
wearable art. Her collection includes necklaces, bracelets, earrings, broaches,
and cufflinks. Her MageTach™ broach is revolutionary because its unique
fastener does not use a pin like a typical broach. As a result, women's fine
clothing that is made of fabrics such as silks, knits, wool, and leather avoids
permanent damage because of Madeline’s invention.
Prior to starting her own businesses, Rabb served as Executive Director of
the Chicago Office of Fine Arts from 1983 to 1991 in the cabinet of Mayor Harold
Washington. She also served under mayors, Eugene Sawyer and Richard M. Daley.
For more than 7 years, she supervised a staff of 27 and a budget of 4 million
dollars. She was the first African American and professionally trained artist
to head the city's fine arts office.
Throughout her career as a professionally trained artist, arts administrator
and business owner, Rabb has been asked to consult with local, state, and
national arts organizations and government agencies. For example 1992, she
wrote the first Public Art Plan for the Evanston Library. She served on
numerous state and national panels and symposia, including Chicago Department of
Cultural Affairs Public Art Committee, the Illinois Arts Council Grants to Major
Cultural Institutions, and numerous National Endowment for the Arts panels and
committees. Rabb has given keynote speeches and workshops to the Maryland
Institute College of Art, the National Association of Local Arts Organizations,
Arts Midwest, Spellman College, the Art Institute of Chicago, New Orleans Museum
of Art, and American Visions Foundation at the Smithsonian Institution, the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and the Jamaica Art Center. In 1992, she
testified before the United States Senate to advocate for the Reauthorization of
the National Endowment for the Arts.
Rabb holds the Master of Science Degree in Visual Design from the Illinois
Institute of Technology and the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Maryland
Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. She has served on numerous
boards and arts panels including Arts Midwest, the Joseph Jefferson Committee,
the Art Institute of Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, the Southside Community Art
Center, DuSable Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Woman’s Board, Sculpture
Chicago, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Illinois Arts Council.
Currently, Rabb serves on the Board of Columbia College Chicago, the Woman’s
Board of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Advisory Board of the Illinois Arts
Alliance, the Alumni Advisory Board of the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Although born and raised in Baltimore, for the last 40 years, Madeline Murphy
Rabb has been a resident of Chicago Illinois.
You may contact Madeline Murphy Rabb at:
madeline@murphyrabb.com