We are deeply saddened to share that Carole Gorney Fisher ‘64, a respected artist, beloved faculty member, and Professor Emeritus, passed away on April 4, 2024. Fisher received her MFA from the College of Arts and Architecture at Pennsylvania State University and earned a BFA from MCAD. A long-standing pillar within the MCAD community, she worked at the college from 1979 to 2010 starting as a Visiting Artist, instructor and rising through the ranks to Professor. Fischer served as Chair of the Fine Arts Division, and as Director of MCAD’s MFA and Post-Baccalaureate Programs.
Fisher was a multimedia artist who worked primarily with issue-driven installations. A passionate environmentalist, she worked on several high-profile projects including ones that dealt with the long-term consequences of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Her work has been included in group and solo exhibitions including Galleria Del Cavallino, Venice, Italy; Whitney Museum of American Art; Walker Art Center; Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia); Milwaukee Art Museum; ARC, Chicago; Brooklyn Museum; Soho 20 Gallery, New York; and Woman's Building, Los Angeles. She was the recipient of numerous awards, grants, and residences including two Bush Fellowships, a McKnight Fellowship, two Jerome Foundation Study and Travel Research Grants, MN State Arts Board, and NEA Project Grants. Fisher served as panelist for the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) and Minneapolis City Arts Commission. She was a founding member of the Women's Art Resources of Minnesota (WARM).
Former colleague and longtime friend, Rebecca Alm, shared the following memories about her decades of knowing Carole:
I am remembering and sharing with Carole—wherever she is—images and sounds from my morning runs: frogs croaking for the first time this season in the wetlands, robins and blue birds making nests, eagles soaring in the updrafts, and much more. Carole’s love of wildlife, plants, weather—at all stages—was something she shared with others in her life and work. Watching her in critique was an event filled with magic and joy. She would ask permission and then start to rearrange elements in a way that taught us many ways of seeing the same thing differently. She once showed me beautiful red marks left on a paper towel from raspberries draining in perfect rows. I will never look at raspberries the same. Carole—loyal friend and colleague—you will be missed and remembered.
Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and those at MCAD who were touched by her creativity and generosity.