BIO

Biography |

Jon Mulhern is a painter, sculptor, and master educator whose practice bridges abstraction, atmosphere, and expression. Originally from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., Mulhern grew up immersed in the galleries of the Smithsonian, developing an early fascination with Turner, Van Gogh, Rothko, and the expressive power of historical art movements. His formative years were split between the marble halls of the National Gallery and the raw visual rhythm of D.C. street art—an early duality that continues to inform his layered, intuitive work.

Mulhern earned both his BFA and MFA/MAT in painting and education from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where he also mentored senior thesis students and collaborated with the Walters Art Museum to design dynamic educational programming. He went on to work professionally as a sculptor, painter, and professor in Baltimore before relocating to New York in 2008. He first established his studio in Brooklyn, where he continued to develop his practice and teach, before moving to Long Island. In 2022, he settled in Sag Harbor, where he currently lives and works.

Mulhern is the Founding Director of the highly regarded Ross School Art Academy and serves as Chair of the Ross School’s acclaimed Visual Arts Program. A deeply committed educator and creative leader, he is known for cultivating innovation and artistic rigor across disciplines. His studio practice continues in tandem with his teaching, blending experiential research, extensive travel, and a passion for ancient and art historical narratives.

Mulhern’s work has been exhibited in galleries and institutions across the Northeast, including George Billis Gallery, the United Nations, Guild Hall, the Southampton Arts Center, the Peter Marcelle Project, M&M Fine Art, and Art Southampton. A highlight in his exhibition history includes a group show alongside icons Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Elaine de Kooning, where he was featured as the youngest artist represented.

An avid traveler, outdoorsman, and kayaker, Mulhern draws from a wide range of influences including historical cartography, ancient cultures, Romanticism, Impressionism, postwar abstraction, and Japanese aesthetics. His works unfold as atmospheric fields where memory, terrain, and materiality converge, favoring emotional resonance and sensory experience over literal representation.

In both his art and teaching, Mulhern is committed to honoring expressive traditions while pushing the boundaries of contemporary visual language. His practice invites viewers and students alike to engage deeply—with materials, with history, and with the act of discovery itself.