Maria Reidelbach

Who is Maria Reidelbach?

Maria Reidelbach is a Manhattan-based installation artist, curator and author, who is the creator of award-winning public art. In 1991, she wrote the definitive history of Mad, the bestselling Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine, ranked by Library Journal as "essential for pop culture collections."

As an artist, she attempts an "interaction of art and life," bringing the people of New York City neighborhoods together in public art projects, sometimes involving found objects and retailer donations of materials, along with recycled items collected by dumpster diving through lower Manhattan.

Born in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, Reidelbach spent much time in western Pennsylvania where her mother's family were farmers. In 1985, at New York's Guggenheim Museum, she organized an exhibition on the eccentric visionary painter Alfred Jensen. Garnering favorable reviews, her art exhibitions and gallery shows have often displayed unusual subjects.

Reidelbach worked with sculptor Milo Mottola to create the Totally Kid Carousel, an award-winning public artwork and amusement ride at Riverbank State Park, facing the Hudson River.