Maxon Higbee is an artist and an Assistant Professor of architecture at IE University in Segovia, Spain. In 2010 he was awarded a World Less Traveled Grant for a proposed project in Madrid, where he stayed, and continues to live and work. He has been in many solo and group exhibitions internationally and has given lectures at several institutions, including the American University Beirut, Lebanon; The Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, Madrid; and the IEU Department of Architecture and Design in Izmir, Turkey. He was a visiting artist in the Estudio Joven program at The Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, and co-director of the artist run space, The Windor.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a BFA in Painting and Drawing, at California State University Chico, in 2007. In 2008 he was offered a full-time merit fellowship in the Painting and Drawing program at the Art Institute of Chicago. Upon completing his Master of Fine Arts degree, he received a John Quincy Adams Fellowship Grant for artistic merit. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in Visual Studies, in the Department of Art at the Complutense University in Madrid. His research explores spatial representation and the felt relationship between artwork and viewer through a phenomenological lens.
Academic Experience
• Assistant Professor; Department of Architecture and Design, IE University, 2025 - Present
• Adjunct Professor; Department of Architecture and Design, IE University, 2015 - 2025
• Instructor; Department of Painting and Drawing, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2008 - 2010
Academic Background
• PhD candidate in Visual Studies, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Spain, 2022 - Expecting
• Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, (SAIC), USA, 2010
• Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, California State University Chico (CSUC), USA, 2007
• Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, California State University Chico (CSUC), USA, 2007
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)
4- Quality Education
5- Gender Equality
11- Sustainable Cities and Communities
