2025 BIPOC Maker Accelerator Cohort
Marieke Van Der Maelen, House of Paidia
Marieke Van Der Maelen is a fiber artist with over two decades of experience in the music and entertainment industries. After college, she began working as an art conservator in Chicago, IL where she focused on antique ethnographic textiles. Her work collaborations included the preservation of period clothing for the Milwaukee Harley Davidson Museum, conservation of antique Japanese, Pre-Colombian and West African ethnographic textiles, and the restoration and reconstruction of a rare and original Finn Juhl “floating couch.”
Through various grants and artist residency programs, Ms. Van Der Maelen has been able to work in outreach programs around the United States. Over the years she has developed different STEAM workshops and curriculum for universities including Carnegie Mellon University, University of Chicago, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, and Stanford University. She strongly believes that education, art, and sustainability go hand in hand.
Currently, she integrates her art with high/low technologies and storytelling. Her miniature wool and polymer sculptures reflect the mundane experiences and interactions of humans and animals within urban ecosystems. It is her hope to continue developing immersive miniature worlds that inspire creativity and curiosity in audiences of all ages.