Artists Registry

Muriel Stockdale

Nyc NY United States

https://murielstockdale.com/
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Muriel's E Pluribus, flag series seeks to highlight and celebrate the diverse communities that make up our great United States of America. As an immigrant from England Muriel grew up in a very un-diverse culture and she has always been impressed and appreciative of the gifts of diversity here in the U.S. She was prompted to create her flag series when she saw the U.S. flag being waved to promote war in 2003, which is counter to the real meaning of the United States flag. So she decided to celebrate individual cultures that reside in the U.S., people that contribute wisdom, foods, music, dress, and even spiritual ideas here.

Her collection has grown to over 60 different flags made, many sold. Some cultures included are English, French, Danish, Mayan, Cambodian, Chinese and many more. Muriel works with whatever materials or symbols she can find that represent a specific culture. The French is made from wine corks. The Colombian from coffee beans. The Irish is knit in the Aran style of knitting.

While making the flags she learns about the meanings of symbols like Jewish religious symbols on a prayer shawl or spiritual and tribal meaning of a Mayan huipil (woven blouse). Items can have practical - like currency meanings of the Kuba cloth from the Congo. They have spiritual meanings like the evil eye of Greece or the hand of Fatima from parts of Africa. The project has deep and wide opportunities to learn about the richness of our human cultures. 

Currently, a multicultural version of her flag is on display at the American Embassy in Tajikistan. Her African American flag, one of the first made, is owned by the New Britain Museum of American Art. 

In 2011, Muriel was commissioned to create an 8 ft high, 12 ft wide flag to honor the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The project took all summer and was a community project, which New Yorkers, tourists, local workers and invitees from far and wide participated. People sent fabrics and their hand tracings for the flag, which was completed that year and hung for the next 8 or so years at Trinity Church Wall Street. The flag has since been misplaced. So for this year 2026  Muriel has created a new flag. Now available to travel. It will be seen with her collection in June and July in the Town Hall of Washington, CT. Then her collection will be at City Gallery in New Haven for the month of August.

The new Out of Many, One flag is 7 feet high and 10 feet wide. Muriel spent most of the summer collecting hand tracings from almost 1,000 participants. While working on it Muriel was acutely aware that the project is her proxy action to 'restitch the untied states of America' yes, untied. Muriel firmly believes in our power to sway destiny with our clear intention. In the past when viewing the flags for the first time people would be charmed and interested. In recent years viewers tend to get emotional prompting long conversations that feel like therapy. Though Muriel once thought the project was finished in recent years she realizes that it has much work to do still.

Muriel Stockdale was born in England and moved to the USA in 1967.

For over 30 years Muriel has enjoyed an extensive and varied career in the entertainment industry. She has created some scenery and many outstanding costumes for some of the finest producers of film, TV and live entertainment. Among these are Disney (CITYKIDS & OUT OF THE BOX), Children's Television Workshop (GHOST WRITER), NBC (LAW AND ORDER), CBS (GUIDING LIGHT), PBS, ABC (ONE LIFE TO LIVE), Universal Television (THE EQUALIZER) Elizabeth Ireland McCann (THREE TALL WOMEN), The Vineyard and Public Theatres, The Champlain Shakespeare Festival and dozens of US and European regional theaters. Muriel has worked with world-renowned, award-winning performers, directors, writers, and composers such as Richard Adler, Colleen Dewhurst, Adriana Trigiani, Kermit the Frog, Tony Roberts, S. Epatha Merkeson, Lynn Redgrave and Edward Albee. She has spent almost 30 years working with Jim Henson Productions building and designing puppet costumes.

Muriel began as a stage manager for theater. In the 1970's she received a federal grant to form a theater company in rural Vermont. She has directed, performed onstage, crewed backstage, managed costume shops, and designed and painted scenery and even taught aspiring designers. In 2003 she completed her short film, "New York City Spirit". In 2008 she co-produced a film on the citizenship process for York College. For fourteen years Muriel was a valued member of the teaching faculty at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Design Department.

Since 2004 her E PLURIBUS flags have been shown in multiple exhibits:

2017 - Present – SOLO – 315 Hudson Street Lobby, NYC. -16 E Pluribus Flags permanent                                                                                        2026 SOLO - University of Western Connecticut, Visual and Performing Arts Center - Danbury                                                                                        2026 SOLO Kent Arts Association, Kent, CT.                                            2025 Sherman Artists Exhibition, Sherman, CT.                                        2025 SOLO - Sherman Library, Sherman, CT. CT.                                        2025 SOLO - University of Vermont, Francis Colburn Gallery, Burlington,VT.  2024 SOLO – Inkwell, Allentown, PA.                                                       2023 Kent Art – Fiber arts exhibit, Kent, CT.                                                    2022 SOLO - Chashama – Brooklyn Pier, NYC.                                        2021 CHASHAMA – Trilean Exhibit – 250 West 23rd Street                            2020 SOLO Desigual Storefront, Broadway, NYC.                                          2019 BRIC Media Arts Center, Brooklyn, NYC.                                                2018 SOLO – Monroe C. Gutman Library of Harvard Graduate School of Education, Boston, MA.                                                                              2018 SOLO – The Sherman Public Library – Sherman, CT.                            2017 SOLO – CHASHAMA – 485 Madison Ave, NY. Resnick & Sons          2016 Michele Varian – Howard Street, NYC.                                                    2015 Martha Stewart American Made Summit – New York, NYC.            2011 – 2015 SOLO Charlotte’s Place – commissioned flag for 9/11          2011 Commission Danish American flag for the Danish Queen from Danish American Society.                                                                                      2010 SOLO – Charles B. Wang Center at SUNY Stony Brook, NY.                2010 FABRICATIONS at the Newport Mill, Newport, New Hampshire by Cynthia Reeves                                                                                          2010 SOLO – La Guardia Community College                                                2009 SOLO – 6th Immigrant Heritage Week at Flushing and Langston Hughes Libraries, Queens.                                                                        2008 SOLO – Robin Alexander, Kent, CT.                                                        2008 – New Britain Museum of American Art – New Britain, CT.                      2008 – Grace Institute, New York, NY.                                                      2008 – Alden Gallery, Provincetown, MA.                                                        2007 SOLO - Port Jefferson Village Community Center, Port Jefferson, NY.  2006 SOLO - Belle Terre Center, Belle Terre, NY.                                            2005 SOLO - White Silo Gallery, Sherman, CT.                                                2004 SOLO – Roger Smith Art Gallery, New York, NY.

Education:

1979, Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Vermont with a BS in Nutrition 1982, MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Design Department

Muriel Stockdale

88 Greenwich St. 2102

NY NY 10006 

www.epluribus.us          www.murielstockdale.com

646 522-3819

 

 

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