About

This site is the blog and webcomic of Matt Maldre, a graphic designer and public spaces artist in Chicago.

  • Encourage creativity in everyone.
  • Finding the joy in little things.
  • A new idea every day.
  • Always be learning, and share what you learn with others.


What’s on this site

Spudart.org is a space dedicated to finding wonder and insight in the world around us. Since 1997, when the name Spudart first took root from a fascination with potatoes as a metaphor in art, this platform has championed the idea that creativity and personal expression are for everyone. If you’re someone who loves to look closer, think deeper, and engage more intentionally with the world, you’ve found your community.

Who is spudart for?

You are likely an inquisitive and creatively-minded individual who finds joy in the unexpected. You appreciate spending a moment on benches, or transforming everyday lightbulbs into “time capsules” of small life moments. You see art where others see mundane reality, whether it’s rabbits making “Jackson Pollock paintings” on a driveway or garbage taking on the “form of a bird mid-flight” as “urban origami”.

Our readers are mindful digital citizens who recognize how “smartphones stole our natural meditation time” and seek ways to “use Facebook without their algorithm“, reclaiming their digital experience. You are an urban explorer, delighting in Chicago’s public art like the Picasso sculpture or the specific histories found within landmarks like the Tribune Tower. Above all, you possess a quirky sense of humor and an appreciation for the overlooked—from an unexpected dog on a baseball card to the surprising origin of words like “fascinating.”

What spudart champions

At spudart, we are champions of:

• Active curiosity and discovery: We encourage you to question, explore, and uncover the “hidden patterns in everyday life“. From searching Google Photos with vocabulary words to resurface forgotten memories to investigating the history of a beloved song, we believe in constantly learning and sharing what you discover.

• Accessible creativity and self-expression: We advocate for the idea that everyone can be an artist. Whether it’s making handmade notebooks from trash, sketching every artwork in a museum, or participating in a “Christmas Tree Throwing Challenge“, we celebrate unconventional, hands-on creativity and the power of personal projects.

• Mindful engagement with the world: We believe in slowing down to observe and be present, countering the constant pull of digital distraction. We encourage embracing moments of reflection, like pausing to sit on a newly encountered bench or appreciating the “ordinary moments” in life and baseball.

• Appreciating the mundane and overlooked: We highlight the beauty, humor, and significance found in small details, like “tiny snowflakes embedded in ice” or the parallel paths of a mail carrier and a bunny. We believe these “small, unexpected moments…make life fascinating“.

The fight we’re willing to always defend

Spudart is committed to defending human wonder, critical thought, and genuine engagement against the encroaching forces of algorithmic conformity, digital distraction, and cultural superficiality.

• Against algorithmic conformity: We fight to help you “reclaim your social media experience” from algorithms that dictate what you see. We advocate for intentional interaction over passive consumption, pushing back against the idea that technology should “steal our natural meditation time“. And that Instagram is an awful app.

• For authenticity and depth: We challenge the “over-praise” of cultural phenomena like sports championships, drawing parallels to the “glorifying the golden calf”, and question commercial stunts over genuine value. We believe in meaningful experiences and authentic artistic expression, even critiquing when “a true artist takes no notice whatever of the public”.

• For a participatory culture: We defend the idea that culture should be accessible and participatory, not exclusive. This includes encouraging public engagement with art, advocating for initiatives like sidewalk poetry programs, and offering ideas on how to enhance an art museum experience to make it more inclusive.

Join us on this continuous journey of discovery, creativity, and mindful living.

Spudart?

What does “spudart” mean? My approach to street art; and a list of my art projects.

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Social Media

My websites

Day job

Senior Designer/Web Marketing Strategist for Tribune Content Agency in the historic Tribune Tower on the Magnificent Mile of downtown Chicago at home. Some occasional illustration work for them, too. (More details on my LinkedIn profile)

Interviews

  • The interview with Sixty Inches from Center said, “Matt Maldre who creates probably some of the most non-intrusive, non-defacing, hyper-curious yet completely obvious forms of public art.”
  • I was the Gapers Block feature of the week for the Arts + Culture section in July 2008.
  • Chicagoscope interviewed me about my baseball scorecard techniques in August 2006 (podcast no longer available online).
  • Another interview by Chicagoscope in December 2007. This time, we discussed a handout I designed to help save public transit in Chicago (podcast no longer available online).

If you’d like to interview me, I’m open anytime. Let’s get in touch.

Influential artists

  • Joseph Beuys (The great teacher and artist. Warmth over coldness)
  • Jörg Immendorff (German artist who coined the phrase, “Painting must assume the function of the potato. He makes great paintings too.)
  • Christo (A fantastic installation artist who involves the community and all aspects of life in his art. When he can get the cashier ladies at the grocery store to discuss what art is, oh, dude! That is incredible)
  • Edward Hopper (Great moods established by his work. Amazing colors)
  • Jackson Pollock (The studly artist himself.)
  • Starn Twins (Their work is totally my aesthetic)
  • Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (The master of transparency and structure)
  • Erik Maldre (creative work, my twin)
  • Mati Maldre (my Dad the photography professor)
  • Andy Goldsworthy (incredible arrangements made in nature from rocks, sticks, leaves, etc.)

Favorite characters

Spongebob Squarepants, Balki Bartokomous, and Buddy the Elf are my heroes.

Wishlists

My wishlist It’s got a bunch of books, games, and other fun things. Do you have a wish list?

Personality Type

According to the Myers-Briggs personality test, I’m either an INTJ (the Mastermind) or INTP (the Logician, Philosopher). Most likely INTP. I love to organize like an INTJ, but I make decisions freely like an INTP. Go ahead and take the personality test. Contact me and let me know what you are.

What I like

Theology, croquet, art (art theory, public art, oil pastels), design, structures, stats, metaphors for life, libraries, predicting fog, digging holes, toys, Chicago cubs, how things are made, benches instead of chairs, observing solar flare activity, big thick furniture, wool, welding, wrapping gifts in wacky ways, the color gray, macs, paper airplanes, dirt, window washers. View over 500 of my favorite things.

Quick description of my art

  • About creativity and using everyday objects in a new and interesting way.
  • Offer a moment of pause and reflection, whether it’s to enjoy the beauty of nature, appreciate the passage of time, or simply be mindful of the present moment.
  • Suggests that we can find joy and meaning in the simple things in life.

Favorite books

» Contact me, I am happy to talk.