About

Lisa Mahar (b. 1965) is a photographer based in New York City and New Orleans. Educated as an architect, she has designed buildings, products, and books. In 2019, her work was included in The Museum of Modern Art’s "The Value of Good Design" exhibition. She was a contributor to Whitney Museum of American Art: Handbook of the Collection (2015), and has published two books, Grain Elevators (Princeton Architectural Press, 1997) and American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66 (The Monacelli Press, 2002). Mahar has been the recipient of an American Institute of Architects International Book Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Design Arts Award, and a New York State Council on the Arts Grant.

PUBLICATIONS
Design for Children. Selected work by Lisa Mahar, Phaidon, 2018
American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66. The Monacelli Press, 2002
Frames of Reference: Looking at American Art, 1900-1950: Works from the Whitney Museum of American Art. Essay by Lisa Mahar, University of California Press, 2000
Grain Elevators. Princeton Architectural Press, 1993

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Value of Good Design Exhibition, Design Lab. 2019

GRANTS AND AWARDS
AIA International Book Award, 1993
National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Award, 1992
New York State Council on the Arts, Individual Grant, 1991

PRESS
Designers and Books. “Books Every Graphic Designer Should Read.” Rick Poyner, 2011
The Associated Press. “Motel Signs Tell America’s Story.” Ted Anthony, April 20, 2003
The Washington Post. “Along Route 66, an Architect’s Signs of a Time.” April 19, 2003
The New York Times. “Getting Your Postcard Kicks on Route 66.” Phil Patton, January 23, 2003
The New York Times. “The Romance of the Most American of Structures.” Suzanne Slesin, May 27, 1993