Mike McGee

About

Mike McGee has worked as an art writer, curator, and arts administrator since 1982. He served as the director of Begovich Gallery from 1992-2018. McGee has organized and written catalog essays for more than two hundred exhibitions working with artists such as Lita Albuquerque, Don Bachardy, Tony DeLap, Paul McCarthy, Rachel Rosenthal, Mark Ryden, Kenny Scharf, and Robert Williams. Recent books include John Paul Jones: The Pursuit of Beauty’s Perfect Proof (Begovich Gallery; 2009), Manuel Pardo: Universo Sonado in Technicolor (Grand Central Press; 2011), F. Scott Hess: A Retrospective (Grand Central Press; 2014), Roland Reiss: Painting and Sculpture (Grand Central Press; 2015), and Fred Tomaselli: The Early Work or How I Became a Painter (Grand Central Press; 2015). 

McGee is an active arts advocate and a committed volunteer leader for arts organizations. He is past President of the Board of Trustees for the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art and a founding board member for Arts Orange County. He is also a founding a member of the City of Santa Ana Arts Commission. On campus, McGee nearly doubled the number of works in the CSU Fullerton sculpture collection and established the Richard Newquist Memorial Sculpture Court. He also founded the Cal State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center, a University satellite center, in downtown Santa Ana, California.