Madeline Murphy Rabb
*Madeline Murphy Rabb was born on this date in 1945. She was a Black art collector, dealer, and lover of art.
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, she was the second of five children, the daughter of Madeline W. Murphy and William H. Murphy, Sr. After completing high school, Murphy attended the University of Maryland in 1961. She left there in 1963 and attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, earning a B.F.A. in 1966. After moving to Chicago, she attended the Illinois Institute of Technology, earning an M.S. in 1975.
Around this time, she married Maurice Rabb. After taking several years off to devote herself to her family and civic activities, Rabb became the vice president and business manager of Myra Everett Designs in 1977. From there, she went on to Corporate Concierge as an account executive in 1978, and in 1979, she opened Madeline Murphy Rabb Studio, where she created and sold original artworks. In 1983, Rabb was the executive director of fine arts for the city of Chicago, a position she held for seven years, during which time she heightened the organization's national visibility.
After working as a freelance art consultant for a few years, Rabb opened her own business, Murphy Rabb, Inc. (MRI), in 1992, where she remains President. MRI serves corporate, governmental, and private clients, helping them conceptualize and build important art collections. Recently, MRI implemented the art program for the John Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
She has also traveled the country lecturing, serving on panels, and participating in workshops on various issues. She is the curator of African American art collections at Ariel Capital Management and Brown Capital Management, and she has served on the Illinois Arts Council, the Folk Art Advisory Committee of the Field Museum of Natural American History, and the Woman's Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
She has testified before congressional panels on the National Endowment for the Arts and has had her original works published in several books. Rabb has also made several television appearances, including on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Her husband, Dr. Maurice Rabb, passed away in 2005. They have two children.
