Joe A. MacGown, “Biogenesis”, 2016, Colored Ink and Pen on Wood, 12 x 12 Inches

Joe MacGown is an an artist who was born in Maine, where his interest in insects and art began. At the age of ten, MacGown and his family moved to Mississippi where he continued his study of insects and drawing. After a short time at the Memphis College of Art, MacGowen was employed in 1988 at the Mississippi State Entomological Museum as a scientific illustrator and assistant curator.

In his current position at the Entomological Museum, MacGowen curates the Culicidae, Formicidae, and scarab collection as well as collects specimens for the collection, with hundreds of thousands personally pinned and labeled insects. He has conducted numerous surveys in threatened habitats of arthropod species. MacGown is in charge of all scientific drawings for researchers in the museum and assists with the identification of insects being studied. His entomological drawings are published in numerous books and papers.