About Matthew
Matthew Mahoney
I’m an Autistic art historian, artist, educator, and activist from Dallas, Texas.
Art, museums, and the classroom
I earned my BA in Art History at Willamette University in 2024, graduating cum laude with department honors. My senior thesis examined Remedios Varo’s paintings and the ways she reworked stories about women, knowledge, and nature. I continue to study Surrealism, self-taught art, and the questions neurodiversity raises about how we understand artistic thought and authorship.
At the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, I worked on collections records, interpretive labels, and exhibitions. My Presidential Scholarship supported five catalogues of Salvador Dalí’s print portfolios and the exhibition Dalí’s Dialogues. I also contributed to Singular Visions, an exhibition of self-taught artists, before joining Living Studios to support neurodivergent adult artists.
I now teach special education at the Museum School of East Dallas through Teach For America. Previously, I taught at Bowie Elementary in Richardson ISD. Moving from museums into classrooms has given me new ways to think about interpretation: how we invite someone into a difficult idea, which tools make it accessible, and what we miss when we assume there is only one way to learn.
Why Matthew Mythology?
The name began in elementary school. I drew maps of an imaginary island called Kidsvania, invented gods and monsters, and made little books under the imprint Matthew Mythology Press. It stayed with me as I began drawing, studying art history, working in museums, and teaching.
I have kept monthly journals since 2020. My drawings and writing often begin with something I cannot quite work out: a dream, an image, a question from a book, or an unexpected connection. This website brings together the artwork, research, and public projects that have grown from those interests.
Neurodiversity and public scholarship
At Willamette, I co-founded the Neurodivergent Student Union and helped build a community for students. That work included faculty training, student programming, and zines about autism and neurodiversity. I remain interested in whose experiences are treated as knowledge and who gets to shape the institutions they belong to.
My five published audio essays explore art history, mythology, and Autistic experience. Their written editions are available alongside the recordings. New research and writing continue to develop in my notebooks.
Read the archived October 2024 interview for an earlier account of my work and the plans I had then.