Renowned Artist and Kean Graduate Carmen Cicero Still Finds Joy in Creating at 99

Kean University graduate Carmen Cicero ’51 has built a celebrated career in the arts, with his work displayed in world-renowned museums and his name linked to innovation, resilience and humor in painting.  

Now 99, Cicero continues to create, focusing on drawing, a medium that offers him a fresh sense of freedom without the physical strain of stretching canvases or standing for long hours. 

“I’ve been known to be a very fun guy, and my sense of humor can come out when I make drawings,” said Cicero, who earned a BFA in fine arts/arts education in 1951 from Kean University, then known as New Jersey State Teachers College at Newark. “My attitude is much lighter and freer.” 

While Cicero described humor in art as both unusual and risky, that aspect of his work was celebrated in the book Carmen Cicero: Drawings and Watercolors, Tales of Intrigue, Danger, and Humor (Abbeville Press, 2024). Humor was also a central theme of his recent exhibition at the Cape Cod Museum of Art (CCMA) in Dennis, Massachusetts, along with playfulness, color, music and the painting process.  

For his contributions to the region’s arts scene, the CCMA honored Cicero with its 2025 MUSE Artist Award. It was a much-appreciated addition to a long list of recognitions for the artist, whose work has been exhibited at many venues, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum. 

A Newark native, Cicero arrived at Kean with plans to major in music, and while that interest never waned, he found himself increasingly drawn to art. 

“When I went to college, I met people who saw art in a much more profound way than I did, and that was very enticing,” said Cicero, who now lives in both Truro, Massachusetts and New York City with his wife, art historian Mary Ellen Abell. 

To recognize the school’s role in his life, Cicero gifted Kean a small painting, “Hit Man,” in 2023.  

“Carmen has had a phenomenal impact on the art world, and we’re thrilled to celebrate him as one of our most distinguished Kean alumni,” said Lori Funicello, senior director of philanthropy and gift planning for the Kean University Foundation. “Having one of his paintings as part of our permanent collection speaks to the lasting legacy of our alumni and serves as a reminder that greatness can begin right here at Kean.”  

Cicero’s outlook was formed, in part, by a 1971 fire that destroyed his Englewood, New Jersey studio and apartment, which housed his works and his prized clarinet. 

“It took a lot to get up and start again,” he said. “I like to think of it of as an act of courage and bravery, but in reality, what else could I do?” 

Cicero started over by creating more art, touring the world’s museums and teaching students from undergraduate settings through graduate school. And while he gave up the clarinet after the fire, he went on to play the saxophone in jazz quartets, release two CDs and help pioneer free-form music. 

Along the way, he changed his artistic style. 

“I didn’t want to be a second-generation abstract expressionist. I wanted to be a first-generation Carmen Cicero,” he said. “I always was a figurative painter, even when I was a kid. So, without a lot of thought or struggle, I started to paint the way I felt like painting, and that's what my work looks like now.” 

The artist’s many accomplishments are summarized in a recently self-published book titled “Carmen Cicero and His Critics” (New York, NY: Carmen Cicero Studio, 2025). Still, he dreams of doing more. 

“I've always had the desire to create a series of life-sized black-and-white figures on canvas,” Cicero said. “It would take a lot of energy, but it would make a very interesting show.”