Melanie A. Feerst
b. 1958 – Chicago, IL
3817 N. Hamlin Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
847.894.3589 (cell)
melaniefeerst@gmail.com
www.melaniefeerststudio.com
Exhibition History
Twenty-five years exhibition history as a sculptor including international solo exhibit Aw Ah Need is a Gin an’ a Badge at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, Aberdeenshire; and group shows at Zaim Art Center, Yokohama, Japan and Sydney College Gallery in Sydney, Australia. National solo exhibitions: Informed Consent at Artemisia Gallery, Chicago; Autoexcision Without Benefit of Anesthesia: The Artist as Surgeon, The Artist as Patient at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago IL (which included archived objects from the Museum Collection) and Melancholia and Noncompliance in Parasites and Other Multicellular Creatures at A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago IL.
Regional group shows include: Gastro-Aesthetics - Rockford Art Museum (invitational) - Rockford, IL; RX: An Art Exhibition - Curated by Jean Robertson and Craig McDaniel at the Emison Art Center at DePauw University, Greencastle, IN; Stateline Vicinity Exhibition - Juror: Lynne Warren, Museum of Contemporary Art at the Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL; text / conText - Curator: Mark Arctander at Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL; 48th Annual Quad-State Juried Exhibition - Juror: Joan Rothfuss, Walker Art Center at the Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL; Three Rivers Art Festival - Juror: Fred Wilson - CNG Tower in Pittsburgh, PA; Intersections - Jurors: Lisa Norton, John Reuter-Pacyna and Michael Rooks at the Stevens George Gallery, Hammond, IN; Art Forms - Juror: Russell Panczenko from the Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison WI at the Greater Lafayette Museum of Art - Lafayette, IN; The Exchange at Spark Gallery in Denver, CO; Women, Fire and Iron at the Wilensky Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Women’s Works - Juror: Beate Minkovski, Judith Geichman, and Janet Leszczynski at the Old Court House Art Center, Woodstock, IL; Metal - Urge - The Merwyn Gallery, Illinois Wesleyan University - Bloomington, IL; and Exchange: Chicago to Sacramento - 750 Gallery in Sacramento, CA.
Local Chicago group shows include: 25th Anniversary Exhibition at A.R.C. Gallery; ArtWork at Gallery 2; Peace & Justice Exhibit at ACME Art; Invisiblebody at NIU Gallery; The Chicago Solution Show at Gallery on Lake - Judith Racht - Juror: Ed Paschke; Happy at OpenEndArt - Curator: John Fleishman; Four Corners of the World - School of the Art Institute Alumni Show - Jurors: Sharon Couzin, David Richards and Mary Lou Zelazny, School of the Art Institute; Hearts - Curator: Laurie Kerlin - The International Museum of Surgical Science and IN FLEX / IN FLUX - Jurors: Gary Justice, Carolyn Ottmers and Terry Karpowicz - White Tower Building.
Awards
Isaac and Sonia Luski Scholarship - Penland School of Crafts - Penland, NC - 2002
Linda Kramer Award - Artemisia Gallery - Chicago, IL - 2001
Pilchuck Glass School Scholarship - Seattle, WA - 1999
Honorable Mention - Stateline Vicinity Exhibition - Rockford Art Museum - 1998
Honorable Mention – Women’s Works - Old Court House Art Center - Woodstock, IL - 1997
Scholarship / Membership - A.R.C. Gallery - Chicago, IL - 1995
Third Place - Personal Visions III - An Art Place - Chicago, IL - 1995
Third Place - Women’s Works - Old Court House Art Center - Woodstock, IL - 1995
Education
MFA - University of Wisconsin at Madison (sculpture / glass concentration)
BFA - School of the Art Institute of Chicago (sculpture concentration)
Studied
Pilchuck Glass School (WA)
Penland School of Crafts (NC)
Oxbow School (MI)
Pittsburg Glass Center (PA)
In residence
Kalani Oceanside Resort, Big Island HI – 2013
Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT – 2009
Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, Scotland - 2005
Commissions
Cetraro Sculpture – Award celebrating the founder of the International Advanced Research Workshop on High Performance Computing on the 20th anniversary of the conference, collaboration with architect Douglas Pancoast, commissioned by Charlie Catlett
Art Fair Juror
Gold Coast Art Fair, Chicago IL
Port Clinton Art Festival, Highland Park IL
Riverside Arts Weekend, Riverside IL
Geneva Fine Arts Fair, Geneva IL
Professional Experience
Recently resigned after 16 years in academia serving as Administrative Director of the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture and Designed Objects and the Historic Preservation Program and previously as Assistant Director of Academic Advising, all at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Other professional experience includes Director of Education at the Evanston Art Center and an administrator for cardiologists and cardiac surgeons at Northwestern University Medical Center and Rush – Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center in Chicago IL.