BIO

Interdisciplinary artist Michelle Graves received her BFA in Photography from Indiana University (2003) and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media from Columbia College Chicago (2012). She thrived as a working artist, curator and teacher in Chicago from 2004 - 2020 then began a new life exploring Las Vegas, Nevada in January 2021. 

Graves is an interdisciplinary artist who uses research and empirical writing to inform her experimental artwork. When she gives herself the space-time, she searches for conclusions in the unknown - a calm within the chaos. Graves chooses to face existential challenges by excavating terminology, by finding repetition and patterns, and by interweaving scientific phenomena to build a structure for the information gathered. Her practice is a deep dive into large questions that linger.

Michelle Graves has been exhibiting artwork since her teenage years in the early 90s. It started in the midwest and Chicago, then nationally and twice internationally so far. She has collaborated with artist John Airo as well as joining the artists of American Roulette - an exhibit navigating American gun culture and our violent society. This exhibit has shown in New York City, twice in Chicago, Las Vegas, currently on display for two exhibits in Colorado and scheduled to display in Texas next year.   

Beyond her own art practice in pre-pandemic Chicago, she was co-founder and Chair of Agitator Gallery and owner/curator of State of the Art, LLC, an art installation and consulting company. She also co-founded, was the original Marketing Manager and a skater and bench coach of the Chicago Outfit Roller Derby team. Graves is an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) and is currently the Design Director and Adobe Instructor for Denver Ad School.