• Michelle Wasson is an internationally exhibiting artist based in Chicago, IL. Her work has recently been included in exhibitions at Hyde Park Art Center, Elmhurst Art Museum, Galleri Urbane (Dallas, TX), Andrew Rafacz Gallery (Chicago, IL), and Brand Library Art Center (Glendale, CA). She is the recipient of several Illinois Arts Council grants and a City of Chicago DCASE grant. Her art has been reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, Bad At Sports, New City, and Hyperallergic.

    She has served as faculty at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago and The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2016 she co-founded the artist run exhibition space Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago. Wasson received her MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

  • Upcoming/

    2025

    Group Exhibition
    Yale University
    The Institute of Sacred Music
    New Haven, CT

    2026

    Solo Exhibition
    Andrew Rafacz Gallery
    Chicago, IL


    Recent/

    2024

    Nocturne
    ANDREW RAFACZ
    Chicago, IL

    I Cast to Earth a Seed
    Galleri Urbane
    Dallas, TX

    2023

    Aurea Nova, Solo Exhibition
    Riverside Art Center
    Riverside, IL
    September 10 - October 21

    2022

    Proto Grove, Solo Exhibition
    Galleri Urbane
    Dallas, TX
    AUGUST 27 - OCT 1, 2022

    Breathing Spaces
    The Real Tinsel
    Milwaukee, WI
    Geoffrey Todd Smith curator
    April - May

    Open Window
    Racecar Factory
    Indianapolis, In
    Meris Drew curator
    August

    2021

    On Feronia, Solo Exhibition
    New work by Michelle Wasson
    Epiphany Center For the Arts
    Chicago, IL

    RIPE
    Galleri Urbane
    Dallas, TX
    Opening July 10, 5-8pm

    As Clean As We've Been
    Works by Sabina Ott, Michelle Wasson and Chris Cosnowski
    Nina Rizzo Curator
    Cleaner Gallery + Projects, Chicago, IL
    March 19 - May 1

    2020

    Artist Run 2.0
    Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL

    2019

    With a Capital P: Selections by Six Painters
    Leslie Baum Curator
    Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL


    McCormick House- Past, Present and Future,
    Rob Kleinschmidt Curator
    Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL


    Alternative Space, A Simulated Art Fair
    Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL

  • THE COLLECTIVISTS
    Brand Library Art Center
    Glendale, CA

    January 21 - March 11, 2017
    Opening Reception: Saturday, January 21st, 6-9pm

    The exhibition, titled The Collectivists, marks a moment in time in which a vast number of artists are joining together to take greater control of their means of production and presentation. By prioritizing the group over the individual, self promotion and publicity function as collective forms of power. This current surge of standout artist-run spaces has become a democratic movement; and en masse, artist collectives are challenging the established hierarchy of how the gallery system and commerce function in the art world. The influence of the group, uplifts the individuals involved and ultimately offers new pathways for the success of both.

    Organized by Kara W.Tomé



    OPEN RANGE
    Penn State, Woskob Family Gallery
    State College, PA
    November 16 - December 23, 2016

    OPEN RANGE presents a collection of work from all four Tiger Strikes Asteroid locations by Holly Cahill, Vincent Como, Jackie Hoving, Esau Mcghee, Brian Porray, Kayla Romberger, Jonathan Ryan and Ricky Yanas.

    Artworks address the scope of associations the word 'landscape' evokes: An art historial genre, a verb, a term used to describe natural environments, geographic constructions and cultural climates.

    Curated by Carl Baratta, Rachael Gorchov and Michelle Wasson



    New American Paintings, No. 125, Midwest Issue
    Juried by Steven L. Bridges
    Available August/September 2016



    Red, Yellow, Blue
    May 7 – May 29, 2016
    Terrain Exhibitions, Oak Park IL
    Reception on Saturday, May 7, 2-5pm



    Sabina Ott: Who Cares For The Sky?
    Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
    Thrilled to be included in this exploratory installation inspired by the mountain described in Gertrude Stein's book "The World Is Round".



    2015

    Provisional HAVEN, Curated by Anna Novakov
    REFUSALON, San Francisco, CA
    Opening Reception: Thursday, March 19th

    Provisional Haven brings together eight international artists whose work touches upon the pleasure garden as a physical, psychosocial and temporary space. Throughout history, the pleasure garden has morphed and taken on the form of a masquerade, tea garden, menagerie, amusement park, playground, carnival or sideshow. It also functions as an imaginary landscape or a public space to play out personal fantasies.

  • Catalogs:


    Provisional Haven
    by Anna Novakov

    Provisional Haven, contributes to the timely dialogue about technology, the environment and alternative art spaces. Provisional references the current moment and temporary, fleeting sites. Haven suggests that art is a timeless sanctuary and refuge for both artists and viewers. The eight international artists in the exhibition all engage with temporary, momentary spaces and art as a haven for the unbound imagination.

    Including new work by Bijan Yashar, Yin-Ju Chen, Sabina Ott, Jennifer Locke, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Felipe Dulzaides, Michelle Wasson and Ron Hutt.

    Ornament
    by Sabina Ott

    Printed on the occasion of the exhibition Ornament at the Riverside Art Center, Riverside, IL. Catalog essay and curation by Anne Harris. Artists included: Phyllis Bramson, Susanne Duramus, Matthew Girson, Michelle Grabner, Dan Gunn, Anna Kunz, Joe Jeffers and Michelle Wasson.

    Frequently the Woods are Pink
    by Sabina Ott and Michelle Wasson

    Catalog printed on the occasion of the two person exhibition with Sabina Ott at What It Is, Oak Park, IL. Includes essays by Dana Degiulio and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung.