Curriculum Vital

Misha Shebesta spent her early childhood during the Vietnam War years on army bases, traveling from state to state and witnessing the chaos and social conflict of the time.  In the early 70's she moved to Milwaukee to live with her Czechoslovak grandparents.  They lived in a predominantly African American neighborhood.  While racial tension troubled most urban areas of the city, Ms. Shebesta assisted her grandparents in promoting multi-culturalism and tolerance.  Her education began in the sciences; sociology, theology and anatomy and physiology. Misha worked in the medical field as a surgical assistant and also as a medical illustrator for many years before returning to school to study art. Her art work is a personal thesis for her studies and life experiences.

Ms. Shebesta has seen people deal with every stage of crisis.  Her work deals with how individuals (primarily women) processes or internalize the negative influences with which they are confronted. Society judge’s survivors of crisis, and survivors often judge themselves even harder. Survivors of house fires or floods are heroes, while survivors of unpopular wars or sex crimes are silenced and even criticized. These internal and external voices have profound effects on our development and how one learns to interact with the world.

In Ms. Shebesta's early travels, each new city, township or small neighborhood brought with it a new perspective that continued to redefine and expand her views of other people, the world and her place in it.  Later in life she went on to complete over five years of college, studying Theology, Sociology, Anatomy/Physiology (Loyola University, Chicago) and Fine Art (The School of the Art Institute, Chicago).  Continuing the path of personal discovery she has traveled extensively throughout North and South Americas, as well as Europe.  Her adventures through diverse landscapes and different cultures have had a profound impact on her world view and the development of her unique artistic style.

Through painting she has been able to pull together a diverse educational background with an adventurous enthusiasm for life.  Weaving classical technique, color theory and composition with primitive figurative archetypes, Ms. Shebesta tries to elicit specific psychological and emotion responses from her viewers by playing with and pushing their views of the body, sex, and related issues.  Her focus has always been on the female figure--how and why its perception and position in society has continued to change throughout history.


Misha has been showing and lecturing for the last 10 years and
is the founder of the national nonprofit art project “Ink Blot Project” a winner of the 2004 CAPP grant award.

To arrange for a show or purchase art please contact


info@mishashebesta.com



Show List
• Around the Coyote Winter Show, Chicago 2000
• Around the Coyote, Chicago 2000
• Around the Coyote Winter Show, Chicago 2001
• “First Friday” Open Studio Show , Chicago (1999 - 2001)
• Society for the Arts Chicago, IL (February 2004)
• 4 Art Inc., Chicago (May - July 2004)
• Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago (August 2004)
• Pilsen Art Walk 2004, Chicago (Oct. 1-3)
• Hyde Park 'Day of the Dead' Chicago, IL (Oct.- Nov. 2004)
• Imagination Station, Ny, NY (November 2004)
• 4 Art Inc., Chicago (February 2005)
• 4 Art Inc., Chicago "The Colection" (July 2005)
• Pilsen Art District Open House Chicago, IL (Sept.30 - Oct.3 2005)
• 4 Art Inc., Chicago (September 2005 - April 2006)
• Pilsen Art District Open House Chicago, IL (Sept.28-30 2007)
• 1825 Gallery Chicago, IL (September - October 2007)
• One Hundred & One Artists Show Chicago, IL ( October 2007)
• Pilsen Art District Open House Chicago, IL (Sept.28-30 2007)LINK
• The Artists Project Chicago, IL (April 2008)
• Pilsen Art District Open House Chicago, IL (Sept.26-28 2008) LINK
• Under the Wire Chicago, IL (spring 2009) LINK
• Loby instillation 118 N Clinton Chicago, IL (Spring 2009)

Exhibitions
• Genre-Melt Event at Columbia College ( November 7, 2003)
• Moraine Valley College (November 10, 2003 - December 2003)
• Pain Exhibit (2004 - 2006) LINK
• Chicago Arts District juried annual art exhibit (October 2004)
• Kerredge Gallery Michigan (June 2005)
(consulted & assist on installation w/ Patricia Pawlicki)
• National Bank Chicago, IL ( November 2005- February2006)
• May Street Chicago, IL ( January-May 2006)
• Copper Country Gallery Houghton, Mi ( April 2007)
• Co-Prosperity Sphere Chicago, IL (October 2007)
• Versionfest 2008 Chicago, IL (April 2008) LINK
• Humbolt Park Library branch of the Chicago Public Library 2008 Chicago, IL (July-August 2008) LINK

Grants/Awards
• Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) Grant 2005 LINK
• Pilsen Art District Jured competion Chicago, IL (2005)

Press
• Gapers Block LINK

• NY Arts Magazine
• 'In These Times'
pg.10 (act now) feature December 2007

Lectures
• Chicago Park District Docent Program, Guest Lecturer
(March 2003 & October 2003)
• Loyola University, Chicago (February 2004)
Following the Vagina Monologues
• Columbia College, Chicago (May 2004)
• Malcolm X College, Chicago (Sept. 2004)
• Northwesters University, Chicago (April 10. 2007)
• Loyola University, Chicago (April 12. 2007)
• Copper Country Instillation Houghton, MI (April 28. 2007)

Associations
• Chicago Artist Coalition (2001 - 2008)
• Lamprey (2001 - 2007)
(Ever So Secret Order of the Lamprey,
an underground art group located in Pilsen, Chicago. ...)
• Garfield Park Conservatory (2000 to 2005)
• RVA, Chicago (1999 to 2004)
• Woman Made Artist (2001 - 2003)


Publications
• The Journal of the American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopists (Vol. 5, No. 2 - May 1998)
• Lecture Materials and Paten Illustrations for Harrith H. Hasson Ob/Gyne (1994- 1999)
• Dinning Out Magazine (Spring/Summer 2006) p.62 and (Summer/Fall 2006) p.65
• American Academy of Pain Management (Vol. 16, No. 2- Summer 2006) p.40

Education
• School of the Art Institute Chicago, IL
(Merit Scholarship nomination)
• Columbia College Chicago, IL
(Transfer Student Scholarship)