Born and educated in Detroit, Melissa is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and curator living in Eastern Kentucky. Her work surveys a devolving socio-political landscape using myths surrounding patriotism, pride, and partisanship as points of departure. Narrowing world views and false perceptions of a "homeland" prompts creative projects that respond to bodies, prejudice, violence, and unrest. The physical works employ commonplace media—matches, fabric, handkerchiefs, flags, hangers, vases, and other familiar and domicile materials. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, and abroad in Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Iceland, Poland, and Sweden. Melissa received a BFA in 1999 from Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan and a MFA in 2005 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She has been the recipient of numerous grants including a Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grant, the Al Smith Fellowship, Great Meadows Foundation Travel Grant, and was shortlisted for the Luxembourg Art Prize in 2016. Her work is in the collections of the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, Gummifabriken in Värnamo, Sweden, 21c Museum in Louisville, KY, the Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY, and the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at University of Alabama. Melissa is an Associate Professor of Art at Eastern Kentucky University and Director of the EKU Giles Gallery.
Melissa Vandenberg has been represented by Maus Contemporary in Birmingham, AL since 2011.
Photo Credit /// Erica Chambers Photography