Michael Pierce

Born 1950. Virginia, USA. As early as I can remember Ive been drawing. At first I drew mainly on the end-papers of the books - especially that set of encyclopedias my mom and dad got from the traveling salesman. In my teens, I spent Wednesdays during my summers off from school going with my grandmother to the weekly meetings of the Culpeper Art Group. They were doing batik, Japanese sumi painting, splashing enamel paints on old boards, drawing still lifes, doing hard edge abstractions, painting Culpepers historical buildings before they got torn down, and on and on. I have scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings about these old ladies. In the early 70s I got involved in the Floyd Avenue Cultural Center, a group of artists making movies, creating happenings, etc. In the 70s and early 80s I took staged and found-object photographs and created slide shows to entertain guests invited to my home. I also used some of these slide shows as backdrops for bands playing music at Little Sisters of the Poor. In the mid-80s I met John Morgan and began using oil pastels. As first I drew mainly food and rabbits and people. Between 1991 and 2000 I basically stopped making art. I was tired of people asking me to draw their pets or t...

1972 BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University
2010 Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Studio Arts from the School of Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Additional Grad study at the Visual Studies Workshop at State University of New York, Rochester, NY
Currently painting professor at John Tyler Community College, Richmond, VA
Former artist member of artspace gallery in Richmond, VA, USA
Founding Chair of The Iridian Gallery at Diversity Richmond, Richmond, VA, USA
Emeritus artist member of 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA, USA
Exhibited widely along East coast.